September, 1997 S/V Fantome Trip Report

By Patricia Brown

Hi All,

Returned 9-20, there were 68 pax with a crew of 43. I had

already reserved an Admiral Suite but many of the others

were upgraded. Our Continental flight from Houston was

meet at the airport by two congenial drivers and transported

to the Fiesta Inn (a former Ramada) to wait the 2 1/2 hours

before boarding the launch at 5:00 pm. The temperature was

about 86, so I waited in the air-conditioned bar, while

others sat around the pool and watched a fashion show. The

grounds of the hotel were not as lush as I had expected for

a tropical port. My Red Stripe beer was $5.00 at the bar. I

was sitting at a table overlooking the pool and finally

after waiting 20 minutes without any service, I got up and

walked over to the bar to get a drink. I met a Canadian

staying at the hotel, who lives in Seattle, and has been

coming to Belize for the last year to have cigar humidors

inlaid and custom carved and other wood figurines made for

import into the US and Canada. He gave me the scoop on

everything in Belize and offered to show me around town when

I returned from Cave Tubing the next day. While walking me

to the launch, I promised to call him before I went Cave

Tubing to let him know when I would be returning.

Upon arriving at the boat we were informed there would be no

Cave Tubing, but Cave Walking, and other trips to Belize Zoo

and Altun Ha. I decided not to go on any trips. Those who

were supposed to go Cave Walking didn't make it since it was

so muddy in the area and the tour guide just drove them

someplace else without asking if they wanted to go back to

the boat. There was a lot of grumbling. We had a live band

in the evening and had fun dancing to native and other

music.

Monday-Belize City. The next morning I took the 9:30 launch,

it ran every half hour, into the Fiesta and called Bill's

room. I bought a Belizean cookbook, written by three local

ladies, at the gift shop and made a list of the spices

needed while waiting for Bill to come down from his room.

With no cabs around, we opted to walk about a mile into the

downtown area instead of waiting any longer for

transportation. He gave a running comment about everything

we passed. After arriving, in the downtown district, we went

to the woodcarver he uses, supposedly the best in Belize

City. His name is Curl, everybody in Belize City knows him.

His shop is in a little shack in front of his home. I was

personally not interested in woodcarvings, but his work in

rosewood, mahogany, other native woods, was beautiful.

Several people (foreigners) arrived who had commissioned

carvings for their homes. Curl had one of his sons bring

out a four foot carving covered with two T-shirts that

sells for $3,000 (wholesale) in the U.S. Of course, most of

the carvings were about one foot high and probably much

cheaper. I didn't price any.

We walked into the shopping area of downtown. I was looking

for some native spices for cooking, cashew jam I had read

about in a guide book and Mayan artifact reproductions,

preferably a pot. We went to the native farmer's market

where I bought recado negro and recado rojo for chilmole and

other dishes. I also bought seasoning for Relleno Blanco &

Mechado. The market had many herbs and barks for various

medical ailments including impotency. We got a laugh out of

that! We could not find any cashew jam but tried cashew

wine. The ladies opened a cold bottle from their

refrigerator gave us a sampling in a glass. I tried to be

charitable, but it was the worst wine I have ever tasted.

Kind of like something ready to turn into vinegar.

We walked into the shopping area of downtown. I was looking

for some native spices for cooking, cashew jam I had read

about in a guide book and Mayan artifact reproductions,

preferably a pot. We went to the native farmer's market

where I bought recado negro and recado rojo for chilmole and

other dishes. I also bought seasoning for Relleno Blanco &

Mechado. The market had many herbs and barks for various

medical ailments including impotency. We got a laugh out of

that! We could not find any cashew jam but tried cashew

wine. The ladies opened a cold bottle from their

refrigerator gave us a sampling in a glass. I tried to be

charitable, but it was the worst wine I have ever tasted.

-- We looked into tourist shops asking for the cashew jam on

our way to a "supermarket" Brodie. I bought some Marie

Sharp's Habanero Pepper Sauce, Fiery Hot, which is carrot

based. I had some on the boat that morning with my omelet;

with just a few drops it lived up to its name.

Since I am from Texas I am used to hot sauces, but I had to

down my whole glass of juice immediately to put out the

fire. We wandered around looking for the cashew jam looking

into tourist traps along the way. There was some cheap

looking black coral jewelry and stuff made out of shells

along with carved wood figurines and Mayan junk. We stopped

at a little open air

bar across the swinging bridge and had a beer before

making our final stop at the Belizean Handicraft Shop.

Bill had forewarned me I would not like anything there and it

would be more expensive. He was right!! I did find out

though from the lady, whom Bill knew, the cashew jam was

homemade and is usually only available at the Saturday

farmer's market. Oh, well!

Tuesday - Placencia: Some went to Monkey River. I took

Bill's advice and didn't go. It was very muddy. The comment

was made the water was flowing so rapidly, they would not

have let you gone there in the U.S. I went on the snorkel

trip. We saw a few funnel clouds during the morning hours.

While on the speed boat taking us to one of the reef cayes,

we could tell it was raining heavily in the immediate area

and several funnel clouds were dipping down. One of the

women (a veteran Windjammer) asked if it was safe. The

guide assured her it was. Upon arriving at the caye, it

started raining and the guide advised us only strong

swimmers should snorkel on the stormy side of the caye. We

all looked at the choppy water and each other and decided

we were not THAT strong of a swimmer. The reef was

beautiful, very colorful fish and coral. There was some

fire coral however, and not the kind I am used to seeing. I

was lucky, since I make it a practice not to touch anything

I can't identify. In the afternoon, several of us took the

launch into the village and walked around for about an hour.

I personally would not go there to dive or anything else.

We returned on the launch and read and just lazed around. We

played Sea Hunt that evening and our team had fun dressing

up one of the longhaired men on our team as a sexy women.

I did the make up and provided dangly earrings, another did

his hair, a black teddy was provided by another women and I

donated two pink socks to fill out cups on the teddy and we

put glitter on him. The rest of the men on the team just

observed and laughed during our work. We won a bottle of

champagne, which was drunk straight from the bottle by the

eight of us.

Wednesday - Puerto Cortez, Honduras: Some of the group went

shopping in San Pedro Sula. Some were able to get Cuban

cigars. The majority went on the 8-hour round trip to

Copan. We had a busload and two vans. Our van accommodated

12, but we had 9 including the driver so we really spread

out. They time passed quickly both coming and going. The

young driver, Hugo, was also our guide. Very knowledgeable.

He had received his degree at Florida State and had not

spoken english before attending college. He barely had an

accent. Honduras is beautiful. Lush vegetation and

agricultural products. Beautiful mountain vistas. The

region reminds me of Mexico but much cleaner. We drove on a

four lane road most of the way dropping down to two lanes,

but still very modern. Only the last part was hairpin

curves. Copan has been beautifully restored. I have been

to Palenque in Mexico, which I think has the best restoration

of any archeological site in the world, and it compares

with it. Although, we had all put on insect repellant,

mosquitos were not a problem in Copan. We had a nice set

lunch at a hotel in the adjoining city of Copan with

beautiful grounds and pool. The waiter did not speak

english, so I asked in spanish about the brands of beer

and everyone wanting beer ordered the same thing I did. One

of the hotel people had a baby spotted jaguar cub not over

three months old. After taking pictures, we asked to hold

him. His fur was the softest, fluffiest, I have ever felt.

Not at all like a cat's fur. We went to some tourist shops

where I found a small reproduction of a Mayan reddish,

glazed terra cotta pot with handles. The exact item I had

been looking for! Cost 75 cents US. On the way back we were

thirsty and asked our driver to stop for some soft drinks.

He pulled into a MacDonalds. The restaurant and bathrooms

were cleaner than in the U.S. The staff didn't speak any

English, but by pointing the non-spanish speakers made their

needs known. BTW the combo Mac with french fries would have

been equivalent to $4 US. We all commented how more

industrious the Honduran people seemed compared to the

Belizeans; probably why the economy is better than in

Belize. That evening we had barbecued jerk chicken and the

best barbecued pork ribs I have had outside of Alabama!

I think everyone was in bed by 9pm.

Thursday - Utila: After a night long storm, the morning

was clear. The slight rocking of the boat felt like a

soothing cradle during the night. I got up to close my

bathroom door that was banging and realized only then how

much the boat was rocking. The crew looked exhausted at

breakfast. Some pax went snorkeling, some diving and some

just walked around Utila. A local black coral artisan had

some items at the hotel where we docked. Much better

designs and larger spherical and cyclindrical beads than in

Belize. After the mob left I did some minor bargaining ($60

asking price) and bought a necklace and bracelet (10mm) for

a total of $50 U.S. cash.

Friday- We had another night-long storm. The boat was

rocking so much it knocked a paperback off my windowsill.

It was still comfortable in bed. We were still rocking so

much in the morning I had to hold onto the handicap bar to

shave my legs in the shower! <g> We did not go to Roatan or

any of the other larger islands. We went to Goff Caye, a

lovely little caye about 150 feet by 300 feet at its widest

and longest, with 17 palms, a thatched hut and small dock.

Some had a guide to take them diving. The majority went

snorkeling. The crew had brought some of the blue deck

rafts and people floated around in the shallows on those.

About seven of the crew

cooked hamburgers and hot dogs on the grills. We had

freshly baked buns, thin sliced onions, tomatoes, lettuce and

sliced avocados, along with french fries and coleslaw and

some dessert. Lemonade and water was free. Beer had to be

purchased with doubloons bought on the ship. That evening

before dinner we had an auction for items donated by the pax

to benefit a Belizean children's hospital. One of the pax

was a former commercial artist. I had seen her sketching

the Fantome on the dock at Placencia. She had an entire

book of her sketches. She donated two of her sketches for

the auction. I bought the Fantome sketch for $27.

Another women donated two watercolors she had painted during

the trip. That evening we had prime rib and shrimp

thermador for dinner along with champagne. Since I had

ordered some wine in advance to the trip, I went back to my

room and got my last bottle, a Fetzer Merlot, from the

refrigerator, for our table's main course. I think we were

all in bed by 9 pm again.

Saturday - Belize City: It rained all night again, but the

sea was calmer. It was still raining when we left Belize

at 2:15 PM. I bought a black coral ring and earrings at a

shop at the airport which also carried some very nice wood

carvings. The coral was much better quality and larger than

in town or at the other airport shops and the vendors

outside the airport entrance. The owner declined to

bargain, but after a group left, asked if I would be paying

cash or credit card. After saying cash, he lowered the

price from $50 to $40. US.

Captain Guyan was the honcho from Cornwall, England. Very

witty and personable. He looked like a movie star, I would

say better than most stars, <g> and much younger than his 31

years. The Activities Director, Christine, from Ontario,

Canada was sweet and fun. This was her last sailing on the

Fantome. She was transferring to the Legacy.

In summary, most of the divers were disappointed with the

diving as they could only go to 40 feet before it was murky

due to the runoff from rains in the area. I felt the best

snorkeling was Placencia. I had wanted to take the Water

Water Rafting trip, but it was not available on the

activities list nor was the Sea Kayaking. I had also wanted

to do the Cave Tubing. Bill had told me the water was so

high from the rains you couldn't get into the cave by boat.

Since I had gone primarily to relax and see Copan the

trip was successful from my point of view.

I know these are long winded notes but I really like someone

to tell ME the details.

BTW, there were only about 8 unattached on board out of the

68 pax. Four women and four men. Being charitable, I

will not comment about the men or women. But do you know

the term dork or thunder thighs.<ggg>

Pat-San Antonio

E Mail Address: MRGH05A@prodigy.com