Beautiful Rio Dulce
Follow the birds
South ofBelize is a little known corner of the Western Caribbean. With the countries of Belize, Guatemala and Hondurus the Bay of Hondurus leads to the entrance of a beautiful, hidden river called the Rio Dulce. This river has become a popular spot for cruisers for years but we have just discovered it.Just a three-hour motor sail from our new home in Placencia, Belize we had a get away weekend to this spot recently. The entrance of the river has a town called Livingston where we are required to check in to the country. We first have to get over ‘the bar’. Not a bar for a cerveza but a sand bar that is 5’2” at low tide. With the draft on Gypsy Blue at 5’9” we needed to go over at high tide. The cruising guide seems to have fairly accurate coordinates and approach details. The seas were choppy as we arrived late afternoon and we could feel a soft touch on the bottom. Luckily it is soft sand or mud. We finally get through to the anchorage in front of Livingston. Unfortunately it is 5:00 pm when we drop anchor in front of the town of Livingston. It is too late to check in so we will have to spend the night in this rolly anchorage. Uggh! We hate rolly anchorages.
We wake up early to a misty morning with at least a hundred local fishing boats returning from their night of fishing. Such a beautiful sight to see in the morning. We put the dinghy in the water to see the Port Captain and all other officials so we are legal in the country and can head up the river. We are on a rushed schedule as we only have a few days for this trip. Our purpose is to take the boat out of Belize after 90 days and also we want to check out the Rio to see about bringing Gypsy Blue there for hurricane season this summer.
The trip up the river is spectacular. We had come up here in the power boat we worked on last year but are loving doing the trip with Gypsy Blue. We always have so much joy when we are on our own boat.
Each side of the river has steep towering walls of three to four hundred feet with thick foliage and trees from rivers edge all the way to the top. Birds fly along, leading the way for us. There are flocks of white egrets nestled in the trees. As boat gets near them they take off one by one. The river is about half a mile wide with a few sections narrowing to just a few hundred feet wide. As we come around each corner we both gasp at the beauty of the area. We see a local fisherman throwing his net to catch some bait fish. Or another boat racing down the river with a group 
of school kids. The cabins on the side of the river are homes of local Mayans. It is all magical. The river meanders along for 8 miles and enters the lake of El Golfete. It’s a spacious lake that is dotted with islands and small communities. Another 8 miles through the lake and we enter the main section of the Rio Dulce. Small marinas are filled with power boats owned by wealthy Guatemalans, backpackers and cruising sailboats. It’s a friendly, inexpensive place to visit. Inexpensive wines (maybe we should stock up), fun little restaurants and lots of cruising sailors refitting their boats, hanging out for a while, doing some land trips before sailing out into the Caribbean again.
The main means of transportation from one marina to another is by boat. Cruisers have their own tenders or there are ‘lanchas’ (water taxis) to take you to the local market or the bar across the way. There is a highway that passes over the end of the Rio Dulce from one small town to the other. Going under the bridge we enter Lago
Izabel, the largest lake in Guatemala. Always on the look out for some history, located on the right is the old Spanish fort, Castillo San Felipe. Built in 1652 as a defense against pirates searching for the Spanish stash of booty.
Such a beautiful, hidden corner of the world. Just one more spot to explore in our adventurous life.
Gypsy Blue at Nana Juana Marina
