Harmonica
For Dave it was like stepping back 30 years to living on houseboats tied to the mangrove in the Niger Delta & shooting seismic lines in surf bars off the river mouths: Outside Marina Barillas, El Salvador we were met 4 miles offshore by a panga at the first of 9 GPS waypoints. We followed as the panga escorted us between surf covered sandbars, past palm fringed beaches with small fishing villages and a backdrop of volcanoes in the distance, then 6 miles up a mangrove sided river with occasional dug-out local canoes to some neat rows of mooring bouys & the immaculate lawns & palapas of Barillas Marina. This was to be Harmonica's home for the next 2 weeks. It is owned by Juan Wright whose family owned a large amount of land before the war. The marina complex, including pool, restaurant, small shop, and an airstrip, is guarded by armed guards. The area outside the complex is mainly sugar and coco plantations. The sugar cane is burnt before being cut, & we often found black ash on the decks. Twice a week, a van drove cruisers 25Km into a nearby town of Usulatan for food shopping. Many adobe buildings were still piles of rubble 4 weeks after the initial earthquake, and occasionally housewives could be seen clearing a floor without remaining walls. Piles of rubble waited to be moved. Adobe buildings fall very easily. The open air market was colourful and an excellent place for fruit and vegetables. We noticed the best way to carry your shopping bag was on your head.

El Salvador is heavily populated with many very poor people. Some large haciendas were broken up after the war but the resulting cooperativas are not thriving, and some land is being bought back by the original owners. Many work on sugar, coco, and coffee plantations living in tied housing made of adobe The locals are delightful, friendly, helpful people. Cruisers, 2 boats in particular, have organised an earthquake relief project. They are helping rebuild houses at Hacienda de Lourdes a 9 family village in a coffee plantation high on the side of a volcano. We were able to visit the village where Dave helped with building. The main aim being to teach the villagers to do the building themselves using concrete & steel which will not fall down in future earthquakes. Janet walked with a group to another village nearby to assess the needs of the villagers, followed by a visit to a nearby town to talk to the mayor and arrange for water to be delivered to the village. Cruisers have been arriving with donations of blankets, buckets, tarps etc.
For more information on this project check out www.barillasreliefproject.org
Next, a 1 week trip to Guatemala for spanish lessons. We took a bus from Usulatan to San Salvador, and on to Guatemala City. Here we spent the night in a budget hotel near the bus stations (no soap, toilet paper, towel or hot water), & felt uncomfortable walking around the area. The next day we took a very scenic bus ride through the mountains to Quetsaltenango, the 2nd largest city, in a valley at 2400 metres. The population, 50% mayan indian, seemed relaxing and full of smiles. On arrival the Utatlan Spanish school billeted us with a local family (no prior booking had been made, we just walked off the street on a Sunday afternoon). We attended 1 on 1 lessons each morning and excursions in the afternoons. Our host family fed us well although Janet craved a hamburger to replace refried beans. The dad & son left early each morning and were seldom around for supper. Mum & grandmum attended to us. None spoke any english. There was no heating in any buildings and the mornings were cold. Our teachers were patient & organised. Many seemed to have endured terrible experiences in the "Violencia" of the late 70s to early 90s, and they would talk about it if you asked: Dave's teacher would always finish with a big smile saying "el futuro es mejor". The towns people had largely forsaken the native dress: beautifully woven skirts, shawls and heavily embroidered blouses which colour the fields, markets & smaller towns. Babies are slung in a shawl on the mother's back. We visited a small town where we saw the weaving industry in action. Men doing all the work. Warps strung 100 metres across a field with a complicated system of dying the warp to make intricate patterns when woven. We were invited inside a small house with two handmade wooden floor looms being worked in a very small space on the third floor. We were offered alcohol soaked fruit to nibble and a Caldo de Fruitas which seemed a pretty potent brew of fruit juice and alcohol. Saturday, no school. We climbed a nearby volcano over 14000 ft. A 3 hour steep up hill, stony, dusty, muddy, heart thumping climb. A nearby volcano was erupting every 15 minutes or so grumbling and belching out black fumes. Spectacular views came into view through the clouds at the top as we ate lunch and dozed amongst the rocks.



The Guatemala countryside seemed cleaner than El Salvador. Buildings more substantial. People more self sufficient, growing their own vegetables rather than export crops. We saw villages and fields clinging to the side of steep slopes (and a soccer field terraced into most). Hauntingly beautiful in early morning light.

Sunday, back to El Salvador. The 5am comfort bus did not run in spite of previous assurances. 3 blocks away we found a local bus heading to Guatemala City. Local buses are painted in bright colours and decked with gaudy decorations, & all allow food and drink vendors on board. We never went hungry. Back through the slums of Guatemala City, no overnight stop this time, stumbled upon a directo bus to San Salvador and the final bus to Usutalan. The conductors cajole people aboard by leaning out waving and shouting. The aim is to see how many people you can cram into the bus. 3 or 4 people to a seat.....cram the aisle. We elected to leave the bus at the nearest point to the marina and walk through the sugar fields. (3 hour walk) We were given 3 different rides in the back of small pickup trucks driven by smiling, friendly local people and made it back in 1 1/2 hours. It seems unnecessary to have guards around the marina. It seems to be a throw back from the war. We felt quite safe where ever we walked.

Back to the luxury of the marina. We took part in 2 soccer games with the marina staff. El Salvadoreans are good players so the teams were a mix of staff and cruisers. We felt an earthquake tremor the day before we left. Met the Queen of Spain and the El Salvadorean president's wife who flew in by helicopter for lunch: Spain gave a large amount of money to the country for earthquake relief.

A rough passage past Nicuagara. A night in a quiet bay in Costa Rica to recover. Now near Panama City, on track to meet friends on March 11th. More tiring passage than further north: lots of windward work, and gusts through gaps in the Central American isthmus. Janet thrown out of bed on to the floor in the middle of the night as Dave tacked to avoid a freighter which had agreed on the radio to pass behind us but did not change course! Past the occasional turtle & watched a gull sitting on the back of one gliding smoothly through the water. A yellow footed boobie sat on the back of the cockpit for while yesterday, not bothered by us at all. Some whales jumping. Of course our continual friends the dolphins. Over 5,000 miles since we left BC. Since the Sea of Cortez: 46 days total, 2360 miles, 26 nights at sea; we are ready for some long sleeps, & Harmonica for a good clean!

Best wishes

Jan & Dave