After almost a year in Panama enjoying the San Blas islands and the Bocas del Toro area, we headed north.  We are on our way back to Florida with Sylvia K.

Our trip north was pretty uneventful although we did get 'stuck' in San Andrés because of weather, squalls bringing 35- to 40-knot gusts of wind.  We were on the boat for nine days without going ashore.  When the winds and seas finally settled we moved up to Providencia and then on to the Bay Islands of Honduras.

These three islands sitting out here off the northern coast of Honduras were a treasure.  Unfortunately we only spent about a month here but we made the best of our time doing a lot of dinghy exploring on each island. 

Guanaja, the eastern most and second in size, is not a big tourist destination.  It's funny to see the main settlement of Bonacca.  There are about 8,000 of the 10,000 people living in Guanaja that live on this tiny cay.  The coolest spot in Guanaja was a small cay called Graham's Cay.  Graham has opened a small resort and is very friendly to cruisers and offers free ice, water, and WIFI to those anchored there.  

Roatán, the biggest of the islands, sits in the middle of the three.  Again we did a lot of exploring, both by dinghy and by land.  We spent Christmas here at a cruiser's potluck on the beach.  The West End is a great place to snorkel and enjoy the water.   Moorings have been put in for cruisers to use at no charge - don't find that in the States.

Finally we visited Utila, an island known for good scuba and snorkeling and it didn't disappoint us.  We spent more time in the water here than we have been able to since we were in the San Blas.  Our land exploring included sites around Utila Town.  A dropout from the 60's, the owner of The Jade Seahorse has created a unique tree-house bar connected to platforms and sitting areas by bridges, walkways and tunnels.  Everything is decorated with broken pieces of glass and pottery, finds from the sea, and just about anything imaginable.  It was a treat to just walk around and see what his imagination created.

It took us two days to get to the Río Dulce in Guatemala.  We had a reservation at Mario's Marina from mid-January to mid-February.  We almost skipped the Río after a cruiser had been killed here a few months earlier, but we decided not to miss it while here.  It turned out to be a good decision.  After clearing in at Livingston we traveled up the Río through a canyon, talk about beautiful. 

While at the marina we were able to get a lot of our boat projects done but mostly we were able to see parts of inland Guatemala.  There are two ways to see Guatemala from the Río, by bus or by private van.  We opted for the bus.  It was a four-hour ride to the town of Flores in the northern part of Guatemala.  Flores is located about an hour from the Mayan ruins of Tikal, a truly impressive site.  We spent a day with a guide just walking around the grounds and learning about the Mayan culture.  It was amazing to see what these people built over 2500 years ago.  If you are anywhere in the area, this is a place not to miss.

We also spent some time in the colonial city of Antigua.  At one time this was the capital of Guatemala but after several earthquakes that destroyed so much, the capital was moved to what is now Guatemala City.  It took a five-hour bus ride for us to get to Guatemala City where we had arranged to meet a tour guide to take us on to Antigua.

Antigua's biggest tourist attractions are the ruins of the churches and cathedrals built back in the 1600's.   Some of the churches have undergone restoration and they are beautiful.   There are museums to enjoy but we enjoyed walking through the Saturday morning market the most.   The market in Antigua is at least three blocks square, not the largest in Guatemala but big enough for us.   We found all sorts of things from the handicrafts of the local Indians to fresh vegetables and fruits.  We saw cauliflower the size of soccer balls.

Antigua is located in the highlands and we experienced some cold weather we weren't use to.  After having spent the last nine years in the tropical climate of the Caribbean, having to use four blankets at night to keep warm was a new experience.  The posadas in Antigua don't have any heat.  (A posada is real small hotels with only six or so rooms.)  As much as we enjoyed our time in Antigua we were glad to get back to the boat and get warm.

When it was time for us to move on to Belize we made the run down the Río to an anchorage in Texan Bay.  A couple from Texas came here about three years ago and bought some property in a bay off the Río.  They've built a small marina and restaurant and have a wonderful spot to get away from it all.  Every day they have a different special and while there we enjoyed a pig roast with all the trimmings, made us feel like we were already back in the States.

Now we are anchored off the town of Placencia in Belize.  The weather has turned bad, winds in the 15-knot range and overcast with rain.   But we're not going to let that dampen our spirits.  We'll hang in this protected anchorage until the weather changes, as it always does, and then go out to the barrier reef and do some snorkeling and hopefully some diving.  

Our time is running short; we want to be back in Florida by mid-May.  But you can be assured we are going to enjoy what time we have left down here in the beautiful Caribbean.

All the best, Karen & Allen

m/y Sylvia