Life on a Catamaran

Well, it´s certainly interesting. We were taken only 3 at a time in a tiny tippy looking wooden canoe with our luggage. I got soaked sitting in the front and was wearing a white tanktop, not the smartest thing I´ve ever done. There were some choppy times on the river, I´m glad I have my sea bands to help with the motion sickness, also ginger candy and dramamine. So there are 7 other passengers on board: an older guy from Poland, a young party guy from Connecticut, an Asian Doctor from London, a young couple from California, a young girl from Cali, and my friend Becky, also young and from Cali. So I´m feeling old at the age of 31. There are 3 crew members, all who speak Spanish so I will get to practice! However, all the initial directions were given in Spanish and I couldn´t understand all of them, I definitely need to hit the books while on board. Plus, there seems to be a lot of free time. The problem with the directions in Spanish was with the bathroom. There´s no shower on board, only a toilet and sink with water from the river so ok for hands but not brushing teeth. The toilet is the most interesting, it needs to be pumped 8 times then wait for a minute and check to see if it all went down. Yikes, I haven´t figured out how to lock the door, etc. Privacy as in all other times when traveling, in Guatemala at least, is hard to come by. Last night, we docked around dinner time and the sunset was fabulous. The food was good too. Sleeping was ok actually, I have a sort of bed/room thing with a fan and you just hop down into it throught this port-hole sort of thing. So my room shares a wall/curtain with the kitchen so I´m up early and trying not to think about bugs, etc. from the kitchen.....

I´m now in Livingston, our last stop in Guatemala. The crew is going through immigration for us so we have a chance to run errands, use real toilets, and buy any last minute things. I´m buying ibuprofen and praying my ankle is strong enough to go snorkeling probably tomorrow when we´re in Belize. I hope I develop sea legs soon!!

Adios and wish me luck....