Wow! What an amazing day! We spent the day working with an organization (Clubhouse Guatemala), that we have had the privilege to be with before in Guatemala. This morning started with making rebar ladders for the foundation of a new bathroom, for a single mom. She lives in a village between Antigua,and Guatemala City called San Miguel.

Then the fun began! This afternoon was feeding about 80 kids, VBS, and plain outright horse playing. The kids warmed up to us quickly. I think the horseback rides and “slaps” games won them over.

Bernard and I were flat worn out after giving countless rides on our backs, galloping around the room,while the other kids hung on us, waiting their turn.Then was time for the singing, with full body motion,further wearing us out! After that? Football! (Soccer)  Angela immediately made a new friend, and they were inseparable.  Lucy made presents of all of her art projects at at the end of the week gave Angela a full page decorated letter!

It was an exhausting day, but so much fun Interacting with the kids,and seeing them being exposed to a Christian atmosphere.This is such a loving organization, that truly cares for the villages and people they work with. We decided to take a day off and then went back for more!

The addition on a house that is being built for a family in San Miguel Guatemala is making great progress. A team from Canada was at the Clubhouse Guatemala Mission House for a week, working on it. We happily joined in. We were able to work along side one of the local Mason’s, chipping concrete, building metal ladders for the wall, and laying cinder block walls. I really enjoyed the hands on experience learning to mix the mortar and concrete, level each layer, and lay the blocks. Using what felt like antiquated tools, we experienced what daily life as a mason is like in Guatemala.  Other interesting tools were a plumb line, that consisted of string and two wooden dowl-like pieces.I did add my “power tool” to the mix, a Ryobi reciprocating saw, to cut the metal. 

One thing I love about traveling, is spontaneity. If you allow yourself to veer off course and explore the unknown, it is common to be pleasantly surprised at what you find. Yesterday, was another one of those incidences. We had heard about a Castillo (castle) near where we were staying, overlooking the water in Rio Dulce. We drove through some narrow streets, past curious locals, until we found a place to park the trucks. 

We walked the grounds, admiring the beauty of the trees, flowers, and views of the water. Fisherman slowly trolled by with their nets loaded down.

Castillo de San Felipe is located on Lake Izabel and was built in 1644 and was still used well into the 18th century! It is a Spanish Colonial Fort with direct access to the Caribbean Sea & was used by the Spanish for several centuries, during which time it was destroyed and looted several times by pirates.  was built to protect the port of San Antonio de las Bodegas on the south shore of Lake Izabal from frequent pirate attacks,^[10] mostly by English pirates.^[2] After nightfall, passage along the river into the lake was blocked by a large chain that crossed from the fort to the far bank.
The first appearance of the castle, didn’t seem overly impressive. It was a massive Stone walled complex. As we approached, though, it was surprising to see the draw bridge and mote leading into the wall.
The architecture was intriguing. I loved the arched doorways,and maze like floor plan. Each room led to another series of rooms, until we reached some stairs that led to the terrace.
From there the views were stunning, with the breeze blowing, sunshine beaming. What a place this must have been in it’s heyday (1600s).
We spent an hour or 2 exploring, glad that we ventured off our route to see what was around us.

We had an amazing experience our first full day in Guatemala. Up with the sun, at about 5:30,we got around and headed out for a mountain jungle hike. The humidity picked up, but the canopy of the jungle protected us from the sun. It was some of the best exercising we have done in a while. It was beautiful to capture the ray’s coming through the trees, see ornate, damp spider webs hanging in the trees, a spectacular view of the neighboring island of Flores, and breathing the fresh air! All said and done, we were back by 8:30, ready to start the day right after showers! It was so humid in the jungle! Gotta love living Life All Out!

There are 3.5 sq miles of dense jungle to explore with 6 suspension bridges over the jungle canopy! Although we did not see any animals on our hike we did see some bugs & spiders! During the night we did hear the infamous holler monkeys calling out high above our camp!

On the park grounds is also a finca (farm). Horses and donkey are allowed to roam the grounds & camp area. We were treated to the alpha donkey wrangling the horses! He was making all kinds of noise as he chased them thru our camp into the woods and back out then across the creek to where they finally came to a stop!

 

This is one of our favorite places to camp near Flores! Our 3rd time here and I’m sure we will be back!

The day finally came when we could re-enter Guatemala! After being turned away in March because it was to soon for us to enter again with our truck papers (having just been there in January) we waited out our 3 months in Belize, a U.S. visit and Mexico. We were told in Februay when we tried to leave Belize that we were only gone one month of the required 3 months on our importation. If we wouldnt have turned it in when leaving Guatemala, all would have been fine. Slight delay in travel!

We stopped in Belmopan to fuel up first and met this adorable Mayan man who loved our truck & story. He wished us the best on our travels and welcomed us back in the future!

Once we were in Guatemala it was time to make a quick stop at the Sareta for ice cream! We were in a little hurry because we could see black storm clouds coming in. We made it back to the trucks just as the storm began. It was the worst storm we have driven in to this point! Tons of downed trees and water washing across the roads!

There is a place so amazing, that you can swim in the Caribbean sea, along side turtles, colorful fish, sting rays, and even Sharks! This place is located about 20 miles off the shores of Belize, along the barrier reef. This reef is the 2nd largest reef in the world, and offers the most spectacular views, and experiences imaginable. This is not a staged secured area where caged animals swim. This is the real sea, with real live sea creatures, in their natural habitat. You can imagine the initial apprehension, diving from the boat, into the middle of the unknown, knowing there are sharks and sting rays below. But, I am so glad we took the plunge!

We started the day off leaving Placencia pier with smooth waters in the bay, but as we rounded the point the water started getting rough. We were hitting swells that would make you come off your seat as we went airborne for what felt like minutes!

We managed to slide into the wake of a much larger boat taking out a group to dive. It was smoother in the wake, but still eventful!

We were all glad to see the island come into view after an hour of riding! Once we arrived on the island we took off to snorkel around the island while the crew prepared our lunch of BBQ chicken, potatoes, and slaw!  The snorkeling was smooth and easy and we seen lots of small colorful fish and coral the water.

 

The lobster fisherman will go out to sea for as long as a week at a time and live on the boat or small islands. Two fisherman go in the water at a time. One will swim down to about 90 ft and grab up the lobsters. The second guy is there to pull him up in case he runs out of breathe. Once they have the catch for the day they sit and clean the lobsters on the boats discarding the remains into the ocean. Other sea life come in to feast! We were also told to be careful to leave our flippers on because the turtles will nip at your feet thinking they are conch!