July 27th Into the Lost City of Lubaantun.

After a night of resting in Punta Gorda, (we went upscale and rented a room for $25 per night, still no hot water or A/C but they had cable TV which was quite a treat for us), we woke up early to catch the bus back up the Southern Hwy. We planned on getting off the bus at the junction of Lubaantun, which is a Mayan ruin. We were told it was about a two mile hike from the Hwy to the ruin site. It ended up being more like 6 miles! However, we were lucky, and this guy in a pickup truck stopped and gave us a very bumpy ride up the dirt road.. Once he dropped us off it was about another mile hike into the jungle to the site. It turned out to be well worth the hike, the site was FANTASTIC!!! The site has not been as well re-constructed as other more popular ones so many of the temples and/or structures were still piles of rubble with huge trees growing out of them. However this is what made the site so intriguing, because you almost felt like you had stumbled across this lost city, still hidden in the jungle. Granted they did keep it up for tourists so they kept the area mowed and tried to stop the surrounding jungle from taking over the city again. Also there are some structures that archaeologists had semi reconstructed so you did get an idea of how the buildings looked once upon a time. The other amazing thing was that we were the ONLY people there, other than the man at the little office that sold us our tickets for $5 each. Keith and I had the ENTIRE site to ourselves. We wandered throughout, although the site was actually not too large, but if we looked out over the hills we could see distant piles of rubble that were impossible to get too due to the dense jungle. Later the man at the office confirmed that the site we were visiting was only a small part of the original city. At one point as we walked around the site, we heard water and we ended up following this little path through the lush tropical foliage and we wound up at this cool crystal clear steam that we sat in and cooled off enjoying our total isolation and the most amazing scenery.

Interestingly, for any Indiana Jones fans, the site of Lubaantun is the supposed site where they found the crystal skull. (The latest movie revolves around the myth of the Crystal Skull) No kidding! A British adventurer Mike Mitchell-Hedges and his daughter Anna apparently found the skull in 1927 in a temple vault at Lubaantun. He later claimed that this skull was proof of the link between the Mayan people and the lost people of Atlantis. Quite a bit later his finding of the skull was challenged and some claimed that he had bought the skull at an auction house in 1943 at Sothebys. However, his daughter Anna, apparently always maintained the fact that they had found the skull at Lubaantun and traveled the world displaying the skull.

When Keith and I were leaving the site we stopped and talked to the man at the office. He ended up being really nice and very informative and gave us a lot of information. Apparently many of the people from his village as well as him had worked with archaeologists to re-construct the site. He care-takes the site now and he showed us pieces of pottery and small flutes that he still finds as he is trimming the grounds. He had collected quite a few and we assume they go into the display cases around his small office after they have been logged. So I told him that I was embarrassed to say that I was not really familiar with the crystal skull until I saw the last Indy movie. He said 'oh yes we had the film crew for that movie here quite a few months ago filming'. Keith and I were like "No way!That is really neat!" He told us that one of the women on the film crew had asked him to take her to any area where there are leaf cutting ants (aka siafu) so she could film them. We told him that in the movie they did have lots of the ants and that they ate people, he was very amused by this! He also told us that the man who actually owned the Crystal Skull was there as well. We said we thought that the daughter Anna had the skull, and he told us that the she did, but this man married her when she was 95yrs old (he was much younger) and when she died he got the skull! He said he thinks that was the plan all along!!....So the curse of the skull continues!

We were once again lucky enough to hitch another ride back to the Southern Hwy just in time to catch the last bus going back to the town of Independence. We arrived just in time to catch the Hokey Pokey water taxi back to Placencia. It was nice to be back on the boat, snuggled in our comfy bed with our mosquito screening securely in place. However, the our jungle trip was one of the best trips we have ever experienced and are now eagerly planning our next excursion. Guatemala perhaps?

July 24th Living in Laguna

The next day after talking to the tourist info center as well as one of the Inn owners, an American dude who has lived in Belize for 30 years, we decided to head into the little Mayan village of Laguna. This village, as well as others in the area, have tried to bring money into their communities by inviting tourists to come and stay in the village and learn about the modern Mayan way of life. When visiting the village you eat every meal at one of the villagers homes and learn about how they farm and what they eat etc. It was a little awkward as they do not have a phone, so you just show up and the village accommodates you. We hired a taxi to take us into the village and sure enough they were surprised to see us. We are in the off season and they do not expect tourists until November. However, they quickly took care of us and a woman named Justina, led us to the 'guest house'. Keeping with the authentic experience our house was just like the villagers house, called a Palapa. It is built of local wood with a thatch roof made of palm fronds. No electricity but they did supply lanterns. The toilet and shower was in a wooden structure outside; the toilet a latrine, a large hole in the ground.

The villagers were farmers mainly. They all lived in one room Palapas, although usually the kitchen was in a second Palapa next to the main house. The families are large, 5-9 children. Most of the families sleep in hammocks though we did met one woman who had a bed. They grind the corn daily (they have a diesel operated mill, no more hand grinding) for the corn tortillas that they eat with EVERY meal. They showed us how they made them and they still cook them over a stone fireplace over a wood fire. They were really yummy tortillas. Some of the villagers did have electricity and some had regular stoves and even fridges. Yet, even if they had an 'real' oven, the tortillas were always cooked over the wood fire. Our first afternoon we were picked up at our house and taken on a village tour. We were shown the new water system that now brings water into their houses so they do not have to go to the centralized pumps. This is a mixed blessing. Although they had to walk to get water, it was free, now they have a water system they have to pay the water company and many do not have any money to do so. We were showed the local school and the school garden where children learn to grow various plants and then cook them. The village was very small, pop 300, and the roads are all dirt and mud. There are numerous chickens, ducks, pigs and horses that wander the village looking for food. Although they are owned by certain members they are free to roam. Talk about free ranging! The village is laden with fruit trees, it was amazing! Guava, tons and tons of Mango trees, breadfruit trees, calabash trees, huge palm trees with a small nut quite like a coconut, banana palms, monkey apple trees and many others that we were unfamiliar with. One nice aspect of visiting the Maya in Belize is that they all speak English very well. They are all multilingual, even the children.

Our first night one of the village children stopped by our house and took us to our dinner. Miss Rosa had prepared a venison stew, a local deer that had been caught in the jungle, with tortillas. We also had the opportunity to try the authentic chocolate drink. Rosa has her own cacao trees and makes the chocolate drink. It was wonderful and we felt like Mayan royalty drinking this traditional Mayan drink that is thousands of years old. It was Rosa's grandfather that had escaped turmoil in Guatemala in the late 50's and founded the village of Laguna in 1959. Laguna is named after the very large and plentiful Lagoon that the village sits near. Because of heat and mosquitoes we did not sleep the first night. Our mosquito netting was not like regular netting, it was more like gauze and so we had no air flow. We went back and forth all night putting the net up to cool off, and getting eaten alive, to putting the net down and lying in pools of sweat. At six in the morning the corn mill started its humming and we pulled ourselves from our bunks thinking that perhaps we were too old for this.

Our day started with a hike into the jungle. Our guide Pablo picked us up at 8am. He said that he had had a rough night himself as he had a fever, perhaps a bout of malaria, that he had gotten years before. Keith and I tried to ignore the fact that we had been dinner for hundreds of hungry mosquitoes the night before and started our jungle hike. Pablo took us into the hills pointing out many of the fruit trees, medicinal plants and edible plants in the forest. The hike, although hot as hell and yes, equipped with mosquitoes, was really amazing. The path led us through giant palms that towered into the sky and the canopy was thick with lush tropical foliage. Pablo led us to an area that had been cleared to plant cacao, the villagers harvest and sell the cacao beans for chocolate. We then hiked up to this huge cave in the hillside and equipped with flashlights explored the cave. It was beautiful, and very eerie, filled with tiny bats and incredible rock formations. Once back in town after our hike, we had an hour to spare before lunch and searched our house for some other type of mosquito netting. We were in luck, we found two, real nets, washed them outside in a bucket, fixed any holes and left them to dry. We were determined to sleep! For lunch we ate Jippy Joppa, this is the soft young part of a palm frond. You find the palm and pull out a newly growing leaf and the bottom is soft and white. Then you chop it up and cook it. It looked awful, but was really yummy.

After lunch we had a craft lesson in the afternoon, which was mainly a time for the tons of kids to gather and watch the gringos try to weave. It was really fun. The local women then showed us their crafts and of course want to sell them. We bought way too much stuff!! But it was so inexpensive and we felt like we were their only chance to make any money until season. Our second night we slept very well,our new nets were fantastic . By the time we left the village we were sad to go, we felt like we started to get to know people throughout the village and it was so beautiful. They had so many fruit trees everywhere, the Emery trees would fill with roosting parrots in the evening. Neither Keith nor I had seen parrots in the wild before, and so many making a racket in the trees. One night I went to our outdoor toilet and there was a HUGE hairy tarantula next to the door. OH MY, that is also something I had not seen in the wild before!! They are SOOOOOO creepy looking!!!!! It seemed that by the time we left even the villagers we sad to see us go and we exchanged our e-mail with a couple of the people. (Not that they have e-mail in their houses, but the school has one computer that is kept under lock and key. The computer attendant opens up the computer to the village for an hour or two every evening). We were up at 5am the next morning so we could catch the only village bus back into Punta Gorda. It was an amazing experience!

July 23rd South to Punta Gorda

It was time to head inland! After having spent months in numerous coastal towns we really felt it was time to wander farther inland. Belize is known to have a spectacular jungle laden with diverse flora and fauna as well as its numerous Mayan sites. Going on a tip we had gotten from a local dude in San Pedro we planned on heading to the southernmost town in Belize, Punta Gorda. He had told us that the town was at the foot of the Mayan mountains and a good starting point to get into the southern jungles of Belize. We left the town of Placencia early in the morning taking the Hokey Pokey water taxi across the bay to the town of Independence where we caught the bus to Punta Gorda. The bus was an old school bus, typical Central American bus, that stops for everyone and their wares while winding through little settlements. The bus ride was marvelous, granted there was no A/C but the breeze from the windows was sufficient. It was exciting to be inland seeing the banana and pineapple plantations backdropped with dense jungle. As it is rainy season the landscape is lush and an unimaginable vibrant green. The bus trip to Punta Gorda was about two hours and cost $4.50 each, we had discovered the way to travel!

Once in Punta Gorda we wandered aimlessly, quite lost, until a very nice man pulled us into his little restaurant “ Moms”, and fed us a delicious lunch of stewed chicken with rice and beans and my favorite, fresh squeezed Orange Juice. We must of looked like hardy backpacker types as he pointed us to a little inn named Natures Way. It was obviously a backpacker stop, pretty funky and ultra cheap. $16 per night. The room was more than basic, a wooden platform with foam mattresses thrown on and a floor fan. Shared bathroom and a small trickle of cold water was our shower. At first it seemed like an adventure and I was drawn in by the huge frangipani tree right outside the bedroom window. Later, when I found out that my very thin mattress was wet, due to the window being left open in a rain storm, I was none too happy. However, being the only guests at the place, we snuck into another room and snagged a dry mattress. We did not sleep too well due to the numerous giant moths that made their way through the cracks in the walls and pounded themselves against the glass window trying to get at the full moon outside. Then we had a huge rain storm, a daily occurrence this time of year, which was lovely but the heavy rain on the tin roof sounded like a constant roll of thunder. After the moon crazy moths and the rain, we drifted to sleep only to be woken by a loud ringing of a cow bell at 6am!! And then 10mins later at 6:10am. The inn owner woke her family up by ringing the bell. I suppose she had no concern for the vacationing guests. Sigh.

Punta Gorda is a weird town, you feel like you are in an Old West frontier town. It is really sleepy, not too much going on, but people from everywhere just passing through. Many of the Gringos go here to take a boat over to Guatemala, but not too many people stay in Punta Gorda. Of course we did, and Keith was offered drugs numerous times, but we never felt threatened or unsafe, we just said no and it seemed that the townspeople, drug dealers and market people alike, where very friendly and helpful. The town is hot and sparse and has a bizarre disjointed feeling to it. I am sure that many a person escaping from the law reside in the little town and soon find themselves drinking beer for breakfast, lost in the limbo land of Punta Gorda.

July 21, 2008 Placencia, Belize

Although this is a tourist town like many others we visited, this one has very few visitors right now, which gives it a slower pace and guarantees the best seat in the house at any restaurant. A great feature here is that a lot of businesses are centered around a mile long cement sidewalk that served as a “main street” until the recent arrival of a road. This means we can enjoy a stroll around town without being run over by a golf cart or truck.

The anchorage is quiet, protected and full of over 40 sailboats that are run by the Moorings charter service. It gives the impression that a lot of sailors are here, but there are only about 4 cruising boats with people aboard. There is a bakery with banana-chocolate muffins, which I seem compelled to visit every time we go ashore. Despite my lactose intolerance, we treated ourselves at a fabulous gelatto shop where their presentation was as fantastic as the product!

We spent several afternoons going to the beach in our dinghy and went on a “kayak tour” (Keith paddled the inflatable around the mangroves). While strolling the beach one afternoon we came upon some Garifuna (a cultural group being a mixture of Carib Indian and African) drummers entertaining tourists. Soon we were all dancing in a circle around the two drummers, pulsing with the rhythm.

Now that we feel secure, it is time to plan some inland trips...

July 16, 2008 Sailing South Inside the Reef

It was time to see more of Belize, so we made an 85 mile trip south to the coastal town of Placencia. This 3 day venture was some of the most fantastic sailing so far of our trip. The first major improvement is that we were sailing behind the protection of the reef, so the waves are small. The second important factor is that there are numerous islands which we could easily anchor at when we were done sailing for the day.

The first day was light wind and although we only traveled at 3.2 knots, we just relaxed and let the autopilot earn its keep. The uninhabited (no humans, animals live there) mangrove island we anchored at looked so idyllic, especially while we enjoyed a fantastic sunset. My idealism wore off a bit as I dashed around installing our screens in all the hatches. Lots and lots of mosquitoes lived on this island and they we happy that the dinner delivery boat had arrived!

Day 2: another fantastic day of sailing. The wind was from the port quarter (behind and to the left) which kept the sails full and we made better speed: 4.5 knots. We decided to anchor in a lagoon ringed by mangrove islands, one of which the cruising guide said had a resort on it. It turns out the “resort” is a seasonal retreat for a wealthy lawyer from Los Angeles. The moment we entered the lagoon the caretaker of the resort (Herman) was yelling and waving at us. We feared we we heading for some unknown danger, so we swung around and made a close pass to the resort dock. Herman just wanted to say “hi” and invite us to come over after we anchored – the way he was waving and yelling, he must be really lonely out there!. Right after we anchored a fisherman (Lewis) that lives on one of the other islands in the lagoon stopped by to see if we wanted to buy any seashells (we declined without explaining how the collection of marine artifacts can damage ecosystems). He did need some gas for his skiff, so we gave him half our dinghy can (about a gallon). Later, at the resort, Lewis wanted to trade seashells for diesel for his generator. I spent about 20 minutes dipping and pouring about 1.5 gallons of diesel into empty water bottles and delivered them to Herman (we declined the seashells again).

We have started to realize that, in many of the places we visit, anyone that can afford a “leisure” boat (not a working boat) and travel on an extended trip without working is really, really wealthy. Whereas, in the USA we may appear “poor” because we live on a boat and don't have a lot of material possessions. Understanding this encourages us to help whenever possible.

Our last day sailing brought lots of wind and rain as a weak tropical wave passed. That helped us average 5 knots under head sail only. Our fresh water tanks ran out just as we arrived in Placencia – no worries, we could fill up for just 10 cents a gallon. San Pedro was the last place we filled up because most of the islands have salt contaminated water and only drink bottled water

Fantastic smooth sailing, lots of easy anchor spots, friendly people, beautiful views, no seasickness – we love sailing in Belize!

July 13th Cool Caye Caulker

We finally left San Pedro. On Sunday July 13^th we prepared the boat and waved good-bye to La Isla Bonita. We did not make it very far however, only 11 miles south of San Pedro, to the tiny island community of Caye Caulker. Pulling into the little harbor we could not wait to drop anchor and jump into the water to cool off and check on the anchor. (It was not until later that night when we came back out in our dingy that we saw the red glow of the eyes of the salt water crocodiles that live in the water! Yikes!) Deciding to treat ourselves and find a local place to eat in town, we took a refreshing cockpit shower, donned some semi-fresh clothes jumped into the dingy and headed into town. On our way, minding our own business, we were detoured by a woman waving madly from her semi-inflated inflatable Kayak. Rushing over to her she told us she was trying to save a dog that had swam far off shore and was worried he would drown. We could not quite understand the situation, she was very upset, but we found ourselves motoring out to this little brown head that was swimming out in the middle of the harbor. Attempting to bring the dog into our dingy proved useless, the dog was not ready to be saved, instead we followed the dog at a distance, all the way back to shore. After about half an hour we were back at shore, the dog energetically bounded off down the road without even a thank you. We found out that the owner of the deflating Kayak was also the founder of the the local animal shelter. (Anyone interested in coming to Belize and staying for free, the woman offers a free place to stay for people that are willing to help out at the shelter, look up PAWS in Caye Caulker online for more details). She surmised that the dog owner, who lived on a boat in the harbor, had abandoned his dog on land and the dog was trying to swim home. We felt awful for the dog and quite disgusted with the man. It was not until the next day, when Keith confronted the man on the boat (Keith, my hero, was about to give him a piece of his mind, luckily Keith wisely listened before throwing a punch), we found out it was not the mans dog. The man did have a dog, but his dog was a female in heat and the little stray dog had fallen head over paws in love with his dog. In love enough to swim all the way out to the boat!!! How romantic!

We much prefer Caye Caulker to San Pedro. It is far more laid back and does not have all the traffic and clutter. The streets are sand and the beaches are lovely and quiet and its nice to sit on the beach and not be accosted by person after person trying to sell us their wares. Caye Caulker has a local 'water hole' called the Lazy Lizard that is on the beach and has picnic tables and chairs in the water so you can cool off while sipping on your icy beverage. There is also a diving board in front of the bar where we spent a lovely lazy afternoon watching talented local kids doing back flips and very drunk adults doing belly flops, it was great entertainment. Our favorite aspect of Caye Caulker is a local juice spot. Two Mayan women run the stand and squeeze fresh juices daily. Mango, watermelon, pineapple, orange, papaya and banana. All fresh squeezed, no added sugars, no preservatives, not pasteurized and absolutely delicious. They sell bottles of the juice for $2.50 in reused liter water bottles and once you are finished you take your bottle back for reuse. We love to be able to recycle the plastic bottles. Garbage removal is a costly and huge problem for these little islands. We visit the stand every day and are now 'regulars'. We spent one day snorkeling the reef. It was a splendid calm day so we motored our little dingy the mile out to the reef. Like the rest of the Mayan Reef system, it is crystal clear and the corals are spectacular.

July 6 '08- Grooving in San Pedro

It has been a week and we are starting to like San Pedro. It is super laid back, barefoot in most establishments, like restaurants, bars and shops, is the norm. Dogs wander the island, most well fed and happy, and they wander the establishments looking for extra treats here and there. The local children take advantage of the great beaches and there are always local families in the late afternoon/early evening spending time playing on the beaches. The other night we went to the Wednesday night 'Chicken Drop' sponsored by a local beach bar. People gather at about 6:30pm around the bar. There is a band playing and they serve the local beer Belkin, plus other fruity tropical delights. At the bar they sell tickets, $5 US minimum bet, for the chicken drop. Once they have collected enough funds and the crowd is getting more jovial they point to a huge plywood board that is laid flat on the beach with a fence surrounding it. The board has a huge grid of squares painted on it, and each square is numbered. The tickets you buy each have a number on it. After much cheering and taunting a chicken is brought out ceremoniously in a basket, a lucky volunteer from the audience takes the chicken out of the basket, holds it over the board, spins it three times clockwise, spins it three times counter-clockwise, blows on its ass for good luck and throws it into the pen. The chicken walks around a little stunned as drunk onlookers yell out their numbers. Eventually the chicken, who has been well fed before the show, will shit on one of the squares. Who ever has the number that the chicken shits on will win $100 US. The only down side to winning the $100 is, when the chicken shits on your number you have to clean it up!

We have tried the local fare. Pig-tail stew with rice and plantains, Pusapas, (I think thats the spelling, I take artistic license) a corn tortilla that has been stuffed with cheese, beans, chicken or pork and cooked on a griddle, and we tried vengado, which is venison,(delicious) apparently they have deer on the mainland. The Belizean people are amazing in that they are multi-lingual so it is not odd to hear them switch back and forth between English, Spanish and Mayan or Creole. It seems that all Belizeans speak English so it has been very easy for us to navigate the town. We have also found that most people are super friendly and eager to help the hapless gringo, which has also made the town easy to learn.

We went out on a paid snorkeling trip this morning. Although we went to a popular spot where many other touristas were, the coral and the fish life was quite amazing. We really saw everything, nurse shark, southern sting ray, moray eels, huge lobster, all types of snappers, lots of various grouper, colorful reef fish, trigger fish, hog fish, angel fish, parrot fish .....and the list goes on. We were in a protected marine reserve and certainly we could tell, there were so many fish. A lot of the other spots in Mexico that we went snorkeling are not protected, so although the corals were lovely, the fish were minimal and small. No grouper at all, no lobster and few snapper. We are planning on being in San Pedro for the rest of the week while we wait for two tropical waves to pass us by and then we will be heading to Cay Caulker. Apparently, a much smaller town, with not much going on, but a lovely protected anchorage.

July 3 '08- Last night I dreamt of San Pedro- La Isla Bonita

San Pedro the island paradise that Madonna sings about and apparently Leo DeCaprio just bought an island next door. San Pedro is in North Belize and just a short boat ride to Mexico. The island town is huge compared to the other little fishing villages we have been visiting and a great place to re- provision. The island is a lot like Key West in many ways, and in fact, in one of their marketing brochures they boast a 'Key West' feel. It is however, much less Americanized and very Caribbean. The streets are mostly sand, some are mud, and the main street is red brick. The streets are narrow, without side walks, which does not stop the multitude of gas powered golf carts, tractor pulled beverage trailers, motorcycles and cars to speed up and down the streets at break neck speeds. Pedestrians do not have the right of way in this town. There are no stop signs or lights so a wave, or a shout informs one of the drivers intention. It does take a while to become accustomed to the chaos, but we must be getting braver because we are thinking of renting bikes tomorrow. The island is much like Key West in its prices. We where amazed, it is REALLY expensive. We have found that many of these little coastal towns and islands in Mexico and Belize have just recently, within the past 5-10 yrs, been discovered as the new tourist hot-spots and development is out of control. There are new, very large, resorts being built all up and down the coast and it seems the towns are in a strange limbo between a funky Caribbean town and a West Palm beach resort. You may see a shabby, beach side palm frond hut acting as a bar, a bike rental and a good place to buy pineapples; right next door to a huge half finished 5 story resort, decadence oozing from its walls, ice cold A/C, lights on in all of the rooms (vacant or not), flat screen TV's abound, and the pool runs maze-like throughout the property, equipped with pool bar, water polo nets, and a very attractive young Caribbean 'pool boy' who leads the water aerobics sessions. The dichotomy is surreal. Although we are getting into the groove of San Pedro, we found an outdoor coffee bar we like, we found a hot spot to scam free wireless and there is a great little store with fresh vegetables, we have decided we want to go inland for a visit. We have found that all the places we visited so far are very much like Key West. Mangrove and reef eco-systems, tourist town, beachy island type places, snorkeling, diving and boat trips are the biggest attractions. Although the reef here is fantastic, and we like the island feel, we feel we are missing the inland jungles and Mayan ruins that would be something new and exciting for us. We plan on heading south in a week or so and hope to find a safe harbor to leave our boat so we can take a couple of days to go inland and explore. Apparently it is much more affordable one you make it off the coast as well!

June 16 '08- Food Glorious Food.

Although we stocked up quite well with food stores before we left the States, there is only so much food you can take. We brought with us some essentials, brown rice, pasta, couscous, lentils, lots of olive oil and lots and lots of tea. However, we figured that we would just make do with what the local fare was, wherever we went, and learn to cook new and exciting dishes. This has worked only to a degree. Although we do enjoy the food in Mexico, I mean who doesn't like a fresh fish taco loaded with Guacamole, we have been quickly reminded of our privileged status in the US. In the States our stores are stocked with so many different types of foods you could quite literally eat something entirely different for dinner for at least 3weeks to a month straight. Not so in Mexico. The food variety is very limited which means we eat pretty much the same food everyday, just in variation. We have avocado diced, blended and in omelets. We eat mangoes in salads, in salsas and for breakfast. We have Beans, refried, in soups, on rice and in omelets. We eat salsa on everything and cilantro is a constant. Plantains and Bananas are plentiful as are tortillas. We have tortilla soup, tortilla chips, tortilla wraps and eggs sandwiches wrapped in tortillas. There is an up side to the limited choices in that it is not too hard to decide on what to have for dinner and all that we prepare is fresh. On good days the local fisherman will sell us fresh fish which is worth getting up early for. It seems that the one grocery store in Puerto Morelos has no chicken or seafood, only some questionable looking pork looking thing, however there is a lady down the street who sells chicken out of her home. We are not sure if she is a middle person for some chicken distributer or she has chickens in her back yard, we think the latter. The upside to our different diet is we do try new things. I made a huge black bean soup two nights ago. We ate it the first night, like a soup, reheated it and added cream and big chunks of avocado for the second night (more like a Black Bean and Avocado stew) and we will blend it up tonight in our little Cuisinart and serve it up on rice. Keith made a very odd looking but delicious plantain mash with a sweet Dutch popover type bread for breakfast one morning. It tasted like apple pie, yummy. All in all we are learning to make do with what we have. Although I must admit, I am a little taco'ed out and I would kill for a French Baguette, a lovely Greek feta and some fresh asparagus!

June 27: Weather and Why we are in Xcalak, Mexico

I thought 15 years living and sailing in the “Tropical Weather” zone of Key West meant that we would be relaxed, but prepared, on our voyage that, coincidentally, started at the beginning of hurricane season. Well, we have learned a few more nuances to the tropical outlook forecast.

In Key West we generally worried about a depression or named storm, and we always knew where we would go to ride it out. Now we are closely tracking every tropical wave that comes off the coast of Africa. With each one we scan our charts to see where we could possibly weather out a storm. This has become a necessary obsession, as it seems like a new tropical wave forms every week. Here is the progression we follow:

1. Tropical Wave or Tropical Disturbance (sounds fun or mischievous)

2. Tropical Low (maybe weather feeling a little glum)

3. Tropical Depression (bad feelings for weather and us)

4. Tropical Storm (inappropriate display of aggression – we run and hide)

5. Hurricane (incredible hulk anger – we hold our lucky coins tight)

Although most of the Waves do not progress, they do bring high gusty winds and thunderstorms. It is also difficult to tell if they will develop further. This means we try to stay where we are until a Wave passes and then dash to our next location before the next wave reaches us.

This brings me to the explanation in our change of itinerary. After we left Puerto Morelos we stopped in Bahia de la Asenscion for only one night and then pressed on to Xcalak, which is on the boarder with Belize. Our next stop is San Pedro, Belize. We sped up, and skipped a few stops, because the Mexican Yucatan coast offers few good anchorages for riding out a storm. Belize and Guatemala will have more options for protected anchorages. We are sad to miss some of our intended stops, but we would rather plan a time, in the future, when we can go at our own pace without the worries of another storm on the horizon

Right now we are on a secure mooring in Xcalak, a tiny fishing village, waiting for a Tropical Wave to pass tomorrow. We till then sail the 24 miles to San Pedro, Belize, where we hope to get into the swing of a new country!