During the final week at Windjammer, our friends Ian and Joy, from the sailboat Reberth, joined us at the villa. They had closed up the boat and were enjoying some idle time in St. Lucia before heading back to Canada, the UK, Christmas, New Years and all that. They return in mid-January to do boat repairs and continue cruising. So we ate in, ate out and were generally lazy with them. At the end of the week, we packed up, checked out and headed to the airport for the trip to Guatemala.
The flights were routine, but the airports were all very busy as it was the weekend before Christmas and travel was booked to capacity. Both our bags were late coming off the flight (apparently "Priority" means "Hold it back") and at the end, just as the second one was on the belt, there was a jam and the belt stopped - the bag clearly out of reach. Another wait… An overnight in Miami and a morning flight took us to Guatemala City, where we had another long wait for the bags, but at least they both arrived. (Followers of this blog might remember that for the last two years, we have been missing one or all the bags on arrival.). Oscar was waiting for us and we headed off to San Lucas and the Paiz super market where we did a shopping that will keep us in food for a few days. The housekeeper Silvia was waiting for us at the house and after a light supper we collapsed.
The house we have rented was previously rented by friends, and when they bought a place last year we were quick to ask if we could rent it this season. It is the usual "colonial" style house, with only a big door showing on the street side, but inside a garden and gallery that leads to the bedrooms, living room and kitchen. There's another larger garden at the back, with small oranges and some limes growing in it.