June 9, 2008
View from the pool - notice the masts behind the palapa
View from the bridge - Jupiter's Smile is above the center palm hidden by boats in front.
The suspended walkway through the jungle.
To a mountain stream's pool.
The hacienda above the jungle.
We had reservations booked at the Hacienda Tijax Jungle Hotel Marina, but Pearl had none anywhere. When I made our reservation via e-mail I had tried to make one for Pearl S. Buck and Tisha Baby at the same time, but the response was that they could not take either one of the other boats. Bryan and Dorothy went off in their dinghy to scout out Catamaran, Monkey Bay and the La Holla del Rio marinas. Barb and I dinghyed to Tijax, announced our arrival and picked one of two offered locations at the dock. Barb had not been too impressed by what she saw, but we raised the anchor and while towing the dinghy we headed to the slip. Just outside the entrance, Barb piloted the dinghy to the dock and I backed Jupiter’s Smile slowly into the slip. Five men appeared to help with lines, three on the docks and two in a launch. The fellows in the launch took my anchor about seventy-five feet out and dropped it. The other three swarmed about the deck of an adjacent boat, my deck and the dock, securing Jupiter’s Smile with what is known as a Med mooring – the boat is perpendicular to the dock with only the stern tied to the dock. The drama in this was provided by the men speaking only Spanish and me speaking only English, except when I said “Si” in response to a word I thought I might have understood. My understanding Spanish is based on our almost yearly visits to Puerto Vallarta and the vocabulary remembered from my high school Latin and French classes (I’m still sorry, Mr. Carlson and thank you, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Nielsen and Miss Koch and my parents!) By the time this act played out, Bryan and Dorothy appeared at dockside and had decided that they would take the other unclaimed slip for Pearl S. Buck. With some variations, the second act concluded with us being neighbors in Tijax. That pleased Barbie and me immensely.
Hacienda Tijax Jungle Lodge and Marina is an exotic place with docks along the river front and small cabins connected by boardwalks (some with bathrooms) spread throughout the jungle. The office/bar and dining rooms are all open to the air and the pool is in a lovely setting surrounded by some variety of bird of paradise flower that produces more blossoms per stem than I have ever seen before. The men speak mostly Spanish except for the office manager and owner and the women do pretty well speaking English generally. It is an enchanting place. They offer excursions by foot and by horseback into the jungle and we will be doing that later on. Meanwhile, the weather has been somewhat rainy with the passing of tropical storm Arthur last week and showers continue for part of the day almost everyday. We are catching rainwater since the recommendation is to boil the piped water or treat it with iodine.
We have taken the water taxi provided by the Hacienda to Rio Dulce (a third of a mile away) and that or launch, dinghy or canoe seems to be the way most people get around. The town has a bustling main street with banks, pharmacies, hardware, variety shops and food stands which spill out onto the street. The road is a two-lane affair and is the main highway to Guatemala City so the heavy truck traffic crawls along with the pedestrian traffic just inches apart. This part of the town used to be called Fronteras and was separated by the river from Rellenos on the opposite bank.
An 85 foot high bridge connects the two towns and they are now united under the name Rio Dulce.
The plan is to make this our home for six months until the hurricane season ends. I feel like we are on vacation when I sit and read next to the pool. The people are very friendly and eager to help. Example: while we searched the other day to find iodine for water purification at a farmacia, a painter who was working on the other side of the parking lot walked over, paint and roller in hand and helped us as an interpreter. Smiles all around and mission accomplished eventually. The day-to-day activities of finding the necessities of life in a foreign land, with a foreign tongue and foreign money present their minor challenges, but as long as it remains a source of entertainment and not a crisis, it is all good. The quality of the experience is controlled by outlook, temperament and attitude. So far, so good.
We are having a full-length boat shade made by a local canvas maker. During this time we expect to tour the area by bus, visiting Guatemala City and the old capitol Antigua, visiting the various Mayan ruins and enrolling in a Spanish language school in Antigua for immersion learning so we may enjoy the culture at a deeper level. We may haul the boat out of the water and get the bottom repainted, the prop and stuffing boxes serviced and get a thorough cleaning and waxing. We expect to return to the US for a month or more to drive and see Barb’s “new” sister in the Seattle area, her godmother in Pelican Rapids, Minnesota and possibly, if time allows and we hold up, get to Springfield, VA/Washington, DC to see my parents and brother. Maybe we will be able to connect somewhere with Tom and Vickie as they travel by kayak.
This season’s cruise is concluded. We have no set plans for more, but now we have the summer and fall to do land based activities and decide what comes next. That’s it for now.
Till next time, be well!
We had reservations booked at the Hacienda Tijax Jungle Hotel Marina, but Pearl had none anywhere. When I made our reservation via e-mail I had tried to make one for Pearl S. Buck and Tisha Baby at the same time, but the response was that they could not take either one of the other boats. Bryan and Dorothy went off in their dinghy to scout out Catamaran, Monkey Bay and the La Holla del Rio marinas. Barb and I dinghyed to Tijax, announced our arrival and picked one of two offered locations at the dock. Barb had not been too impressed by what she saw, but we raised the anchor and while towing the dinghy we headed to the slip. Just outside the entrance, Barb piloted the dinghy to the dock and I backed Jupiter’s Smile slowly into the slip. Five men appeared to help with lines, three on the docks and two in a launch. The fellows in the launch took my anchor about seventy-five feet out and dropped it. The other three swarmed about the deck of an adjacent boat, my deck and the dock, securing Jupiter’s Smile with what is known as a Med mooring – the boat is perpendicular to the dock with only the stern tied to the dock. The drama in this was provided by the men speaking only Spanish and me speaking only English, except when I said “Si” in response to a word I thought I might have understood. My understanding Spanish is based on our almost yearly visits to Puerto Vallarta and the vocabulary remembered from my high school Latin and French classes (I’m still sorry, Mr. Carlson and thank you, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Nielsen and Miss Koch and my parents!) By the time this act played out, Bryan and Dorothy appeared at dockside and had decided that they would take the other unclaimed slip for Pearl S. Buck. With some variations, the second act concluded with us being neighbors in Tijax. That pleased Barbie and me immensely.
Hacienda Tijax Jungle Lodge and Marina is an exotic place with docks along the river front and small cabins connected by boardwalks (some with bathrooms) spread throughout the jungle. The office/bar and dining rooms are all open to the air and the pool is in a lovely setting surrounded by some variety of bird of paradise flower that produces more blossoms per stem than I have ever seen before. The men speak mostly Spanish except for the office manager and owner and the women do pretty well speaking English generally. It is an enchanting place. They offer excursions by foot and by horseback into the jungle and we will be doing that later on. Meanwhile, the weather has been somewhat rainy with the passing of tropical storm Arthur last week and showers continue for part of the day almost everyday. We are catching rainwater since the recommendation is to boil the piped water or treat it with iodine.
We have taken the water taxi provided by the Hacienda to Rio Dulce (a third of a mile away) and that or launch, dinghy or canoe seems to be the way most people get around. The town has a bustling main street with banks, pharmacies, hardware, variety shops and food stands which spill out onto the street. The road is a two-lane affair and is the main highway to Guatemala City so the heavy truck traffic crawls along with the pedestrian traffic just inches apart. This part of the town used to be called Fronteras and was separated by the river from Rellenos on the opposite bank.
An 85 foot high bridge connects the two towns and they are now united under the name Rio Dulce.The plan is to make this our home for six months until the hurricane season ends. I feel like we are on vacation when I sit and read next to the pool. The people are very friendly and eager to help. Example: while we searched the other day to find iodine for water purification at a farmacia, a painter who was working on the other side of the parking lot walked over, paint and roller in hand and helped us as an interpreter. Smiles all around and mission accomplished eventually. The day-to-day activities of finding the necessities of life in a foreign land, with a foreign tongue and foreign money present their minor challenges, but as long as it remains a source of entertainment and not a crisis, it is all good. The quality of the experience is controlled by outlook, temperament and attitude. So far, so good.
We are having a full-length boat shade made by a local canvas maker. During this time we expect to tour the area by bus, visiting Guatemala City and the old capitol Antigua, visiting the various Mayan ruins and enrolling in a Spanish language school in Antigua for immersion learning so we may enjoy the culture at a deeper level. We may haul the boat out of the water and get the bottom repainted, the prop and stuffing boxes serviced and get a thorough cleaning and waxing. We expect to return to the US for a month or more to drive and see Barb’s “new” sister in the Seattle area, her godmother in Pelican Rapids, Minnesota and possibly, if time allows and we hold up, get to Springfield, VA/Washington, DC to see my parents and brother. Maybe we will be able to connect somewhere with Tom and Vickie as they travel by kayak.
This season’s cruise is concluded. We have no set plans for more, but now we have the summer and fall to do land based activities and decide what comes next. That’s it for now.
Till next time, be well!
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