When we checked out Hacienda Tijax Marina, we discovered that Lucy leads a number of tours there, so even though we didn’t tie up Madcap, we did dinghy back the next day to go hiking.

If you’ll check the photo carefully, you’ll see that Jim has a yoga mat under his arm! Yes indeedy, as we looked at the Yoga and Meditation Hike, he said, “I think I’d like to try that one” even before I got out the words, “I’d like to take that one and I’ll find another woman to go with me.”

We showed up at 8am (just after the Navy came by the boat to say there was no more anchoring allowed for the rest of Semana Santa – Easter Week – because there is a lot of traffic on the river and they don’t want accidents) and followed Lucy into the forest behind the marina. We found ourselves almost immediately on a series of raised boardwalks over the swampy land. These are strung much like suspension bridges – boards laced together and held up with wires. During rainy season, there is no chance of walking this area directly on the ground. We saw cashew trees and rubber trees, teak trees and ceiba trees. The rubber trees had just been slashed and the sap drips into cups similar to the way we see maple syrup gathered at home.

After a sweat pouring walk through the jungle, we arrived at the Shaman tower – a three story stone tower with panoramic views of the surrounding countryside. Unfortunately it has been hazy the last few days so many of the mountains were indistinct, but it was still impressive.

Lucy spread a purple cloth on the floor, poured coffee from a thermos, put homemade bread in a pink napkin-lined basket and we sat on the floor to enjoy bread, jam and coffee as we chatted about her country and ours, about the value of spending time in nature, about making quiet space in our minds.

Then it was time to move down to the second level, spread out our yoga mats and do some stretching. It was beginner yoga so it was fine for Jim, and I’ve been lax about my own practice lately so those basic stretches felt just right. I’ve never done yoga in a stone tower before (although the stone walls of my favourite studio in Halifax, 108 Yoga, have a bit of the same earthy feel) and we were grateful for every breath of air that drifted through the big open window spaces. Well stretched and aware of every tight muscle and joint in our bodies we went back up to the third level for meditation. This was intentionally short – and got shorter - as flies kept landing on our arms and legs and even Lucy found it too much of a challenge for that day!

We stopped in the rubber tree plantation to see little buckets nailed to the trees to catch the white sap before hiking up and down hills and in and out through shade and sun to a beautiful little forest pond, complete with tiny waterfall. We dunked ourselves quickly into the cool water, let it splash over our shoulders and heads and wash away the salty sweat we had worked up.

A 10 minute walk in the sun took us back to the tijax deck where we rewarded ourselves with Limonade con soda con hyacinth. What a beautiful drink! Rosy red with hyacinth berries and a flower gracing the glass.

The day ended with a few boat chores, a move to El Tortugal Marina followed by very good pizza on the deck of the El Tortugal restaurant … and promises to stretch those muscles every day.

P S – we had an amazing light show of lightening all over the place in the evening. Some of the zigs and zags ran sideways, some ran up, some down, and sometimes the whole sky just lit up. We heard thunder with it, but it was more rumbly and not the sharp cracks that can make me jump. The power went off at some point and didn’t come on again until after 8 in the morning. The wind picked up and blew us hard against the dock but our fenders and lines just squeaked and groaned and did their job.