Renee cooked breakfast for us on the boat at around noon - after several errands. It is funny how your hunger dissappears down here. No need to burn calories when your sweating your life away. Scrambled eggs, beans, tortillas, tomatoes, potatoes with sauteed oniions and carrots, tasty bread with montequilla, iced coffee con leche, and then -- proper balanced bowel movements.
We went to a marina today that offerred to put the boat on the hard - balanced on concrete out of the water - for free. What an offer. There have been many local people of local businesses down here that have offerred help -gratis- to Nancy. It seems that many Guatemalans are ashamed of what has happened. They often convey that not all Guatemalans are like those that attacked Dan and Nancy.
Bob, the owner of the marina where Kwiana is docked, offerred to take us out on his newly purchased 26' Bayliner to see the area. We went down to Monkey Bay where the attack occurred and were surprised that it was 150 yards from a near-by marina. Not a place that one would be afraid to moor overnight in. We talked of howler monkeys and their migration paths and feeding habits around the bay. We cruised on across the river to look at other marinas and talk about all of the swashbuckling deals of foreign men and local women getting married, building marinas, offing one another for profit, and other mayhem that occurrs down here. We were actually in a boat that belonged to a guy that was run-off by the locals because he was involved in something shady. Bob purchased the boat from the guy for a song of a deal. This is not rare down here. The local town is called Fronteras.
We motored on up the river past the 500 year old fortress that "protected" Lake Izabel from "pirates." We stopped at a hotel/restaurant to swim in the lake and check out the mini-zoo of monkies and cuayate like creatures. We enjoyed the stories Bob had to say and learned alot about how things work down here. We cruised on over the lake and entered into a sub-division infested mangrove. People purchase "swamp" land down here and either bring in fill (sound familiar) or build stilted homes above the wetness. The homes were incredible and each had the appropriately associated 60' SeaRay moored alongside the house. We cruised on back to our starting point and debated dinner.
We learned that the police would not be returning Nancy's confiscated belongings to her today. "Tomorrow" is their favorite word down here. They now are requiring us to drive about an hour away to meet with the police to get her things back. Frustrating.
Ale and I ate dinner at a local bar. Nancy, Daniel, Jessica and Renee went back to cook dinner on the boat. We are now situated in the salon writing to you. Interspersed with ideas to write down are talkings about how we are all going to fit on the boat tonight. We'll let you know how that goes. I hope I don't short-circuit this computer with the sweat that is pouring off of my body. The sweat starts at 7am and hasn't stopped yet - almost 11pm. It is a great weight loss plan.
I read aloud some of the email messages posted on "Dan's Life" section of the blog. We enjoyed the "bed-time" stories of Dan and Nancy's adventures of the past. Thanks for the memories and laughs, affections and teachings.
All our love,
Nancy, Jessica, Daniel, Renee, Ale, and B.
