My Salty Suitcase

Guatemalan jungle! Every Caribbean cruiser worth their salt knows that Rio Dulce (or Sweet River), Guatemala is the place to be in the off-season. Whether you’re stopping in for repairs, need to leave the boat and fly overseas, or just want to experience the beauties of Guatemala, the Rio is the perfect break from cruising. By the time Jasamine reached Livingstone, the town at the mouth of Rio Dulce, I had been looking forward to going upriver into some quiet waters for a few months. For years, I had heard stories from my parents of the deep, flowing river that cut its way through lush rainforest, breath-taking mountains, and narrow canyon passes. As a Florida girl, all this talk of land on any other incline than flat made me super excited! I was ready to be in amongst the lush green mountains! But getting into the Rio was another matter entirely. There we were, eight o’clock in the morning, two miles out from Livingstone, the gateway to Rio Dulce close at hand, my hopes ri

Sam the Fisherman by a fishing shack In my family, we always joke that our Jack Russell, Sam, is the top fisherman. He fishes in the shallows, scales fish on the deck, and all around flips out whenever he thinks there’s a chance one of us have a line overboard. Even when we just say the word ‘fish’, his little ears perk up and his brown eyes look at us expectantly as his tail wags madly. But no matter how enthusiastic our little “fisherman” may be, he is nothing compared to the Belizean fisherman we've met. We got invited to spend  the day on a fisherman's cay.  This was the house he and  his wife lived in. Many Belizeans who live along the beautiful coastline revolve their lives around the fishing industry. They part with their families for weeks at a time, giving up privacy and everyday amenities, just so they can catch enough to make a living. Some people have built shacks on the outer cays (islands), motoring every day from their cay out to the reef to

Time to Tropicalize Ah, Belize! I would say I’m in love, but, as I told Dad the other day, I’ve also fallen in love with the Bahamas, French Polynesia, Georgia, Mexico, the Gold Coast, etc,. So I think I’m really just in love with travel. Fernweh. Anyway, enough about my personal wanderlust, you want to hear about Belize! Old-school Belizean fisherman After leaving Mexico, my family and I had originally planned to go straight to the Belizean outer reef atolls and skip the mainland totally. But after two weeks of ocean travel and rolly anchorages, we were ready for some solid land. Cutting through a pass in the reef, we headed southwest for Dangriga, where we planned to clear customs and pick up some much-needed fresh provisions. As usual, we got more than we bargained for… We chucked the anchor down in a spot off Dangriga that seemed as rolly as the ocean we had just left; Jasamine rocked incessantly almost porthole to porthole with the swell. Leaving a green Mom o

Several thousand years ago, men grunted, groaned, and sweated in the hot Yucatan sun, hauling loads of stone from quarries to be cut. Overseers urged the men on while planners examined drawings and mathematics. Above all, the high priest and emperor gazed approvingly at the work. Chichén Itzá, the crowning jewel of Mayan civilization, was being constructed.  Dad on the Ferry from Isla Mujerés I looked out of the window of the double-decker car ferry towards Cancún, wondering what would happen on our trip. Even before we left the States, I made my parents promise we would check out Chichén Itzá when we came to Mexico, just as they had twenty years before. However, life happened and two weeks after arriving in Mexico our Chichén Itzá trip was still on the back burner in my mind. So it came as a big surprise when dad announced one night that we would set out for Chichén Itzá the next morning. Got a glimpse into Mexican life on the bus ride through Yucatán (Below) The qu

Hey ya’ll! Happy 2018! It’s almost the end of January, but it feels like New Year’s was only last week; this month has been such a whirlwind of new experiences!  Literally sailed into the sunset leaving Dry Tortugas Two days after Christmas, we sailed Jasamine away from the Dry Tortugas (a little southwest of Key West), setting out for Isla Mujerés, México. The three day trip across the Gulf was pretty miserable. Jasamine rolled and sails flapped as the light, changing zephyr of a wind teased us this way and that. I did a few watches, but to be entirely honest I stayed below whenever I could and slept as much as is humanly possible, waiting for the trip to be over. The dogs didn’t fare much better. Banjo and Sam had to be leashed in the cockpit to ensure they wouldn’t get lost overboard. Banjo especially was a challenge; going from two walks a day and lots of playtime to being put in a three-day time out didn’t really agree with him. However, we took both dogs for short walks