The Hidden Hideaway

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The other day I took a launch up river to the bustling village of Rio Dulce. As I crossed the Gulfettie I noticed a blow spout and coming from a huge gray beast.

'Ah ha', I thought, 'a monster of the lagoon surfaces to swallow my launch.' I slowed the motor and quietly waited as the Manatee surfaced again. Only here could I enjoy seeing this beast in its hidden playground. I did not know they lurked here hidden from pestering tourists and divers who view them like some kind of freaks in a circus. Quietly they play and are left alone in a habitat that leaves them as tranquil as the locals in their dugouts. They are simply a part of this ecosystem that embraces their presence and absorbs those who enjoy peace.

The same is true of the visitors to the lower river. They are a special breed of adventurers and swash bucklers thrown back from out of the past in a brazen retreat from the confines of civilization. These are the treasure seekers that find a paradise where they are left alone to forge out a new life in a free independent slice of Guatemala. It is indeed a place, "Where the only law is right." (Gene Autry said that)

Hidden in a secretive bay on the river is the old Texas Bay the previous owners had carved out of the jungle. They have moved on and have handed over the reigns. On Halloween, when the true nature of the clan of the lower river howls at the moon, a party was thrown to acknowledge the changing of the guard and welcome in the new. A swash buckling mix of scoundrels, buccaneers, wharf rats, natives and their offspring came to celebrate this change.
Pinatas were smashed apart with swinging sticks as laughing screeching children ducked under neath to grab the loot that fell from the wounded creatures bouncing on the ropes. Roast pig, chicken, rice and salad greeted the 500 guests who arrived for the feast as the calypso band's music danced across the dark water while fireworks lit up the bay splashing an array of color across the night sky. Indeed, "the times they are a changing." ( Bob Dylan said that) Our collective thanks goes to the new owner who insured all his guests, family and friends thoroughly enjoyed the night. This indeed is a hidden community where new friendships are forged and old ones renewed as tall tales of adventures young and old are told.
(I said that)

Like the hidden Manatees who seek safe haven and sanctuary these freedom loving characters are hidden from view to shy to be seen and hoping the tourists will pass them by. I say to all adventurers with a spirit of freedom and a spark of kindness hidden within their souls to come and find the pleasures of life in the Hidden Hideaway on the Rio Dulce.

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