Santo Tomas, Guatemala

Perhaps because we are in the lee of the tall mountains, the wind abated overnight. This made for a tranquil arrival at the port. A small coastal freighter scooted out of the way to give us enough room on a dock where we were the only cruise ship.

When we were here in 2018, Pam & I took an eight-hour tour inland that included a boat ride across a lake and a tour of a rubber plantation.  This year, we opted for a 60-minute trolley ride to see some local sites.

It was a fun, mindless tour, the highlights of which were seeing a local cemetery, complete with a mini Taj Mahal, and a driveby of the local market.  

One thing that stood out was everyone was on their cellphone. Wherever I looked people had one up to their face or to their ear.  

Another thing that stood out was that you had better cover your black motorbike seat or you would have an uncomfortably warm ride home at the end of the day.

We arrived back at the ship to find some sort of huge crew drill underway. Everyone has a lifejacket, but no one was wearing one. You could almost hear the group think, "We've got so much to do, why are we just standing around out here?'

After a quick spin through the port tourist trap, we went back on board.

It is difficult to see in this photo, but a swarm of bees landed on the sundeck near the swimming pool in the middle of the afternoon. The collective guess was that their nest had been destroyed and they were following their queen. The crew had to block off the area for the remainder of the day. During the night, the swarm was collected in a cooler and released ashore the next morning. Whether this story was the equivalent of the aggressive dog that went to live with nice people on their farm in the country we will never know.

The ship got underway about 9:00 p.m. for the short passage to tomorrow's destination; an island off the coast of Belize.