Guatemala
Sunrise over Mayan Temples in Tikal
Guatemala was one of the first countries we sailed to 10 years prior where we truly figured out how to take advantage of overland travel.
Sailing up the river gorge 25 miles inland, surrounded by mountains, the Rio Dulce is a safe destination for hurricane season. It also turns out to be a good place to leave the boat for travel or to haul the boat for boat work.
As it turns out we took several major trips most months, some planned and some spontaneous, during our 8 month stay:
July ~ USA
August ~ Antigua, Guatemala
September ~ Ecuador/Galapagos
October ~ Tikal, Guatemala
November ~ Antigua, Guatemala*
December ~ Honduras*
January ~ USA
[*Michele only]
Rio Dulce & Fronteras seen from the Tower
Regarding our sail to Guatemala, we came here specifically for boat renovations (soon to be the subject of a few boat blogs).
This is apparently where Mark builds stern extensions on whichever boat we happen to be on ~ funny but true!
We arrived in June and stayed at Catamaran Marina, a lovely island hotel with no land access. Fortunately, cruising boats come with dinghies and it is just a short ride to town in Fronteras.
The bustling town had changed a lot since we were last here, with a major grocery store and hardware store. The rest of the sights, sounds and smells of the town remain etched into our memories of this country.
It had been so hot in Honduras that it was getting hard to function, not to mention the smoky air from burning fields. Coming into the Rio Dulce and docking in a marina meant we could at least run air conditioning.
There was a drought at the time and water was unusually scarce in town, making it very difficult for the residents to access water for washing and drinking.
We were a bit “early” before others arrived for hurricane season, so we were able to knock one project off our list right away and get a dinghy cover made. Jessica’s Canvas shop turned it around in less than a week and did a great job.
New dinghy chaps and a laundry run
Kookaburra was also in the Rio Dulce this season for the first time, so over the course of our stay we got to revisit many of the inland destinations with Keith and Jaime.
The Mayan ruins throughout the country are a must-see so we went to nearby Quirigua to see the Stellas and my first mot-mot (finally!).
After our respective US travel in July, we planned our return to Guatemala City at the same time to visit Antigua for a week. The weather up here at over a mile high is much cooler than in the Rio Dulce.
Lenticular clouds
On our arrival, Mark and I took an awesome birding day trip with Knut of Cayaya Birding to Tecpán and Finca El Pilar for a special highlands target bird, the pink-headed warbler.
We covered most of Antigua by foot, enjoying the restaurant choices and authentic food.
Plenty of excursions are possible from there.
The four of us climbed the Pacaya volcano one morning and on another day took a day-trip to Lake Atitlan.
Both Antigua and Atilan have amazing volcano views, with Fuego still sputtering regularly.
We had more than local trips planned with Keith & Jaime… September was a time that we had long since scheduled a DREAM trip together to Ecuador for birding with Ecuador Birds Tours in the highlands and Amazon, followed by a 11 day trip to the Galapagos on a power catamaran with Road Scholar (more on that in a separate blog post).
When we returned to Guatemala City this time, we timed the arrival with Mark’s sister Anne who visited us from Michigan.
It was still blazing hot for Anne’s visit. She was a trooper. After showing her the Rio Dulce upon our return to Reach, we took a 4 day, 3 night trip to Tikal to see the amazing Mayan ruins.
An equally good part of visiting the ruins is the jungle experience, with toucans, monkeys, coatimundi and turkeys commonly seen.
Grand Plaza Tikal
Our last night was spent in nearby Flores, somewhat of a touristy, party town. This took place right as the country-wide protests against corrupt officials trying to discount the election results of the president elect. Roads were beginning to shut down all across Guatemala.
Our private driver Juan Carlos really came through for us, as we were stuck in Flores and could have been so indefinitely as far as we knew. He drove through the night making it past the first road block at Poptún that had temporary openings.
At 2 am, the five of us had to walk from the hotel through the Flores roadblock by the airport, where Juan Carlos was waiting on the other side. We were stopped at the Poptún roadblock for a few hours again, until it was opened at 6 am for 20 minutes to let traffic pass.
Roadblocks in Guatemala Oct 2024
We were super lucky not to get stuck in Flores, and now realized that we needed to get Anne back to the City as soon as possible to make sure she could get on her flight.
By this time, supply chains had been halted and airports were running out of fuel. Michele went with Anne and Juan Carlos again came through for the overnight drive to the city and back. We encountered more roadblocks, passed miles and miles of backed up trucks, and had to pay an escort motorbike to drive around Las Amates in back roads.
Arriving back to Rio Dulce the next morning, we learned that Fronteras was starting a roadblock and no traffic could make it in or out of the river, unless by boat or helicopter.
It was great having Anne visit and she certainly got her adventures worth! After several weeks of protests and International mediation, the blockades cleared and the president elect did make it into office in January despite many obstacles.
After all of this fun and adventure, it was time for boat work. Reach was hauled out at RAM Marina in mid-October. We knew we were in for a few months with the project list we had in mind (fill chines, stern extension, side window accent rebuild, mast work, etc, etc).
Mark was in DIY mode for all of the above, although he got the yard to redo the side windows. I was in somewhat of a limbo, enjoying morning HIIT exercise and yoga, regular birding at Finca Tijax, excursions with friends, and the occasional ladies lunch.
I decided to keep my birding going for the year and took a solo trip to Antigua in November with Knut of Cayaya Birding again and to Honduras in December with Olbin of Natural Selections Tours. Both trips were stellar and I finished a year of amazing birding experiences and 839 bird species observed.
Holidays came and went in the boatyard. Soon, we found ourselves needing to renew our Guatemala Visas and needed to leave the country, so we took a super quick trip to the US to visit family in late January, just in time for a snowstorm! Reach was in the home-stretch at this point and had a good cleaning and polish while we were gone.
Upon our return, the bottom paint went on and we were ready to splash. All projects and plans in boatyards are never without incident, and this haulout was no exception. Over our 15 years of cruising, we have learned to weather the storms and give grace to ourselves and the businesses working hard for us. Some things shouldn’t, but shit does happen. Like any adversity, we find that it’s often how you roll with it that makes the experience good or bad.
Not to say that there were no frustrations or that we didn’t jump for joy once splashed again! Happy to be floating again after 4 months in the yard, we sailed back down the gorge and on to our next destinations.