Season Three

Oct. 25-Nov. 15, 2006 (Belize City, Flores & Tikal, Guatemala, and Rio Dulce, Guatemala)

Hooooooooolaaaaaaaaaaaaa,

Cathy and I made it back to our home. What a great feeling to be back on the boat. At the present the creative juices are on a roll and we are getting projects knocked off the list left and right. The new steering wheel is complete. It is never a good feeling having the boat without any steering. Actually the whole steering system is getting a face lift. There was too much slop in the pulley system. This made the autopilot work in overdrive all the time. All in all the boat was in good shape when we first arrived, just a lot of dirt needed to be washed off the outside and the inside needed to be aired out.

Our journey down from Michigan was very smooth. After flying into Belize City, we hopped on a small 12 seater airplane and flew to Flores, Guatemala. Now here is the cool deal with this leg. We had the plane all to ourselves. In the words of my little niece India "oh yah baby". Flores was gorgeous and real mellow. From there we made our way to Tikal. The Mayan ruins were amazing. We spent two nights in the Jaguar Inn nestled deep in the jungle. Now the rub with staying up in Tikal is that the hotel runs off of a generator and at night they turn the juice off. What does this mean? NO FAN and no lights other than candles. Even without the few luxuries (that at the price we paid they should have) the hiking in the park and climbing on the ruins were high on my list of cool things done so far. When we climbed on Temple lV the view was of the other temples peeking out of the jungle. We stayed for two days, but one could maybe have seen the park in a day. In order to really check it out and not be rushed at the end of the day two days is the way to go. You can take some cool trails out into the jungle away from the masses and see howler monkeys high above in the rain forest. We saw a small pack of coati (small raccoon like animal) just eating some food along one of our hikes. With that enjoy the pictures and Welcome to Season Three.


Our pilot was a real young man but proved to be a skilled aviator.


Aerial view of the Lake Peten Itza, Flores, Guatemala.



The island of Flores, Guatemala.


Typical Guatemalan breakfast: fried plantains, scrambled eggs, black beans, sausage, cheese and cream. Served to us our first morning at Hotel Villa de Lago.


The ruins in Tikal are all different but have the same five-tiers with the stone altars in front where beheadings took place. Complex Q, dated 771.


Jungle life -- coati (racoon like animals)


The view from atop Temple IV.


It took Jake about 5 minutes to ascend the Temple El Mundo Perdido (the second tallest temple).


Cathy's legs were too wobbly from climbing the last pyramid, so she waited patiently below. Temple I.


Stone mask carvng located in Acropolos del Norte (Central Plaza).


Jake could not resist. Caught in the act of trespassing. North entrance to Acropolos del Norte.


Our bungalow deep in the jungle at the Jaguar Inn, Tikal, Guatemala. Lights out after 9pm-- no electricity.

Pictures of a Real Woodduck

The male woodduck has lots of beautiful colors... just like our sailboat the Woodduck!









WOODDUCK
From Wikipedia, the free encylclopedia
"The Wood Duck or Carolina Duck, Aix sponsa is a medium-sized perching duck. An typical adult is about 19 inches in length with an average wingspan of 29 inches. This is about three-quarters of the length of an adult Mallard. It shares its genus with the Asian Mandarin Duck.

The adult male has distinctive multi-coloured iridescent plumage and red eyes. The female, less colourful, has a white eye-ring and a whitish throat. Both adults have crested heads. When swimming, wood ducks bob their head back and forth in a jerking motion, which makes them easy to spot.

Their breeding habitat is wooded swamps, shallow lakes, marshes or ponds in eastern North America, the west coast of the United States and western Mexico. They usually nest in cavities in trees close to water, although they will take advantage of nesting boxes in wetland locations if available. Their personality is however somewhat shy and skittish.

Females typically lay between 9 and 14 eggs. However, if nesting boxes are placed too close together, females may lay eggs in the nests of their neighbours, which may lead to nests which may contain as many as 40 eggs and unsuccessful incubation. They prefer nesting over water so the young have a soft landing, as the day after they hatch, the young climb to the nest entrance and jump to the ground. The baby ducks can swim and find their own food by this time.

The birds are year-round residents in East Texas and other southern parts of their range, but the northern populations migrate south for the winter. They overwinter in the southern United States near the Atlantic coast.

These birds feed by dabbling or walking on land. They mainly eat berries and seeds, but also insects making them omnivores.

The male's call is a rising whistle; the female gives a whistled whoo-eek if startled.

The population of the Wood Duck was in serious decline at the beginning of the 20th century as a result of over-hunting and loss of suitable nesting sites. Changes in game laws and the construction of nesting boxes in suitable habitat resulted in this species' return to sustainable numbers."