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My wife and I, Teresa and Peter Cunliffe have recently returned from a journey to Guatemala in Central America, where we have “adopted” a community of 20 families with a total of 44 children. This community is situated around a small lake approx ½ mile long by ¼ mile wide, which is reached, by a creek1/2 mile long by 30ft wide. The inhabitants are Maya Indians and their “tribe” and language is Q’eqchi, ( pronounced Ketchi ). They are part of a loose group of 5 villages of Maya Q’eqchi with a total of 344 children in an area situated off the Rio Dulce known as the “Biotopo Chochon Machacas” which is a conservation area.
What we found in Guatemala both amazed and charmed us, and upon our return this year, with the discovery of the Maya Q’equchi Indians and the village of Lagunita Salvador, it has changed our lives.
We anchored at 6.oop.m. as the sunset in this tranquil lagoon with just a few thatched roofed huts visible in jungle clearings and one large jetty. We found a fantastic thatched roof hotel and restaurant where we had our evening meal by candlelight, accompanied by a Marimba band, ( a type of wooden xylophone ). It was a magical night. When we got back to our boat a young girl in her cayuka( a wooden dug out canoe )paddled the length of the lake singing to herself. She lowered her voice as she passed close by our yacht then later sang in full volume as sweetly as a lark. A beautiful end to a beautiful day.
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Next morning we saw several kyuka’s, with one or more children in each, busy going to and from the big jetty on some mysterious errand. By 6.45 am they seemed to have finished their jobs and 8 cayuka’s containing 20-30 children, silently surrounded our yacht. Not a word was spoken, they smiled at us and Teresa produced her toffee jar. Every child got one and by 6.55 a.m. they had all gone and the lake was quiet, until one by one other cayuka’s appeared with men obviously going out to fish. One or two containing women approached and shyly smiled at us. After a while we realised that the odd bundle they had on their laps was a baby, usually attached to the breast. One young woman who approached us had a baby on her breast, a fishing line in one hand and was paddling with the other. We tried to talk to them but they couldn’t understand us and we presumed that our poor Spanish was at fault. It was only later we were to find out that they only spoke Q’equchi Indian.
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Later that day we sailed off to explore the reefs and atolls of Belize for a couple of months. Whilst enjoying ourselves with our friends and other yachties we kept thinking about Lagunita Salvador and the paradise we had seen there. As we headed back to the Rio Dulce, to lay our boat up ,we decided to visit Lagunita Salvador one last time……………………… Next Page >>
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