Back to Guatemala : Home alone

 

16th September –10th November 2014

Life was pretty quiet for the six weeks before Liam came back from Australia. I spent  a lot of time cleaning GWTW, particularly the outside which looked very unloved due to all the rain and hot humid weather she’d sat patiently through in our absence. Using a lot of elbow grease within a couple of days I had her looking good again. All the mildew and the dirt on the outside was gone. The interior faired very well, only a little dust here and there. Having the a/c running for a hours a day, monitored by friends on Munerra while we were away, really worked a treat. Coming in from Portland it was great to walk into  my cool clean home after a seven hour flight followed by a five hour bus ride from Portland Oregon back to Nana Juana Marina in the Rio Dulce. I must say it’s always great to come home.

Staying on GWTW by myself didn’t really phase me at all. The nights were a bit lonely I must admit but the daylight hours were fine. There were plenty of other boats in the marina with live-aboards and I shared many a meal with them under the shade of the palapa, a thatched roofed, open sided building down on the dock. The palapa was also the venue for anything ranging from a spur of the moment BBQ and a classroom for all the cruising kids to a yoga / fitness. Often it was just spot to hang out and read a book or catch and have a chat.

Thursday was Trivia night. A few of the marinas took turns to host around 50 of us quiz hounds for a few hours and it was a lot of fun. Dinner was at cruiser prices and there was a launch provided for transport there and back. On other nights there were movies or mexican train dominos There was always something to keep do.

 

Every morning I’d hit the marina pool and swim 70 laps and then in the afternoons, once the temperatures cooled down to about 30C our walking group (ladies only) would  set out for our power walk of seven kilometers round trip into Fronteras and then back to the marina. And I gotta tell you we were all pretty pooped after that  little bit of exercise. Before long I was feeling really fit and the kilos started to drop off. That part made it all very worthwhile.

The time by myself seemed to whizz by and before I knew it I was standing at the bus station in Fronteras waiting for Liam's’ bus to arrive from Guatemala City. 

Most people who haven’t been to the Rio Dulce  in Guatemala think that it is a dangerous place. Well that’s not how I found it. There are definitely places in the city itself that cruisers would never go but then that can be said of any big city anywhere in the world.

Being snug in the marina I really enjoyed my time alone on the boat but it was sure nice to have my man about the house again too.

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