We've bought a couple of baskets, some beans and a watermelon from passing cayucos. We been swimming in fresh water and enjoyed a neighbourhood BBQ.

We've anchored in Texan Bay and in Gringo bay and tied up at Casey's dock in the "in between bay" for a night.

We've dinghied among flowers and up winding little mangrove creeks. We've roared across open water along with long and colourful lanchas, we've watched lovely little painted cayucos and very rustic ones move silently along the waterways.

We've twittered at the mangrove swallows (bluish tint with distinct white bar across their short tails) that flutter all around the boat and perch on our railings and lines. We've rattled the halyards to discourage the pretty but annoying Kiskadees (red wings, yellow underparts, black and white head) from building a nest on the very top of the mast. They're pretty, but I'd like to see more than the tip of a tail and a beak with straw as I look up at our windfinder.

We've learned that there are farms with beef cattle and cowboys with lassos in the foothills of the mountains very near here, and that the reason we can't travel at night on the Rio is because the fishermen spread their nets at about 5 pm in the evenings and gather them back in early in the mornings.

We've learned that personal security is an issue here, but not an overwhelming one. We need to be careful and watchful and lock up our boats and motors, but understand that there are many more kind, honest and helpful Guatemalans than there are those who would do us harm.

We've been reminded over and over that when we linger, we find all sorts of opportunities and experiences that we would miss if we hurried.

Oh - this life in the Rio Dulce is very sweet indeed.