Day Seventy Two - March 18

A glorious sunrise met the ship as she entered the Santo Tomas harbour this morning. The island looked very lush with its vegetation growing all the way to the ocean.

Santo Tomas is one of the most important port cities in Guatemala with a population of 40,000. What I found surprising was that the entire country has a population of 17.2 million which is the most in Central America.

It was another sunny day with a high of 89F or 32C.

We chose an independent tour and discussed our options with taxi personnel once we left the ship. We chose a private tour to Las Escobas Springs some twenty minutes from the port. The cost for the tour was $60 per couple plus an additional charge of $14 entrance fee to the park.

Las Escobas Tropical Rainforest Trail follows the Las Escobas River and we were able to swim in the crystal clear pools below the falls in two different areas. I had forgotten about the second pool so I had already changed.

Sounds of the many birds in the area could be heard.

Before returning to the port, Oscar,our taxi guide, suggested a visit to a local village for lunch of beef corn tortillas. Here we witnessed what Janice calls 'the simple life' in Peru, with families swimming in the river while a few 100 meters up river another couple of children were doing their laundry. No cares in the world and they seemed very happy.

Lunch was prepared over a hot open fire grill and was delicious. The women flipped the tortillas by hand over the hot grill without getting burnt.

It was a very relaxful and peaceful day with our new Vancouver friend Ilona and Keith.

We made it to 2 for 1 Happy Hour today which Janice found even more enjoyable after a dry day. She enjoyed prosecco and myself mohitos which is becoming one of my favourite drinks. I am slowly being converted to the dark side!

Our ship is due to leave here at 19:00 for the next port Harvest Caye, Belize some 51 nautical miles away. It will be a slow and calm sail tonight.