Christmas At Casa Guatemala

Some of you may be wondering why we are not out sailing.  For those not keeping track, we returned to the Rio Dulce in mid-October, and now it is almost the end of the year.  Actually, it is quite simple.  We stayed to get involved with the Casa Guatemala Christmas.  Casa Guatemala is an orphanage downriver, two or three miles from Monkey Bay.  Over the years, the cruising community here has done a lot to support the orphanage, especially at Christmas.  The orphanage provided us with a list of needs, so this year we did our Christmas shopping in Fronteras.  It was just as hectic as going to one of the malls back in the US, but it was a totally different experience and really rewarding as we were thinking about the kids that would be getting the presents.  Kitty (Dreamaway) offered her husband Jim to be Santa for this year's Christmas Eve celebration at the orphanage, which led to a closer relationship between us at Monkey Bay and the staff at Casa Guatemala.  We learned of a special need for girls' undergarments, so some of the Monkey Bay women spent a long afternoon on a special shopping trip after getting specific needs and sizes.  We also learned they could use some help preparing the dinner, which is served Christmas Eve, so Pat, Linda, and Jan (Jock's Lodge, staying at Catamarans) went to Backpackers Hotel and Restaurante on Christmas Eve morning to help prepare the dressing and stuff the turkeys.

Linda and Pat

Linda, Pat (s/v Mobetah), Jan (s/v Jocks Lodge), and Heather (Casa Guatemala)

Backpackers is owned by Casa Guatemala and provides employment opportunities for the older children.  Christmas Eve, Santa arrives at Casa Guatemala on a large launcha brightly decorated with lights and outfitted with reindeer and sleigh.  We arrived in the Monkey Bay launch to a large group of excited children on the piers waiting for Santa.

It is the tradition at Casa Guatemala that Santa first visits the children living at the orphanage.  He did this in one of the dormitories.  Santa handed out the gifts to each child as their name was called.

Santa delivering gifts

 After this, Santa moved on to an area where the local children and their families were waiting for his arrival.  There were literally hundreds of waiting children.   When Santa arrived, the children rushed to greet him, but they soon organized themselves into a single-file line, beginning with the youngest and ending with the older children, to match the way the gifts were arranged.

Waiting to see Santa

We wanted to do more than just be spectators, so we went to the kitchen to help out.  They serve turkey dinners to the children and staff at Casa Guatemala, but they also serve a hot tamale to each and every neighborhood child or parent who comes.  Boy, did we get busy, and it was gratifying to see they really needed our help.  Once Santa had handed out all the gifts, the masses descended upon us.  We had already prepared about 200 plates before they arrived, and then prepared more as fast as we could and handed them out at a blistering pace.  Tamales are cooked in a leaf wrap, which needs to be discarded before serving.  We had to keep bringing bowls of ice water to cool the ladies' hands as they unwrapped the tamales.  Soon the meals were eaten, and the crowd dispersed, so we cleaned up and went inside, where just about all the turkey dinners with the traditional fixings had been served.

Children of Casa Guatemala are enjoying a turkey dinner.

They had the settings ready for us, so we enjoyed some really good food with the orphanage's children.  We contributed to the cost of our meals, helped clean up, and then climbed into our launch to head back to Monkey Bay with memories we will never forget.

We plan to depart Monkey Bay Marina as soon as we can get some favorable winds.  The winds are generally from the east, and we need to go east, so it may take a little while.

A Monkey Bay Christmas

As the holiday season approached, Pat (Mobetah) suggested, and we collectively decided to buy Christmas gifts for the family who live here at the marina and look after the owner's property.  We are all close with the family, especially the children, so we really looked forward to Christmas morning.  We all delighted in watching the family open their gifts and then playing with the children for a while.

In the afternoon, we had reservations at Kangaroo Las Mexicanas Restaurante, and everyone at Monkey Bay went.  They were overwhelmed at the restaurant with the number of guests.  While they had reservations about how much food to prepare, in the end, they had 60-some guests to feed at once, so our scheduled 2 o'clock Christmas dinner of turkey, roast pork, and prawns was served at about 4 o'clock.  Other than the delay, we had a relaxing time in a beautiful setting.

Terry and Sandy (Gambit II)

Art, Linda, Norm

Santa (Jim) with Marina Family

Monkey Bay John

Jim and Kitty (Dreamaway)

Arriving at Kangaroo Las Mexicanas Restaurante for Christmas Dinner

Sandy and Linda

Kitty jumped in to help at Kangaroo Las Mexicanas Restaurante.

Waiting on Dinner

Marina Bahia Mono Fiesta de Flatulence

You can tell we are all getting pretty close here at Monkey Bay.  We have a little social get-together every day around 4:30. That may seem a little early, but once it gets dark, the mosquitoes start biting.  One evening, the conversation turned to pressure cookers.  Almost all cruising boats have pressure cookers aboard, but most, like us, keep theirs in deep storage.  Jim, off Dreamaway, uses his pressure cooker frequently.  He offered to give us some tips on cooking with a pressure cooker.  Anyway, our plan quickly evolved into cooking beans, and then to a bean cook-off, and then we initiated the first annual Marina Bahia Mono, Fiesta de Flatulence.  We allowed a couple of days for the teams to decide and register their entries, so we decided to meet in the marina kitchen on Sunday at three with our pressure cookers and ingredients. The guys did the pressure cooking, and the spouses prepared rice and other sides, set the tables, and did all the other things that go into getting a meal ready.

The Four Cooks

 

Just Waiting On The Beans

All of the dishes tasted great, so we made no attempt to pick a winner.  We just had great meals with good company.  We had planned to watch "Blazing Saddles", but started watching "From The Big Apple To The Big Easy - The Concert For New Orleans", a two-disc DVD, and never got to "Blazing Saddles".  We all had a great time.

We are getting ready to leave Monkey Bay soon, and it will be really hard.  We know we will see everyone out at the islands, but we will miss the camaraderie we enjoy here.

Footnote:  Most of us soaked our beans overnight, so our little Fiesta did not live up to its name.

Frutas del Mundo

Not far outside Rio Dulce is a very special fruit farm - Frutas del Mundo.  The owner, Dwight Carter, grew up on a farm in Minnesota and came to Central America in the mid-80s with the Peace Corps to work with livestock.  He developed an interest in indigenous fruits and in 1987 bought 20 acres, which became Frutas del Mundo.  He is experimenting with different fruit types, grafting methods, selection, and other techniques.  His primary product is seedlings for other farmers in the area.  In addition to promoting indigenous species, he has also introduced fruits from all around the world.  The tour includes sampling fruits right off the trees and a luncheon of tilapia caught from his fish and irrigation pond.

Our group included most of us from Monkey Bay Marina and two French-Canadian couples from Ram Marina.

 Rambutan

Our favorite new fruit is the Rambutan.  Unfortunately, it is now just at the end of the harvest season.  When ready to eat, they are bright red.  We have seen them in town but didn't know what they were or how good they are.  We look forward to seeing them in the market next year.

 Dwight Carter 

Copan - Part 6 - Zip Line Canopy Tour

A really fun opportunity in Copan Ruinas is the Zip Line Canopy Tour. The zip line is just outside of town. It is four kilometers in total length, and the longest segment is one kilometer. Most descriptions say there are sixteen zip segments, but our guides told us there are fourteen. The last zip line crosses the Copan River at a bend in the river, which was a pretty cool way to end. If zip-lining is on your bucket list, this is a good one.

Pickup Service at Our Hotel (get it)

Equipped and Ready
Terry
Pat
Linda
Norm

Time to Apply Brakes (Norm)

Always a Smile (Pat)

Good Form (Linda)

Showing Off  (Terry)

Copan - Part 5 - Copan Ruinas

Copan Ruinas is a very small town.  It is typical of towns in Central America to have a central square.  Copan Ruinas is very hilly, but since the town is so small, the hills do not become onerous.  The narrow streets are cobblestone but quite dusty.  There are several hotels in all price ranges and plenty of good places to eat.  Our hotel was on the inexpensive (cheap) end of the scale, and we will not mention the name nor recommend it.  The rooms were clean, which was our main selection criterion.  None of the staff spoke any English, so it was very difficult to communicate.  Luckily, Terry can speak Spanish very well, so as long as we had Terry around, we could get by.  We had to change rooms because the hot water in our shower did not work.  Our biggest complaint was the noise.  The floors are tile, and very typically, the windows open into the central hallway, so late-night guests returning could be very annoying.

We had a couple of experiences with total power outages in the town.  We are accustomed to power outages on the Rio Dulce, so it was not a total surprise.  One evening, we were returning from dinner, and suddenly the town went dark.  Walking on the sidewalks and the cobblestone streets is a challenge when lighted, but downright treacherous in total darkness.  Sandy had a small flashlight, so we were able to make our way to our hotel.  The power was restored soon after we returned to our rooms.  One morning, we awoke to another power outage, which lasted much longer, but we were able to find a restaurant with a generator, so it really didn't inconvenience us.

We felt very comfortable in town.  One evening was especially festive. Two of the Honduran soccer teams were playing.  All day long, we saw flags and banners and other signs of support for the teams.  They set up a movie screen in the square and televised the game to a sizable crowd, and, of course, every television in town was tuned in.  Everyone was in great spirits, and with each score, the entire town would erupt with cheer.

Scenes from our time in Copan Ruinas

One of many wonderful meals.  The Honduran cervasa (beer) we are drinking is Salva Vida (lifesaver).

Tuc-tuc Ride

Good security.  Now, if we could just get these guys to spread out around town.

Wonderful Markets

Happy Hour

View from our hotel

Copan - Part 4 - Macaw Mountain

Just outside Copan Ruinas is a bird sanctuary for rescued birds.  It has been beautifully done.  It is situated in an old-growth forest, augmented with native tropical plants to create a natural tropical garden.  The Jungle Bistro restaurant is located in the park next to the Sesemil River, which runs through the park. The Jungle Bistro is run by the same couple who run Twisted Tanya in town, a very popular backpackers' restaurant.  We had planned our day to have lunch at Jungle Bistro, and we were absolutely delighted with our meals.  The birds are getting great care in the perfect setting.  Do not miss this if visiting Copan.

Our tuk-tuk drivers are waiting to take us to Macaw Mountain.

 

Jungle Bistro

Toucan

Horned Owl

Young Macaw (about six months old)

Copan - Part 3 - Horseback Riding

On our first full day, we visited the ruins.  The ruins are just outside town, and we found the most inexpensive way to get there was to take a tuk-tuk.  With six of us, we were able to get there in two tuk-tuks.  After we toured the ruins, had lunch, and visited the museum, we were ready to get a couple of tuk-tuks back to town.  That is when we met Renaldo, a tuk-tuk driver. Renaldo's English is quite good, so we soon learned he could arrange horseback riding for us for the next day.  As it turned out, the others were not interested in horseback riding, so it was just the two of us.  Renaldo was our guide, and the horses belonged to his uncle.  He picked us up at the hotel in his tuk-tuk, and we then went to the horses, which were tied up just at the edge of town.  We rode up a mountain to the small Mayan village of La Pintada.  From the village, we then hiked to the Mayan ruins of Los Sapos.  Los Sapos, known as the birthing place, was where ancient Copanecan Maya women gave birth.  As we approached Los Sapos, we heard voices, and then Renaldo said, "Your friends are here."   After we had left on the horses, Bill, Pat, Terry, and Sandy decided to visit Hacienda San Lucas, which they reached by tuc-tuc, and then hike to Los Sapos.  What a coincidence, we met up as they were planning to return to Hacienda San Lucas, which was the opposite direction from La Pintada.  We told them not to miss La Pintada village and invited them to return with us.  Renaldo called his brother, also a tuc-tuc driver, and arranged for him to come up to the village to give them a ride to town.  We returned on our horses, and then we all met at the hotel, and then Renaldo and his brother gave us rides to Macaw Mountain, which will be the subject of another posting.

This village makes dolls and flowers with corn husk.  They are quite nice.  Here, the children are attempting to sell us some.  They also sell in town, so we had already purchased our fair share.

Linda's new friend, Rosa

Corn Husk Products - made in La Pintada

Typical Mayan homes were constructed of mud and sticks.

 

View of Copan Ruinas during our short hike to Los Sapos

Tuctuc driver, guide, and all-around good guy - Renaldo

Leaving La Pintada Village