For Faye and I, still in Panajachel, the old year ended with a bang, and the new one is beginning with a whimper. We were going to go on to Quetzaltenango this morning, but Faye woke up with an upset stomach, so we decided to stay put for another day. Nothing serious, just the usual minor intestinal distress that often happens about a week into a trip. It allows us to economize on the food budget for a day or so. Panajachel is a destination for partiers over the holidays, particularly around Christmas and New Year’s. There are plenty of … Continue reading →

I’ve spent the last few days back in Guatemala, on familiar ground around Lake Atitlan. It feels good to be back, and even more so, perhaps, because the time left is so short. I’ve been in Central America—Guatemala and Nicaragua—for nearly three months, but I don’t remember ever feeling less inclined to go back home. Just before Faye and I left Nicaragua we began thinking about our next adventure. Maybe someday we will leave home and not come back. But not just yet… It’s been a trip.

The last week or so in Rio Dulce I spent searching for paradise, and I found at least a piece of it. My first destination was an isolated beach on the southern shore of Lake Izabel, about 10 miles from the bridge at Rio Dulce. Twenty-some years ago an ex-pat Canadian named Denny was sailing on the lake with a friend of his and found the beach, the only decent one on the lake. I’m not sure how Denny came to buy the place and build a little resort on it, but he did, and he called it, rather unimaginatively, … Continue reading →