S/V WAHOO: Lovely Rio Dulce

Raising the Guatemala flag on Wahoo

Since the 16th century people who go to sea have been finding safe harbor up this "sweet river". Our plans always called for us to do the same. Rio Dulce is a river in Guatemala, less then 20 miles from the Belize-Guatemala Border. When you arrive at the mouth of the river on the Caribbean Sea you must cross a shallow bar to enter. Wahoo draws 5ft and the bar is charted at 5.5 at mean low water. Even so we timed our entrance for high tide and crossed around noon with never less then 1.5ft under the keel. After crossing the 200 ft bar you arrive at the town of Livingston where you check into Guatemala using an agent named Raul.

Manual laundromat in Livingston

Everyone knows Raul, his name is in all the guidebooks and on all the forums. Somehow he IS Guatemala Customs and Immigration for cruisers entering Rio Dulce. We called him using our VHF, while crossing the bar, to let him know we were coming in. By 1pm we were anchored in front of Livingston's concrete town dock and Raul arranged to bring all officials to the boat for 2pm. Once they arrived he had all paperwork filled out in a matter of minutes. We were introduced to the officials but after the "Buenos Dias" they never said another word. Raul arranged for us to meet him back at his office where we would pay him and get our passports back. He also helped us with marinas and gave out maps with directions. Before meeting back in his office he gave us us time to wander around Livingston and go to a bank for quetzales or "q's" as they are called. The approximate rate of exchange is 7.50 Q to $1.US. All of a sudden we were brushing up on our 7.5 times tables. Livingston is a perfect little border town. Tiendas (shops) offered money exchange for nearly every possible currency at reasonable rates. We were able to change US dollars, Belize dollars and even some Euros that we'd been holding since Sebastien left us in San Pedro. Checking in cost us 1350 Q's ($174). Raul also arranged for a cruising extension as Wahoo would be staying in Guatemala longer then 90 days. This extension was about $264 for a year. There were no shorter extensions. There was no problem or added cost for having Galnoir aboard.

Sailing up the Rio Dulce

By 4pm we were back aboard pulling up the anchor and ready to head up the river. The beauty of the river as you glide past the high limestone cliffs dressed head to foot in tropical greens is breathtaking. Once you make the first turn in the river you are surrounded by these walls of living tropical greenery. After having spent the last 4 months on the sea with blue water below and blue sky above it was a wonderful moment, calm - tranquil - awesome. The beauty made us forget that this moment meant our 2012 trip was nearing its end.

Because it was getting late we decided to follow the advice of other cruisers and, after the 7 mile trip through the canyon, we stopped for the night at La Laguna Marina. Jungles and mountains surrounded us. La Laguna was a perfect first stop! Following the wooden walkways lit only by torchlight through the tropical foliage we could just make out the flicker of lanterns and murmur of voices from the little bar and restaurant that was the heart of the marina. We met other cruisers, some we'd hung out with in Placencia, others we would get to know later. The talk was cruisers' talk - what was broken, what was fixed, how you got there, what the weather had been like, where you were headed. We listened as we were the newbies, most everyone else always spent hurricane season in Rio Dulce.

Fishing from a dugout

Traditional Mayan Family compound with dugout - Waterlilies!

The next morning we decided to get in the dingy and do a little

Hot Spring

Cave

exploring. Being on the river in the dinghy was another experience. We passed Mayan indian men in dugouts fishing the river. We got a closer look at the thatched roof Mayan homesteads that we'd seen in little jungle clearings as we came upriver. One very beautiful thing was the waterlilies we saw in nearly each little cove. Soon we found the hot springs and caves we'd been told to look for. A guide took us into the caves then led us to the springs. The cave we entered was narrow, damp and deep but filled with wonders. Our young guide showed us around with flashlights and told us about his family who owned this land and had discovered the caves 3 generations back. After being in the cave, the springs were most welcome. Hot water came out of the limestone and depending where in the spring you swam the water went from hot to cold.

Fort protecting Lake Izabel - did I mention the mountains!

Early afternoon found us back aboard Wahoo. We motored as Rio Dulce broadened out to El Gulfete before narrowing again at our destination - the river towns of Fronteras and Rellano, connected by the highest bridge in Cental America. The river ends a little ways past the bridge flowing into large Lake Izabel. At this narrow point a fort stands watch, built to protect the Spanish galleons that would gather in Lake Izabel waiting for the right time to join a flotilla heading up the coast to Mexico, then Cuba before making the journey back across the Atlantic. We've been making that journey in reverse and all along our passage we coud see the danger that awaited ships from pirates, reefs and weather. (Well, we didn't see any pirates)

Market Day - Fronteras

Tienda

Of the two towns Fronteras is the larger market town. This whole area near the bridge is home to 12 - 15 marinas with slips and moorings for over 500 boats. Two boatyards can handle haulout, storage and marine work. We hope to get a little interior work done prior to heading out next year. In addition to the cruising community, there's a vibrant local population that seem to be into cattle (lots of brahmins being hauled through town) and farming (the fruits and vegetables, wow! Nearly everything we see in the supermarkets under wrap is here in the market in bins.) Dozens and dozens of tiendas line the streets of Fronteras. I do believe you can find nearly anything you want. Roy found beautiful shrimp! I found tomatoes that look like roma tomatoes but taste like creole. There's lettuce, strawberries, mirltons, plus all the tropical fruits. We even found mushrooms! Nice to know there won't be a problem provisioning for next year's trip.

Someone has to work! - Roy repairing the forward hatch

Mario's Pool

Like cruisers heliconia just hang around

After trying one marina and looking at several more we settled on Mario's, where Andy Galliano and Jim Hebert stayed when buying Jim's catamaran a few years back. It's a little far from Fronteras but has a great community of liveaboard cruisers, a nice bar and restaurant and a pool!! Rio Dulce is HOT! and HUMID!. You do one little chore and need to spend an hour cooling off in the pool. We run the AC to sleep but there's no way that baby will keep up during the day and at .48 a kw we don't want to try. The marinas here are inexpensive compared to the US . We will pay about 1,875 Q ($250 US) for the month plus electricity. Now that we're here, Fronteras seems exactly the right distance away. Really, its only a 10 minute dinghy ride and once we got the phone and internet aircard working, once or twice a week for market days is just perfect.