Day 348 – Children of The Rio Dulce

With the gorgeous scenery of Cozumel at our aft, we cruised to Guatemala. There aren’t very many things to do there, in comparison to other popular cruise ship destinations, but the experience we had on our tour up the Rio Dulce river was the best of the trip. For one thing, it was the only excursion where the family all went together.

Guatemala is pristine and largely unspoiled by tourism. Our trip up the river was like a trip back into time. People live in small villages along the river and move about in handmade dugout canoes that all seem to be one solid piece of wood. There aren’t many motors; mostly rowing which is impressive considering the size of the river. I can’t say with any certainty, but it appeared that they totally live off the land and the river. We saw lots of people fishing and wash being done on the river banks.

There has obviously been enough tourist traffic for the children to know when to be ready. At a calm spot on the river, the boat slowed to meet an approaching armada of dugout canoes loaded with children and trinkets to sell. Everything was either from the river, the sea, or was hand-made. There were as aggressive as they were cute. I felt a bit like a national geographic photographer on location, and it was an experience I won’t forget.