We are nearing the end of another great vacation aboard Mañana , and our plans changed almost daily depending on where the wind was blowing and what we saw that we liked. Our planned passage for late spring to Mexico and the US never materialized as we lingered in Belize longer than expected. When we had to make a decision to go north to FL or back to the Rio Andrea and I both opted for another summer in the river so we could return Belize next year. “Planning” like this is part of the reason it has now taken us 6 years to move the boat from CA to Guatemala, a trip that could be accomplished easily, albeit quickly, in a single year.
After leaving Placencia we moved north toward Cay Caulker and San Pedro, Ambergris in a series of day sails from one small cay to another. Wippari was great snorkeling, Sapodilla was a social stop, St George’s was a spectacularly beautiful anchorage, and Colson Cay was a reminder that not all is perfect in paradise. While seeking protection from some mild east winds we anchored in the lee of Colson Cay. Beautiful. But at 10 PM the winds kicked up from the west, and we were completely exposed to wind and fetch. When the “breeze” hit 35 knots our anchor moved but did not reset. We were dragging fast. We picked up the anchor, moved forward, and dropped again… and again… and again. The third try hooked us, but the rest of the night was a sleepless anchor watch just waiting to move again. I have often said that the only differences between RV’ing and cruising is that boats stop in much nicer places, but at least the RV stays where you put it. Colson was not our only bad night on this trip. A few weeks later we anchored again in Placencia Harbor and got hit with wind gusts to 48 knots, but there the thick muddy bottom held our anchor securely and except for our personal anxiety the boat was perfectly happy.
Cay Caulker!! This island town is a Belizean treat not to be missed if you visit this country. It is one of the larger cays and is located right on the outer reef making it a popular stop for young tourists looking for beaches, sun, surf, diving and snorkeling. The entire town is comprised of sand streets with nothing larger than a golf cart for transportation. Funky bars and restaurants with sand floors and rustic furniture line the main street which parallels the beach. Pick a spot and enjoy cool ocean breezes underneath thatched roofs, a nice cold drink, fresh conch ceviche and spectacular water views. Our favorite bars were Pat and Stell’s run by a local couple and the Barrier Reef Sports Bar, but the Lazy Lizard was the spot to watch the European sun bathers. One afternoon the Sports Bar featured a “jam session” for local and visiting musicians and we were treated to one of the most memorable singing performances I can remember (Willie included). A young fellow entertained us with vocals of several blues, reggae and rock songs before bringing the house down with a fantastic performance of “Oh, Darling” made popular by the Beatles. Turns out he was one of the owners of the bar and had performed with several participants in the jam session which accounted for music and vocals meshing so well. We found several restaurants in Cay Caulker that would be popular anywhere in the world given the food, the price and the ambience, but then again “the ambience” is the Cay. Fry jacks for breakfast, tacos and ceviche for lunch, fresh fish for dinner… ah-h-h the good life.
While in Cay Caulker we did take a day long snorkel adventure to the reef and into the Hol Chan Park reserve (Hol Chan means “little channel” and refers to the narrow channel that passes through the reef at that point). Though we have our own boat and the means to explore the snorkeling reefs by ourselves we have often found that the tour guides do know the best spots for both coral and sea life. Cay Caulker was no exception. We got a six person tour that included swimming with many nurse sharks, rays, giant turtles, huge schools of large Amberjacks, and at the end, a manatee. Our first stop was a conch cleaning site on the reef where the fishermen bring their conch catch for cleaning, disposing of “spare parts” overboard. I jumped into the water to find the bottom littered with thousands of conch shells, and the first attention getting sight of sea life that I had was four giant rays with 4 to 5 foot wing spans swimming directly at me. They were followed by sea turtles with heads larger than mine, and both the rays and turtles were feeding on the conch parts being thrown overboard by the fishermen. If I had been on my own I might have decided that I was swimming somewhere that I shouldn’t be, but because the guide had brought us here I felt a lot more confident. Our second stop was in the park reserve where the guide coaxed a moray eel out of his cave. The eel extended 3 feet out of the rocks before retreating from all of the attention. Another stop involved swimming with 20 to 30 nurse sharks and multiple rays in the ominously named ‘Shark Ray Alley’. The guide attracted both sharks and rays by throwing sardines into the water, and while sharks and rays were feeding on one side of the boat we jumped in on the other. I managed to get a hand out(and back) touching several rays, turtles and even the sharks. The final stop was to find a manatee. These shy sea elephants only surface occasionally submerging for 20 to 30 minutes at a time to dine on sea grasses. We found our manatee, but after a quick underwater encounter with the 700 pound creature, he/she moved away from our boat. French Angel Tours is our recommendation if you get to Cay Caulker (they also showed us tiny seahorses,schools of tarpon, beautiful coral reefs, and many, many other schools of fish) .
After the laid back attitude of Cay Caulker, San Pedro on Ambergris Cay seemed like a chaotic, big town even though you could amble down the middle of the street occasionally dodging the many golf carts and small cars. I guess it was the paved road that gave it the big town feel. Still, San Pedro is another fun filled Caribbean town catering to the water oriented tourist. We left the boat in Cay Caulker while we took the day long trip via fast ferry to San Pedro where we sampled the restaurants, explored waterfront bars, and walked the long, long beach at Ambergris Cay. One “character” we met was a restaurant owner who had moved to Ambergris almost 30 years ago when he arrived with a rock band and never left. On the walls of the bar pictures of the band attested to a much younger, healthier, but hardly happier man, and he entertained us for quite some time with his stories about Ambergris in the old days.
As I write this installment for our blog, we are once again in the Rio Dulce river in Guatemala. We will leave tomorrow for a bus ride to San Pedro Sula, Honduras and then a multi-stop flight home. Did I mention that San Pedro Sula is the murder capital of Latin America? Well, Andrea wanted a little more adventure, and since we hadn’t seen any pirates on this trip… This is our second visit to the Rio, and we will leave our boat here until late fall. This area of the Caribbean suffers from way too much heat in the summers as well as the threat of hurricanes so we are very happy to spend the warm months back in CA. Today, for example, the morning temperature was 84 degrees with 96% humidity at 7AM. That’s not nice and much too hot for a couple of displaced Californians.
Best to all,
Tom and Andrea
