While it felt good to get in the water and be at anchor in Shell Bay in “downtown Fronteras”, it feels much better to be on Casey’s dock down river in lovely little Cayo Quemado, and absolutely fantastic to be at anchor in Buenavista Bay – aka Gringo bay, aka Jennifer’s Bay!

One of the finest things that has changed since we were last down here is nando and his boat loaded with produce, bread, eggs and chicken. He makes the rounds of these little communities on Tuesdays and it sure makes grocery shopping easier. He stocks a wide range of produce as well as chicken and eggs. For the princely sum of 133Q (or about $16.00 Cdn) yesterday, I bought 2 pounds of potatoes, a pound of carrots, a pound of plum tomatoes, 4 big beets, a bunch of onions, 4 apples, 2 avocados, 5 bananas, a huge papaya, 3 oranges, a big zucchini, half a dozen eggs and 2 pounds of chicken legs.

After his first visit to us last week, I cooked the whole chicken I bought, along with some carrots, onions and potatoes into the best chicken stew ever. No preservatives or chemicals in either chicken and veggies and they all tasted just like they should. What flavour!

We’ve been visiting with old friends too. It was a delight to visit with our dear friend, Jennifer, on her flower filled porch with Dog (pronounced deeohgee) curled up beside me. The skin of a fer de lance snake dries on the wall behind us, and Canadian pennies cover a new horned cow skull hanging nearby. Martine came by while we were there and we were able to catch up on her recent trip to Cote d’Ivoire where her husband Andre has been involved in establishing a new gravel operation. Martine and Andre spent close to 40 years there before leaving to go sailing and eventually settling in Rio Dulce. From the sounds of her stories, that’s a place I can pass up right now.

Keith the plumber is living aboard his boat at Casey’s dock and we have had great fun listening to his stories – and he is in fine form this year! He installed a drinking water faucet in the kitchen, makes sure there is enough water in the tank for wonderful hot showers, and showed us a whole other side to his skill when he made a killer pasta dish one night – it should be his signature meal! Martin and Karen arrived from England at their home in Buenavista Bay and came over to Casey’s for a visit. Karen has a brand new state of the art knee and is excited about being able to walk and bicycle and do all the things they love to do here. Bea and Wolfgang have moved into their new house around the corner, and Doris and Stan are still in their house next to Martin’s. We haven’t been over to see Sarah and Tim’s new house but it sure looks pretty as we pass through the little canal next to it on our way to Burnt Key Marina.

Jennifer, Bea and I had a lovely yoga practice in Annie’s shala in Jennifer’s garden – it was really good but oh Annie, I miss you! – and Doris, Bea, Jim and I went for a nice long walk up through the finca yesterday. (That’s the one where we take a lancha – Doris’s this time – along the shoreline of El Gofete, up the creek, tie up to a tree, climb the muddy bank and half an hour after starting out, we go for a walk!) Rumour is that the finca has been sold and the new owner will be planting oil palm trees. A big new road has been cut through one section already. It will surely change things for the folks of Que Brada Seca – that little village of scattered thatch houses with chickens and pigs and lots of children that can be found way back there past the finca – and for those of us who call it our little piece of paradise for walks.

And we’ve had a couple of delicious meals over at Burnt Key Marina in Texan Bay. The roof was on when we last saw the new construction last spring, and it is wonderful to see the finished product now. The thatch roof rises high in the air, keeping the air beautifully cool below. Shelves are stocked with books for trading and borrowing, a hammock and a comfy chair or two are there for relaxing, and there is even a bit of a wifi connection. Like all internet connections down river, it is limited and not exactly reliable, but it is a tenuous thread to the outside world.

Tom the sailmaker repaired two of our sails this summer so we stopped by his loft to say thanks and to buy some new line for sheets on the yankee sail. (His price is several Quetzales cheaper than in Fronteras.)

So after a full week of work and play, including one glorious star filled night in Buenavista Bay, we have motored up to town again for a stop at the bank, a movie at Mar marine, a better internet connection, massages from Blanca at Tortugal Marina, and a visit to the Dispensia (grocery store) and the Backpackers store for the things Nando doesn’t carry. We’ll go back down the river on Thursday to do some more visiting, enjoy the peacefulness and wait for weather to head up to Belize.

Hasta Manana!