Saturday, February 06, 2010
Cruising Update
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Coming Soon...Cruising 2010
Really winter... the Gulf of Maine... from our deckPromises, promises. Yes, there will be blogs... but probably not until we return to Guatemala and Deja Vu in early February. Currently at lat. 44N. Get us out of here. Until then, when we take the wraps off the boat at Mario's, we will stoke the fires in Maine, layer up and pack the bags with great expectations for a fourth fabulous cruising season in the western Caribbean.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
What good is a blog without a blogger?

I just went to our blog and sadly noticed that I hadn't blogged in months. Can't have that... so
here's a morsel until next time. Memories of a blissful Belizean sunset w/ Beachhouse, Antares and Deja Vu at anchor, Caye Caulker, Belize, 2008. Photo by Sharon Smith, s/v Beachhouse.Show all
Thursday, April 30, 2009
An Embarrassment of Bananas...and Chayotes

Tuesday, April 07, 2009
This Floating Life... The Pleasures of Parrot Tree Plantation

This installment comes to you from the beautiful Parrot Tree Marina in Second Bight, Roatan. We are peacefully docked here ~ how refreshing not to worry about anchors dragging or boats dragging into us in the middle of the night...or squalls or all the things I don't like about sailing.
The placid anchorage at Second Bight, looking south through the reef cut
Can you believe I got up early enough to take this photograph?
From right to left: Deja Vu, Goen Places and Miss KathleenThe newly opened marina is part of a 160 acre development on a lush peninsula between two serene bights on the south coast of the island. The very long (267 yds) freshwater pool has recently opened, replete with fountains and water falls. There is also a lovely man-made saltwater lagoon with a pristine white sand beach. The "introductory" dockage rates are very reasonable and yachties have access to all the facilities, including a coffee shop, wi-fi, weekly fueling service, laundry...and security. The staff is professional, accommodating and friendly. A beach restaurant is scheduled to open soon and waterfront shops are also planned. The Plantation is a 15 minute drive to French Harbor and good provisioning.
On our almost daily walks we have encountered energetic agoutis, huge iguanas and shy hermit crabs. We have rewarded ourselves after the almost two mile, strictly uphill climb, with seafood paella at "The View" with its stunning vistas of both the north and southwestern coasts of Roatan. We've partied with our cruising friends on Capraia, Antares, UpJinks, Windquest, Compania, Allegro and Goen Places.
This is what I love about sailing ...being safely docked in a beautiful marina on a very friendly island in the western Caribbean. Got to finish this blog...it's almost happy hour.
Later this week we'll cast off the docklines and move eastward toward Barbareta and Guanaja to join our buddies on Jumbie before returning to the Rio Dulce in May.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Postcards from Utila, Bay Islands
A rare photo of the Deja Vu Diva (far right) with Rick/Cindy~Dragonfly and Shirley/Brant ~ Bruja...enjoying sundowners in Puerto Este HarborIf you've got college age kids on a tight vacation budget, this is the place to send them. We had a delicious grilled wahoo dinner for $5!
Most turistas fly into San Pedro Sula or Roatan and take the ferry to the island. Utila also boasts a unique species of iguana, a turtle nesting area and most impressive...an amazing cultural/racial diversity. Everyone says hello on this welcoming island and we look forward to returning en route to Guatemala in May.
A few postcards from Utila...

Uptown...and downtown
Mosaic and decorative detail from the Jade Sea Horse restaurant

Mariposa Cafe ~ a safe place to tie-up the dinghy and great food, especially the seafood pesto pasta
Monday, March 16, 2009
It's the Destination ~ Not the Journey
A Really Shitty Day in Paradise

Until a few years ago, I was from the "it's the journey, not the destination" camp, but after our recent sail from mainland Honduras to the Bay Islands, I'm convinced it's the destination that really matters. Seems we have at least one or two near catastrophes every sailing season and so far this one is no exception.
We are humbled, once again, by the power of the sea and feel fortunate to be writing this blog today. We have learned many lessons in our years of sailing in all kinds of weather but some of those lessons obviously didn’t sink in.
A Good Day Gone Bad
Getting to the Bay Islands from Guatemala is usually a slog to windward. The weather forecast indicated winds at 15 knots and fairly calm seas (3-5ft). In Maine we have an expression, “you can’t get there from here”. What began as a reasonable day to make this 40 miles passage began to deteriorate by late morning —an 8 hour motorsail seemed to have no end in sight as we plowed through 8ft seas created by the oppressive 25 knot headwinds.
By late afternoon we were salt-encrusted, soggy and dejected. It was one of the longest days of our lives. As I said to George more than 20 years ago after an equally horrible passage, “I would have rather been in labor.” Our boat speed diminished to 3 knots as the windspeed increased and the prospect of getting to the main anchorage of Utila-- with enough daylight to navigate the shoal entrance-- grew dim.
We were also running low on fuel due to a miscalculation and needed to have Plan B in the event we ran out of fuel en route. Reversing our course and heading back to the large open roadstead of Puerto Cortes on the mainland was our main option but one we hoped we didn’t have to implement.

Happy Ending
As we finally approached the west end of Utila we made a decision to try to anchor in the Water Cays –we had never been there and daylight was fading but we had a couple of charts and were able to identify the prominent cays and cut through a deep channel between Jack O’Neil and Pigeon Cays. We could still see the reefs on either side of the cut and miraculously managed to find a good spot in 15 feet to drop anchor.
Exhale. All's well that ends well.
Sunset over the Water Cays of Utila (Photos of Deja Vu taken during calmer passages off the coast of Honduras in 2007)
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Postcards from Guatemala ~ It's a Technicolor Life
Embroidery detail from the Panajachel huipil mercado
Confetti
The continuing, excellent adventures of Kathleen and Dinny
While George was slaving away in Maine recently, working so we could afford to play, I did what any normal, abandoned mate would do...went to market in the western highlands of Guatemala. I took the early morning Litegua bus to Guatemala City (5 1/2 hours) and holed up in the Biltmore Express hotel while waiting for Dinny's late night arrival from the frozen north, aka East Boothbay, Maine.
At a time when spending money feels like a crime...where frugality rules and shopping is taboo...where we worry about EVERYTHING, spending quetzales in Guatemala was pure therapy for our Scrooge-infested souls. Beautiful textiles, carvings and jewelry were purchased from local artisans. The prices were good for us and good for them ~and that's FAIR TRADE. "You can't always get what you want but if you try sometime, you'll find, you get what you need." (Rolling Stones)
For more stories and pix of La Antigua, Lake Atitlan and Chichicastenango, Guatemala (2006-08), click on the archives in the left margin of our blog.
Enjoy the photos and send us a comment so we'll know you're out there.
Currently anchored at Texan Bay in the Rio Dulce with plans to sail to the Bay Islands in early March.
We would have brought back the whole pile if we didn't have to pay overweight charges.
Children's masks at La Antigua mercado
Hot, hotter, hottest...
We passed on the ceviche but I'm sure it's fabulous.
Espresso break to give us strength and keep us buzzed
Monday, January 26, 2009
Copan, Honduras ~Mayans Rising and Falling...but what a run they had
Although less majestic than
A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980, the ruins of
Sting Rays and Seashells
During early excavations, evidence of trade with distant cities linked the site to
Collapse of
They may have honored and ritualized their deities, seasons, crops and animals, but it wasn’t enough for their survival in the long run. As urban sprawl engulfed the area, farms were replaced with housing for the increasing population. Eventually, deforestation led to major erosion, flooding and ultimately the downfall of the empire. Many deaths were caused by infectious diseases and malnutrition.
Hotel and Travel Tips
Our friend, Orin on Antares, arranged a shuttle van from Rio Dulce to Copan Ruinas with Ottitours. There were eight of us and the cost was $55 per couple for the one-way trip (approx. 4 1/2 hrs). We stayed at the Hotel Maya Acropolis which was clean, friendly, simply furnished and reasonable w/ private bathroom and hot water at a cost of $50 per double room. For our money (lempiras, that is) the best restaurant in town is Twisted Tanyas. Welchez Cafe has good espresso but there are other coffee houses in town with excellent coffee. Before going to the site we explored an informative museum in town that set the stage for our visit to the ruins with its diversity of stelae, funerary pieces and terra cotta figurines. The walk to the site is only 15 minutes from town and very pleasant. We hired a terrific guide, Juan, who was knowledgeable and entertaining. If you are anywhere near this part of the world, make the effort to visit Copan. You will not be disappointed.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Back in the Banana Republic ~Deja Vu All Over Again
View Larger Map
Welcome back to you and to us!
Where are we?
Latitude: 15 degrees, 40',72"N
Longitude: 88 degrees, 58',37"W
(I have to write out "degrees" because I don't have the symbol on my keyboard)
George and I returned to the good ship Deja Vu on January 13. After spending a beautiful summer and fall...and too much of winter...at home in Maine, we arrived at Mario's Marina on the Rio Dulce in Guatemala. For those of you who are location challenged, we've added a map of Central America. We are relieved to report that our floating condo is shipshape and none the worse for wear since we returned to Maine in May. For cruisers who are considering leaving a boat here for months at a time, it is essential to have some kind of dehumidifier system on board that will operate while you are off the boat. It's a jungle down here ~ with huge humidity levels, particularly during the summer rainy season. We also vacuum seal all of our linens, cushion covers and other items that would be damaged by moisture but that's another story.
The Rio Dulce is a beautiful freshwater river whose entrance is on the Caribbean Sea at Livingston, Guatemala ~squeezed in between Belize to the north and Honduras to the south. A long shallow sand bar stretches across the mouth of the river, making it imperative for us to come and go only at a very high tide with our 6ft. draft. It's almost 20 miles upstream to the small town of Rio Dulce.
We will stage here for our next adventure in early March when we will sail to the Bay Islands of Honduras and, hopefully, on to Panama sometime in April. Check in occasionally for updates of our adventures, including our recent trip to Copan, the extraordinary Maya ruins in western Honduras.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Sea, Silver and Stone ~ A New Blog

Monday, January 05, 2009
Flashback ~ Grenada, Nicaragua
While perusing my photo files, I opened up the Nicaragua folder from January, 2007, and was reminded of the vibrant colors and simple pleasures of Grenada, Nicaragua. Enjoy the flashback and do think about Nicaragua as a destination. The people are friendly, the country is beautiful and the price is right. After an unimpressive stop in Managua~and remembering that the city was flattened by a massive earthquake 30 years ago~we were transported back in time to Grenada, a colonial city founded in the 1500's and formerly a Central American capital.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Getting A Life ~ Safe Passage for the "Dump" Children of Guatemala
Guatemala is one of our favorite countries, particularly because of its gentle, generous and extraordinary people. The physical beauty of the country is breathtaking. Guatemala is also a region of enormous poverty and a recent history of a devastating civil war between the ruling elite and the indigenous Mayan culture.
One courageous woman from Maine, Hanley Denning, also fell in love with Guatemala and the children whose families live and scavenge daily in the garbage dump of Guatemala City, a huge festering place filled with disease and peril. In 1999 Hanley founded an educational program, "Safe Passage", with a mission to "empower the poorest, at-risk children of families ...by creating opportunities and fostering dignity through the power of education. Children and parents discover that through their own efforts, they can move beyond poverty. "
Tragically, Hanley was killed in an automobile accident near Guatemala City in 2007. Her dedication to this program inspired her colleagues to continue the work she began. This video from 2006 was posted on Youtube, I assume, by a volunteer who worked with these amazing children. I thank him for giving us a glimpse of the lives of the children who participate in Safe Passage.
If you'd like to sponsor a child or make a contribution, contact Safe Passage.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Awash in a Sea of Silver
Handwrought silver andphrenite bracelet
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The Not So Secret Life of the Deja Vu Diva


Monday, June 23, 2008
What's in a (Boat) Name?
Hey, what happened to that other accent mark?Since I’ve got nothing better to do today, I’ll share with you a fully categorized and lengthy list of boat names we’ve come across in our travels. Without further suspense, here are 11 (!) categories and the boats that inhabit them. Send me your boat name and I'll add it to the almost infamous list.
Antares (Valiant 42) at anchor ~ Rendezvous Cay, Belize
Caye Caulker, Belize (photo by Sharon Smith)
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Free Rice Project
This is genius! Here's a way to help alleviate world hunger simply by using your brainpower. For every correct answer to the vocabulary quiz you contribute 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program. That might sound trifling but your grains of rice will quickly add up as you continue to choose the correct answer in this multiple choice format. The site was created by John Breen, a computer programmer in Indiana with no political, religious or corporate agenda. He just wants to eliminate hunger and poverty...that's all.Play the game and pay it forward. Pass on this website to all of your friends. So far this month, 105 million grains of rice have been donated. For more information on this phenomenon go to NPR (National Public Radio). Now go play and give.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Yes, There Will Be Blogs
Camassia in bloom ~ our seaside garden
Our swimming pool
Can you find the deer?Monday, May 26, 2008
Back on the Lobster Coast
Sunrise on the DamariscottaSunday, May 04, 2008
Returning to the Rio Dulce ~ A Deja Vu Video Moment
Once again, our tiny Pentax captures a semblance of the exquisite beauty of the Rio Dulce as we cruised upriver in early May. Next year I might bring a real video cam. When I filmed this I'd been up since 3 a.m. in preparation for crossing the dreaded bar at an astronomical high tide. If my speech is slurred, that is my excuse. We crossed without incident and didn't even bump the bottom!
Friday, May 02, 2008
Glover's Reef Atoll ~ Watery Oasis in the Middle of Somewhere
Kate conducts marine research on a sea urchin skeleton in the shade of a beach palapa
Southwest Cay
F.Y.I. The Pew Center for Ocean Science recently conducted a survey of the migratory patterns and health of the shark populations of the area with the cooperation of the Glover's Reef Marine Research Station. 
View across the spectacular lagoon at Long CayCruising with Dolphins on the Barrier Reef ~ Belize
We have a neat little Pentax Optio digital camera that also takes videos in its own low tech way ~which is perfect for me. Since I've discovered this capability you may be subjected to more home movies. The quality isn't fabulous but at least you can cruise vicariously with us on Deja Vu.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Adventures in Planes, Buses, Cars, Lanchas, Sailboats, Dinghys...and Three Taxis

When our daughter, Kate, decided recently that she wanted to come sailing with us, after spending the better part of a nasty winter in New England, we began to ponder the logistics of getting her here. Of course she could have flown from Portland, Maine, to Boston to Miami to Belize City—a fairly straightforward string of flights (provided they’re on time) all in the same day--maybe. But that kind of itinerary is for people who plan ahead and are willing to pay platinum airfares …and aren’t nearly as resourceful as we are in utilizing almost every conceivable form of transportation known to humans to get her here. Here’s how it all evolved:
Being frugal travelers (especially George), fairly familiar with the way things work in this part of the world, we had recently heard of some incredulously low fares on a maverick airline called Spirit. We were stunned to find a one-way fare for the jaw-dropping price of $150 (including taxes!) from Boston to Guatemala City. (Spirit doesn’t fly to Belize—yet.) Or she could have flown to Managua, Nicaragua for $29 and then spent days on a variety of buses just to get to Guatemala. Not a good option.
One of the reasons Spirit Airlines can offer these silly airfares is that they really want to break in to the Central American market ~and many of their flights depart at god awful times like 1a.m. But if you’re young and resilient –like Kate—it’s irrelevant.
If Kate had been a naive traveler we would never have considered subjecting her to the”Amazing Race” game plan we were hatching. When we told some cruising friends that she was coming they were impressed with her fearlessness as we explained the circuitous route she would take to ultimately get to Déjà Vu which is anchored off the coastal village of Placencia, Belize.
The only leg of this trip that was written in stone was the flight from Boston to Guatemala. Everything else was improvised. Let the games begin.
Day 1: Kate drives to Boston, spends the night with a good friend and departs Logan at 5:30 a.m with touch down in Guatemala City at 11:30 a.m. (Central Standard Time). She clears customs (a very uncomplicated affair), can’t find an ATM that works, borrows quetzals from a fellow traveler and hails a taxi ($9) to the bus station. She pays the $6 fare and endures a 6 hour wild ride through the mountains of eastern Guatemala to the frontier town of Rio Dulce in the steamy jungle. She calls Mario’s Marina on her cell phone (everyone has one down here) as she’s approaching the bus stop and marvelous Marco, the manager of Mario’s Marina meets her in town, carries her bag to the lancha at the dock then delivers her safely ($5) 2 miles downriver to the marina where she arrives in time for a cheeseburger in paradise ($4) and a good night’s sleep in the new casita. ($30)
Day 2: Kate boards the sailing vessel SeaYeti, owned by friend and marina owner, Jim, who coincidentally is about to sail to Belize. In company with Jim’s partner, brother and Shadow the Wonder Dog, she cruises downriver 2 ½ hours to Cayo Quemada (aka Texan Bay) where she dines on Mike and Sherry’s chicken fried steak ($8) and spends the night on board in a tranquil freshwater lagoon.
Day 3: SeaYeti gets off to an early morning start, motors down to the mouth of the Rio Dulce, clears customs ($20) at Livingston, Guatemala and sails to Punta Gorda, Belize, four hours to the north. After Captain Jim clears his crew in to Belize, Kate is dropped off at the town landing where she buys a ticket on the Tropic Air flight to Placencia, takes a taxi ($3) to the tiny landing strip and, with minutes to spare, boards the last flight of the day for the twenty minute trip. She lands safely, hails yet another taxi ($6) and drives to the Placencia dinghy dock (10 minutes) where she is met with huge hugs from her anxious and overwhelmingly happy parents.
Total travel expense: approximately $290
True cost of getting Kate to Déjà Vu: Priceless
We send out our thanks to everyone who had a part in getting here safely ~ Chris Williams, Victor, Marco, Inez, Jim, Una, John and all those pilots, bus and taxi drivers.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Otto Helm Takes Over

Friday, April 11, 2008
We're Really Sailing

Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Catatonic in Caye Caulker


The cruise ships can‘t come out here because it’s too shallow so most visitors arrive via water taxi or small plane from Belize City, twenty miles to the south. For years, it’s been a laidback destination for backpackers and divers who stay in simple, small hotels. Fancy doesn’t exist out here but internet does. The island’s ubiquitous slogan is “Go Slow” which everyone on Caye Caulker does very well. The island is less than ½ mile wide and several miles long. Speaking of locals, they’re a colorful and exotic mix of Creole, mestizo and Chinese. Native Belizeans are black, white and every shade in between. For those of you who are historically and geographically challenged, Belize is the former British Honduras which declared its independence a mere 27 years ago, in 1981.

We’re parked in the large bay on the leeward side of the cay. Although Belize is twice as expensive as Guatemala, many of the restaurants here are reasonably priced so we are existing on fresh ceviche and conch fritters when not cooking on board or pot-lucking with other boats. A sweet little hotel, the Iguana Reef Inn, allows cruisers to use its wireless for the price of a Belikin beer.

Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Leaving Guatemala~ Round 2
We are ever optimistic that we will cast off our lines today and head back to that nasty sandbar where we recently came to grief. We will wait for the highest of tides and the calmest of seas before venturing out. Once bitten, naive. Twice bitten, stupid. Stay tuned to find out if we really make it this time.

The happy, but much poorer captain, with the crew of Abel's Boatyard prior to re-launching
Brand new rudder post and skeg pre-launch on March 10
Friday, March 07, 2008
Quirigua ~ Land of Mayan Monoliths
Field Trip!
“Unvisited, unsought and utterly unknown” were the words of explorer/writer John Stephens who visited the site in 1840 and tried to buy the stelae and ship them to New York. The ruins lay largely unexcavated until the late 19th century. Now, there is a paved access road flanked by banana plantations as far as the eye can see. Fortunately, Stevens was unable to purchase the carvings and the entire site with surrounding acreage was sold in the early 1900’s to the United Fruit Company ~but that’s another story. For facts about bananas you didn't even know you needed to know go to Cindy Miller's blog
The sandstone used for the stelae was quarried from the Motagua River basin. The massive pieces were transported to the Quiragua’s central plaza, erected, then carved on site. The softtness of the newly quarried stone enabled the master carvers to create stelae and zoomorphic figures (frogs, turtles, snakes and jaguars) with surprising detail and clarity, in spite of the limitation of their tools ~ simple stone chisels. Over time, the giant stones air-dried and set the carvings as a permanent record of a once thriving ceremonial and commerical center.

In its glory, the Quiriguans exported forest and sea products, handicrafts and jaguar pelts. They traded with other Mayan cities for cotton, gold, copper, honey, salt and feathers. Many theories exist as to why the Maya culture vanished so mysteriously. Some say natural disaster, poor farming techniques, overpopulation, war and/or disease caused the extinction of this extraordinary culture.


Tuesday, February 19, 2008
A Cautionary Tale
Listen well, you sailors with deep draft vessels, for here is a cautionary tale of what can happen while attempting to cross the insanely shallow sandbar that separates the mouth of the Rio Dulce from the Caribbean Sea. (It does, however, prevent cruise ships from coming upriver, and that is a very good thing.)
Nautical chart showing Rio Dulce at Livingston, Guatemala (red circle lowerleft of center), Bahia de Amatique and coast of Honduras
If we had crossed the bar with our “buddy boats”, Up Jinks and Antares, as planned, we would have had a fairly easy go of it in calm seas and little headwind. But a sudden generator problem forced us to stay behind at Texan Bay (a beautiful lagoon in which to be waylaid). We scheduled a rendezvous with our friends the following day, on the southeast corner of the Guatemala coast at Bahia la Graciosa. Reunited, we would wait for a good “weather window” and continue to sail along the coast of Honduras en route to the Bay Islands.
The Meaning of the Word “Naive"
Déjà Vu slammed repeatedly against the muddy bottom as her bow tipped into the wave troughs and was yanked up again on the next crest. Over and over we bounced along and were nearly hard aground. I was crouching on the afterdeck trying to control our dinghy which pitched and bucked like a wild pony on steroids. If the dinghy tether went under the hull far enough it could wrap itself around the prop and we’d be seriously dead in the water. With every bit of slack I pulled in the tether and wrapped another loop around the aft cleat. I screamed at George to turn around and go back, pleading “The boat can’t take this pounding. Something’s going to break.” But Mr. Perseverance kept on keeping on. Miraculously, we finally cleared the bar but paid a dear price.
Once again we were painfully reminded that hindsight is always 20/20. Had we been smart enough in the first place we might have anchored off Livingston and waited to see what the weather brought on the following day when there would be one more "astronomical" high tide late in the afternoon.
Changing Course

My fears were confirmed—our rudder post was bent and the skeg attached to the rudder had broken . There are few places in the Northwest Caribbean where yachts can be hauled out of the water for repairs. Among them, La Ceiba, on the coast of Honduras and the town of Rio Dulce, Guatemala. We had no choice but to return to Mario’s Marina, schedule a haulout by one of the only facilities capable of pulling us up and vacate the boat while the work was being done.
The lyrics from “Hotel California” keep running through my mind., “You can check out, but you can never leave.” So our sailing odyssey has been briefly interrupted .

And while we’re at it, we might as well have the bottom repainted.
Now that Deja Vu is out of the water for rudder repair and a bottom job, there's no telling how much longer we'll be at Mario's Marina awaiting splashdown. We've started a betting pool beginning with March 3rd being the earliest and the 22nd being the latest (we hope). For 50 quetzals ($6) fellow cruisers picked dates and placed their bets. The most cynical among us picked the last date, although there's talk that we may not get into the water before the end of March because of the big build-up to Semana Santa, the holiest week of the year which begins on Good Friday. Evidently there's major work stoppage and if we're not in by then we might not see saltwater again until early April. Well, such is life.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Honduras Bound
The photos are of Texan Bay, en route to the mouth of the Rio Dulce and the Caribbean Sea. These were taken last year but not much has changed there. A sweet spot to hang out while we wait for the tide.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Friday, February 01, 2008
MORE POSTCARDS FROM COSTA RICA ~ Ponies in the Sand
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
POSTCARDS FROM COSTA RICA

Our guide, Elberth (center), his brother (also a guide) and a fellow cloud forest afficionado
On our 2 ½ hour hike through lush vegetation, our guide spotted (with his high-powered scope), a sizeable Two-Toed Sloth carrying her baby from tree to tree at the forest canopy.Other sightings included Blue-Eyed Anoles, a Slate-Throated Red Start, a Guan (large bird in the turkey family), Three-Striped Warbler, Common Tanager and a Green-Crowned Brilliant Hummingbird.
In a nutshell, a cloud forest is a distinctive type of rain forest found only in mountainous regions, with cooler temperatures than lowland forests. At an elevation of 4600 feet, the average temperature of the Monteverde Forest ~ which straddles the Continental Divide ~ is 65 degrees F. Much of the time the forest is immersed in clouds with water from condensation supplying essential moisture for growth of the more than 2500 species of plants in an area of 21,000 acres which include 24 kms of trails (in both Monteverde and neighboring Santa Elena forests).
over the forest floor
~ 5000 species of moths
~ 425 bird species including 30 different hummingbirds
~ Quinine, used as a malaria prophylaxis, is extracted from the bark of the Cinchona tree
Threats to Cloud Forest health include deforestation, hunting/poaching, global warming, increased exposure to UV light and introduction of non-native species. To experience this pristine and unique environment is to understand the imminent need to do whatever we can to stop further climate change caused by global warming. This forest in a faraway land doesn’t feel faraway to me anymore. If you haven’t seen the film, An Inconvenient Truth, do the cloud forest a big favor and see it.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Gringas with Stuff ~ Atitlan Overload
Exquisite Lago de AtitlanLong gone are our backpacking days when we could barely afford a cheap hostel and a decent meal. Now that we're discriminating women with the need for more creature comforts--like a private bathroom--and an incurable desire to fill our homes with the art of the world, we need more space for all the stuff we suddenly can't live without. More space equals more weight, more bags. You'd think we'd have learned our lesson in Morocco two years ago when we suffered sore shoulders for weeks after lugging around our “must-have” purchases.
...worth a thousand wordsWith our newly stuffed, cumbersome bags filled with Mayan treasures, we boarded a public launcha in Panajachel for the twenty minute trip across beautiful Lago de Atitlan to our next destination, Hotel Casa del Mundo. When the boat dropped us off at the hotel dock, Diana and I knew immediately that we had made some bad luggage and excessive shopping choices. The diminutive young woman at the hotel reception area hoisted Diana's giant, bright turquoise bag above her head, balanced it and cheerfully hiked the equivalent of six steep flights of stone steps to our blissful room overlooking the lake. The sight of this woman with the huge bag on her head was enough to make us promise that we would enroll in the first available twelve-step program for schlepping shopaholics.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Off to See the Lizard (and the Howler Monkeys) ~Part II
For those who are still awaiting all those great cruising sites and blogs I promised, don't despair. I'm working on it.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
A Rare Glimpse of Deja Vu Underway






























