Ahoy Family & Friends;

Today is June 1st, some say 'the official beginning of hurricane season'. "DonaLyn" is docked in the very secure Rio Dulce at a Marina.....for the season!

For many reasons, we have decided to put our voyage to the Panama Canal on hold until this fall. Our trek south from the time of our last update in Belize has not been without its share of adventures! Here are some highlights:

It finally came time to depart from San Pedro, Ambergris Caye in Belize and head south. We left @ high noon for the short jaunt to Caye Caulker (remember, Jackie, the "Booze Cruise" on the Catamaran back in 2002?) as an upcoming change in the weather would make our anchorage in San Pedro unpleasant. So we feel like "Masters and Commanders of the Sea", excited that we will settle into an anchorage off a remote isla with protection from all wind directions but the northwest. After crossing the 'skinny water' (depth of about 6 ft when we draw 5) we arrive at the anchorage amidst a dozen or so other sail boats. Corey and I took turns with kayak discoveries looking for a blue hole that was supposed to be in the area (we never did see it). As I was returning from my row, the clouds quickly became ominous, the wind made a drastic shift and, guess what? The winds blew ALL NIGHT from the NORTHWEST. Oh well, whadda ya gonna do?

We decided to bypass Belize City (good choice) and cruise the banks, through Porto Stuck (a SHALLOW pass between two cayes....aptly named) and anchor off other small, remote cayes and thence to Placencia, a quaint Belizean Village located on a peninsula off mainland Belize. Very cute, touristy, but a very laid back version thereof, not anywhere near the hustle bustle of San Pedro. We enjoyed 2 nights there and then headed for Punta Gorda, Bze. where we would check out of the country and continue across the bay for Livingston, Guatemala at the mouth of the Rio Dulce. Punta Gorda is the land that time forgot, Belize version thereof, much like Ixcalak in Mexico. Donna kayaked to customs & Immigration while Corey and Cap'n read and kept watch on "DonaLyn" (smart choices).

Three hours later arrive at the mouth of the Rio Dulce the day before Good Friday and cross the notorious bar. Piece of Cake! We could not get off the boat until we officially checked into Guatemala, so we enjoyed a nice meal aboard hoping to clear in the morning. Sure enough, by 0900 here comes the Port Captain, Immigration and Customs Officers to our boat to initiate the papers. We were quite impressed, polished black shoes, pressed slacks, beautifully manicured nails (the customs officer was a woman) and 'mui amable' (very nice & friendly). What a nice change from Belize!

Livingston (only accessible by water) was hopping with "Semana Santa" celebrations, parades, parties and the like. We actually got stuck in an ATM booth (they are enclosed in air conditioned little 'closets') cuz there were so many people watching the parade they blocked the door and we couldn't push in open!

Donna went a little ballistic with all the street vendors peddling their beautiful mayan embroidered textiles. We feel like we are FINALLY in the real Central America.

Heading into the mouth of the Rio Dulce was absolutely incredible. The waterway is extremely busy, not with cruisers or pleasure boats but with locales motoring their "cayucos" to and from Livingston, a busy trade center. The rich, green rain forested cliffs that the Rio cuts through were a natural splendor we all beheld in awe. I am sure the pictures won't give justice. And it has been just like this for hundreds and thousands of years. It's almost too much to behold.

We stopped at a natural sulphur hot springs that fed into the bank of the river from an underwater cave. This is a popular tourist stop, by boat only. There we were sitting in the hot springs with tourists from Israel who were chatting away in Hebrew. We wondered what our friends at home were doing right then!

In the town of Rio Dulce we found a great marina; reasonable price with pool and restaurant, great managers, wireless internet, laundry service....all the comforts. We decided that, while we were here, we might as well take the opportunity to tour the mainland a bit (Antigua & the Mayan ruins at Tikal). So we checked into the possibility of trucking the boat over to the west coast of Guatemala (since hurricane season was nigh) but it was cost prohibitive, even for Central America!

RE-THINK: Taking twice as long, and then some, for us to make this trip - Grandson Corey is getting antsy about surfing - we need to see what is going on with the construction of our bungalow in Nicaragua - Donna needs to see two youngest grandsons......PLAN B: Corey and Ray take a bus to Nicaragua and Donna flies home to California for 2 weeks! But not before a great side trip to see the Mayan ruins of Tikal and the Colonial city of Antigua where Donna went even MORE ballistic over the textile vendors! And Tikal......wow.

Some fascinating history there - we hired a guide who gave us so much more information than we would have gleaned on our own reading the placards. What an advanced civilization it was for that time in history. They used everything from certain tree leaves for dental anesthetics to certain seeds for gastro-intestinal problems to hollow tree trunks for musical instruments. They dug out underground food caches for storage, built huge outdoor community ovens - one could just hear the hustle bustle of the Mayan metropolis!

Antigua was a delightful weekend tour of old colonial Guatemala.

Time to head south to Nicaragua on our private leer jet.....

For our beautiful 2nd home in Southwest Nicaragua....

This is Salinas Bay from up the cliff south of our beach bungalow.....

Here is one of the 6 bungalows being built .....

Here is the view from right where our deck will be.....they have now constructed a palapa roof for the restaurant they are building at the end of this dock.

Anyone who wishes to come visit us while here in Nicaragua please give us a shout. We are also dabbling with selling Nicaraguan properties since we were able to find our dream. Let us know if you want to see what's going on here.

Meanwhile, adios for now to all our special cruiser friends...in many ways we cannot wait to get back on the water.

May your life path be full and wonderful,

Captain Ray and First Mate Donna

(Land-lubbers for a hurricane season)