Liquid Sunshine
The Rio Dulce (trans: Sweet River) is surrounded by dense jungle and tropical rainforest. The wildlife and scenery are extraordinary and it is a community defined by the river and lakes that are at one and the same the main means of transport and the primary source of sustenance.
This year the rains have stayed late affected by a big storm hundreds of miles away and over the mountains in the Pacific. Here on the Caribbean side there’s been no storms, virtually no wind but constant torrential rain that has raised the lake lever by at least a metre. The same rain has kept us busy working inside the boat but it has at least been cooler so the aircon is only needed occasionally.
There are two distinct communities here and mostly they live and work sure by side but there is a clearly defined social hierarchy. Most officials, tradespeople and certainly the majority of the middle class and rich folks are directly descended from the Spanish Conquistadors and settlers who came for the rich minerals and precious metals that were loaded onto ships and taken away. The indigenous population are generally poor farmers and labourers with a direct line to the Mayan civilisation. Mostly, it’s easy to tell the difference, the Maya are small, traditionally dressed with skin like weathered mahogany unlike the taller Spanish descendants in casual western clothes. Then of course there are people like us, Americans, Europeans and Aussies many of whom came here for one season decades ago and never left.
This may be a poor country but there is money a plenty and on display here - you just have to see the big powerboats and private planes bringing people to their weekend homes to know there is a strong hav/have not divide. Corruption and drugs play a part of course, this is after all Central America but the Spanish descendants and some of the Maya are also entrepreneurial so there is a thriving boat industry and infrastructure here.
Our home on the river is Casa Tijax, (pronounced Tee-Hash) a jungle lodge mainly for organised tours and a marina watched over by Oscar, the dockmaster, fixer and a great friend to all sailors. Oscar is one of the gentlest, kindest people I’ve ever met. He is local, well respected and has a black book of reliable tradespeople who do great work for rates that are hard to believe.. He is a deeply religious family man - Plymouth Brethren - and I would trust him with my life so trusting him with my boat is a no brainer. We don’t leave the boat here when we go home, we take it across the river to the Boatyard at RAM to haul out but Oscar goes over regularly, checks the boat and we get back he has had somebody on the boat to clean it from stem to stern at $20 a day. I’ve stopped asking him how much I owe him, he just smiles his gentle smile and says its all part of the service for friends. Of course we do pay him usually with a thanks you card and cash he always says is too much but his care is priceless.
Location, facilities and Oscar make this a popular marina and so the same boats keep coming back and our little community of drifters is strong. Tonight is movie night with Pizza in the open, thatched event space. Saturday we fire up the big bBQ and play live music and if someone has a problem everyone shares the load. It really is like coming home but in a few weeks we will all head off down the river and out to sea only to return with stories to tell 5 months from now.
The river itself is just drop dead beautiful , a series of lakes and connecting river with a deep gorge leading to the sea. even the rain has a beauty all of its own and when the skies clear a little the clouds clinging to the creeks and mountains are breathtaking.
The town however (it has two names Fronteras and Rio Dulce) is a noisy, chaotic mishmash of shops, stalls, shantys with a no]arrow road down the middle dominated by ancient American 16 wheeler with no exhaust (muffler). getting down the street can be an adventure all to itself but once you know where to look most things can be found. we got a new shiny supermarket 3 years ago that makes life far more convenient but sometimes I miss the foraging and the fruit and veg stalls are still the go to. There’s a Chinese importer with fake anything, a ships chandlers with prices half that of the West Marine across the river. There’s hardware, stainless fabricators, motorcycle shops, dentists, doctors and every manor of trader all jammed into buildings often less than a metre away from the leviathan trucks. I love it!
There is a reason we keep coming back here - come to think of it, there are many reasons.