Charlie wants to go to the small settlement of 4 Cayo this morning. Jerry has several projects in process so just Charlie & I'll go. We get ready to leave directly after the 7:30am Net and an early breakfast. Charlie readies 2 bags, a large yellow waterproof duffel filled with school supplies he brought here from TX, and his backpack. Schools supplies include ruled notebooks, pencils, crayons, scissors, wooden rulers, colored construction paper, felt pens, a variety of color permanent markers and more; 50-60 lbs of supplies. In the backpack goes the bus spray (we'll be walking the last bit to the settlement), rain jackets (the forecast is for thunderstorms, chance of precip:100%) and other items. Charlie lugs the yellow duffel to Solita while I use the marina restrooms one last time before we depart. As I walk back toward Vida Dulce, Charlie is sitting in Solita with the motor running. I quickly grab my sun / rain hat and join him. Off we go.

We make two stops in Shell Bay, RAM for fuel & bottles of water, and the Yamaha dealer to check on the price of a new 20 hp outboard. He's put his outboard up for sale and wants a comparison price. That done, we continue down-river. A little outside of the marina zone, Charlie takes a left, entering one of the many tributaries that feed the Rio Dulce. There are no signs, of course. I trust Charlie knows where he's going. We wind our way up-river, against the current, for miles, and miles. At some point we discover the backpack is not in Solita. Bug spray & rain jackets were left on Vida Dulce. We're too far along to go back, so it'll be what it is...

We pass river-side jungle lands, farm lands, pastures with cattle, one with a herd of goats, more jungle, more farms, more cattle, lots of birds. With the recent rains, the river is high, with logs & branches traveling down-river at 4-5 knots. It's slow going against it. In the few times we see other people, Charlie asks if Cuatro Cayo is up-river; each time we get a wave that indicates yes, sort of. We continue on. In the neighborhood of 7 miles up-river we arrive at the road that bisects the tributary. A short distance beyond, above the river is a suspension bridge. This looks familiar to Charlie; they'd last been when the water was lower, the road was washed out so they'd landed Solita on a mud bank on the left side and walked across on the suspension bridge. Today water is spilling over the road, however it is intact, there's no way through, over, or around. We stop along the road, this time to the right side since the mud bank is covered in water. We disembark then tie & lock Solita to rocks beside the road and start walking up the hill, carrying the heavy yellow duffel between us. So far the weather has cooperated. In fact, it's hot and humid and mostly sunny. While a spritz of bug spray and additional sunscreen would be welcome, the rain jackets are not yet needed. 3/4 of a mile later I hear voices, and a short time after that, see a smattering of small wood-sided homes off either side of the dirt road. We round a corner to see the community building straight ahead, 4 Cayo written above the closed double doors. We've arrived.

We stand in front of the community center until someone comes to talk with us. This doesn't take long. Charlie asks for the location of the home of the teachers. The man points across the road at a house up the hill. A woman comes out of the house about then, we wave to her to come down. If school classes are held at the community center, there's no reason to lug the heavy bag up the hill only to bring it back down.

Turns out she's the wife of the male school teacher; the teachers are brother & sister, neither of which are here at the moment. However, she says, we can leave the supplies at the house up the hill. So we carry the bag up, and Charlie empties it on the small table set in the corner just inside the door. She thanks us on behalf of the teachers for bringing school supplies for the pueblo. Promise Kept. Charlie & Saundra had visited this settlement a couple of years ago and had promised to return with school supplies (Saundra is a retired educator) however they never made it back for to a number of reasons. Charlie's return today is important to him, he's fulfilled a promise. A promise that has been weighing on his mind. With a couple of pictures, smiles and a wave goodbye we retrace our steps to Solita for our return.

The sights traveling one direction can be different going the opposite way. Nonetheless, we have no difficulties until we reach a Y. Which way did we come up-river? Neither of us are sure. I motion left. For quite some time the river continues to run quickly down stream, however shore-side land and homes do not look familiar to either of us, and then the water slowly becomes still. Hhhmmm. We agree we're not on the main tributary that we up, however everything runs towards the Rio Dulce, so we'll just keep going. Sure enough, a mile or two later we join the main flow, turn left and see lanchas ahead doing the river runs. We're found.

That's when the skies open up. We're not that far from our marina so we tough it out, arriving very wet and thirsty for a mid-day coldie.

Meanwhile on Vida Dulce, Jerry has installed one of the serpentine belts, completing half of that project. Good all around!