Merry Christmas

Greetings from Bocas del Toro, Panama, a tiny town on the island of Colon.
We've been here for three weeks now, after a fabulous 800 mile passage from Isla Mujeres, Mexico--one of our best crossings ever.

It has been raining hard for five straight days! The water is rising, good thing we came by boat.

On Christmas Eve we read the first four chapters of Luke, and perhaps because we are away from family and friends, those verses seemed especially poignant. For me, this time of year is an especially good time to ponder the profound and sometimes ironic teachings of Christ. Things like: Love your enemies...turn the other cheek...go with him twain...let him have your cloak also...love thy neighbor as thyself...blessed are the meek...blessed are they that mourn...blessed are the peacemakers...blessed are the pure in heart...

Also ironically, I'm sitting in a bar with free wireless, the rain is thundering down, but Santa visited our boat by dug-out cayuca last night, and so the boys are busily happy with their new loot. Despite the rain and humidity and dirty laundry, Lora and I feel greatly blessed.



Bocas del Toro, a small water-front village that somehow draws intrepid travellers from mostly Europe--backpackers, surfers, and sailors seem to congregate here.


Edwin and Rogelio, two natives, show off some red tree frogs on, you guessed it, Red Frog Beach. The frogs are actually poisonous.


Lora stylin' on a beautiful Panamanian beach.


A view of our neighbor's boat, Bruadair, and a passing Hobie catamaran.
Damon and David also sailed from Kemah Texas.
This is what's left of a 35" Barracuda that Henry caught. It was yummy.

We sailed in company from Guatemala through Belize to Mexico, with another Texas boat, Cayuse, with a super set of triplets aboard. In Isla Mujeres Hailey& Cameron Haltom, along with Parker and Henry, eye an octopus. Our boys sure enjoyed all the fishing, darts, ping-pong, and Monopoly games.

Hungry? Another view of that octopus.

Lora suited up to do some serious snorkeling (she gets cold easily).
For two weeks we pounded to windward in 20 knots of headwind, enduring some of our worst conditions ever, and all to rendezvous with this man, my nephew, Michael, who poses here with Parker. We had a lovely time with him and his fiancee Christa, and her family the Tooles.

In Belize we ended up spending a few days near Garbut Cay, Belize. While there we met Harrison Garbut, who jokingly introduced himself as the mayor of the uninhabited cay. He showed us the best beach, the best place to fish, and where to find coconuts and conch.

Henry and Cameron paddling to a better fishing spot near Garbut Cay.

A tiny hermit crab can amuse a boy for hours.


Typical pastel get-away in Placencia, Belize.

Our dinner one night on a small Belizean cay.

Parker, Pauli, and Warren with more marine life.

We had some tasty coconuts from this tree in Belize.

Pauli, the mighty conch hunter, catches dinner.

This conch, and several of his relatives, were our dinner one night. Tastes a little bit like clams, and just as chewy.

This is a close up of a conch's innards and eyes. Not very appetizing, is it?

Typical Belize fishing boat, loaded with fish, lobster, conchs, and coconuts.

We loved all the pretty colors in Placencia, houses, flowers, and people--several cultures are well represented here.

A beach scene on an island in Panama.
William wondering how much longer until we get there.

A competitive game of cockpit Monopoly. Can you tell who's winning?

Parker at the bow-pulpit in all his Spiderman-underwear glory.

Pauli posing with a sargent major. The boys are all avid fishermen. This feisty little fish succumbed to some white-bread bait.

Henry displaying the catch of the hour.

Flying fish frequently land on our deck at sea. They have large mouths and huge eyes. They make good bait, and some sailors even eat the things (not us).

As I said, its been raining for five days straight, but we're hoping for a rainbow soon.

Happy Holidays.

On Location in Guatemala

During the various recent elections here in Guatemala 54 people have been killed. On Sunday 4 November 2007 Alvaro Colom Caballeros was elected president of Guatemala in a run-off election. Colom was the leftist candidate who won under the Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE) party.


All of the banks and the major grocery store (owned by Walmart--who else?) have armed guards. The 1 Quetzal bill is worth about 13 cents. It is plastic and made in Canada.



After decades of revolution, guns are popular. In the town of Fronteras we commonly see Guatemalans packing pistols in their pants. In September a guy was shot 14 times (or 20 times according to another report) at the Texaco gas station.



Last Saturday a French tourist and a Guatemalan lady drowned as a result of two small boats colliding. Combine that with all the guns, and maybe that's why they sell coffins on main street.


The new president, Alavaro Colom has work to do--starting with removing his campaign signs which are plastered everywhere.



Walmart bought the largest grocery store chain in Guatemala, and they have been buying up some of the smaller stores, like this Dispensa Familiar. There are now around 100 Walmart owned stores in Guatemala, though none of them use the name Walmart.

Lora bagging groceries--sacks cost extra. The corn tortillas are twice as thick as the ones in Mexico. Instead of asking for a certain number of tortillas, you ask for a certain number of Quetzales worth. Four tortillas per Quetzal. I once asked for 20 (tortillas) but was given 80!

Lora uses the dinghy to go grocery shopping. She usually finds a good parking spot. When not driving the dinghy around, we usually ride in the little mini-van buses. They are supposed to seat 15, but we have ridden with 25, including one guy up on the roof!

This little girl is 4 years old; her parents have a vacation house on the river.

Parker posing.

Mario is 10 years old. The school break here is from November until the middle of January.

This sweet lady, Natividad, sweeps the street in front of her house. Her Nimbus 2000 broom is made from fronds stuffed inside a can of tomatoes.

This little girl is waiting (with her father) for mom to finish shopping at the Dispensa Familiar.

Parker and Pauli's philosophy is "when all else fails, eat rambutans." We read that there are around 3000 kinds of fruit in rainforests, yet the western world eats only 200 different kinds. We're working to diminishing the discrepancy.

This is the most popular beer in Guatemala. Lora calls it chicken beer.

With all his popularity, maybe this rooster should have run for president too.

Christina Lopez Martinez sells rambutans on main street in Fronteras, Guatemala.

Pauli gives Guatemala the thumbs-up.

Rainforest Flowers

There is a lot of poverty and squalor in Guatemala, but there is also an astonishing abundance of fabulous flowers that seem to sprout everywhere and provide some compensation and cheer.

A few hundred acres of rainforest generally contain: 1,500 species of flowers; 750 species of trees; 125 species of mammals; 400 species of birds; 100 species of reptiles 60 species of amphibians; 150 species of butterflies; and 50,000 species of insects.

These flowers grow at Xalaja, our marina.

Although rainforests cover only 5-7% of the earth, they house over 50% of all the plants and animals. Rainforest plants and trees are rich in food and medicine.

Much of Latin America's tropical rainforests have been cut down in order to graze cattle (read hamburger).
In the past 30 years Central America has lost about 66% of its rainforest due to farmland, firewood, and lumber.

Over 120 prescription drugs come from plants.

Around 25% of pharmaceuticals come from rainforests, yet fewer than 1% of the tropical plants have been tested by scientists.

It is estimated that rainforests contain 3000 types of fruit.

It is believed that 137 plant, animal, and insect species are lost every day due to deforestation.

It is also estimated that 1.5 acres of rainforest are lost every second.

Rainforests are called the earth’s lungs because they produce around 20% of all the oxygen.

These water lilies grow outside our cabana.

If deforestation continues at current rates, 80% of rainforest ecosystems will be destroyed in 40 years.

Deforestation can contribute to erosion, water shortages, and climate changes.

(We’ve gleaned these “facts” off the net, but obviously have not verified them.)