To the End

Tonight is my last night in Guatemala. Tomorrow morning I'm loading my things into the truck and setting off on a hellish journey back to Canada. You may remember that I wrote about Mexico (and C.A. in general) not being to friendly to dog owners. Well, that of course is still the case, so you can imagine that I am not looking forward to that.

Anyway, I want to thank all of you have and continue to read this blog. I admit, that eventually content dried up when the renovations kicked into high gear. For that I apologize. On the positive side, I intend to do some exploring in America when we get there, so look forward to that!

A Nasty One

A few nights ago, a sudden storm swept through eastern Guatemala. We had been having incredibly hot weather for the past month, with the temperature hitting 40+ on a daily basis. Believe me when I say that the storm was a blessing in disguise.

Now, back to the storm. At around 10:30 pm, the power had gone out as it often does. Ok, no big deal I just turned on the battery powered lights and went about my business. Soon after the down pour began, and it was chaos.

The wind was moving at such ferocious speed, I found it difficult to walk inside! I heard a loud bang from the living room and went up to investigate the disturbance. The living room was like a wind tunnel and the rear doors had been blown open. I made my way to the doors, and closed them, but the wind blew them open again in a matter of seconds. I tried to shut them again, but the wind would not have it and I finally gave up. I closed a heavy metal door in a different area, and while I was successful the wind and rain made it feel like I was being pelted with hail.

Fortunately the rain was gone after a few hours. However it would take over fifteen for power to be restored.

Garbage

Where I live there is no road access. Everything must be brought in and taken away by boat. That of course includes garbage. 

Every week, a large (large for Rio Dulce) boat comes and hauls away the marinas garbage. Normally this boat comes very early in the morning while I'm still sleeping, however today they came at around 2:30 in the afternoon. Here they are at work. 

What a haul!

After loading their boat, these guys sail off to a cement dock way too small for them, and haul the refuse away to be burned. 

The circle of life...

A Big One

Earlier today, I spied a large lizard resting on the rocks. Unlike last time where I let them get away without taking their picture, I grabbed the camera and got a couple of shots.

Religion, Serious Business

Last weekend was Easter, and as traditional for most of us in Canada we have a wonderful chocolate binge and forget about all sensibilities. Down here, chocolate bunnies and marshmallow chicks aren't really a thing here. No, here Easter is all about the prayer.

On Friday morning, a small flotilla of boats came sailing by, all three were covered with fancy purple drapes, and the center boat was carrying a large cross. I had never seen anything like this before, but they stopped at every property, and I can only guess that they offered prayers for everyone. Even people who always come here to party on the weekends had banners of saints displayed on their properties.

In less savory news, the navy was out in full force patrolling the water ways. You know someone important was in town because as soon as the weekend was over, they packed their things and moved on to some other place.

Run, Run, Run

Earlier today I was sitting in front of my computer, when I heard a light splashing sound coming from outside.  I looked out over the back of the yacht, and I saw two amazing little lizards playing the water.

These amazing little lizards!

Ah yes, the Basiliscus! Commonly known as the Jesus Lizard due to it's remarkable ability to run on water. I didn't realize that these guys were native to Central America (I never really thought about it period), so you can imagine my surprise seeing them in the flesh. I went out to get a closer look at them, but as soon as they saw me they dashed across the water and into the jungle. Next time my little reptilian friends, next time.

Rise

Over the past few days we have noticed a bunch of dead fish rising to the surface of the water. Seeing one fish is normal, seeing two or three is odd, but this was a lot of them. According to our friend Roberto, at this time of year lots of salt flows inland from the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the species of fish are able to adapt to the change, however one type gets decimated each year. What a strange world.