Messing about in boats

I accompanied a sausage fest of dudes from various public and private organizations taking water samples from the Pasión River outside where the palm oil processing plant dumps its waste in the river. It was a good time being on the boat, cruising the river, acting covert so palm oil goons wouldn't come out and rough us up. This was a couple of hours south of Flores, not far from the town of Sayaxché, which also is not far from the lake Petexbatún where an acquaintance of mine, Otto, is the manager of a rustic guest lodge only accessible by boat. I took him up on his invitation to stay there and had my water-sampling companions hand me off to him and his 11 year old son Jorge, visiting his papa from Guatemala City. After a delightfully restful evening in the lodge, free of the noise of tuk-tuks racing around the streets that accompanies the life in Flores, we boated to Aguateca. This is a Mayan ruin on the edge of the lake, founded as an offshoot of Tikal (the crown jewel of the Mayan sites) and it is a site that Otto, as one of the archaeologists who worked on its excavation, knows very well. Nice to have an expert as a guide, and I am in love with his son. I have not spent this much time with an 11 year old boy since I was 11, and he is a wonderful kid, thoughtful, sensitive, kind, and funny. A great time, so nice to get away from Flores for a bit. They had to go to Flores to pick up supplies for the lodge so the return home for me was door to door service, involving boating, walking, and driving. Here’s a link to more photos from the river and lake excursions.

http://picasaweb.google.com/laurelsuter/SayaxchPetexbatN