Ham Friendly Hotel: Dulce y Salado (Sweet and Salty),
Andy DL3GA writes in October, 2001:
This hotel is situated in Monterico, Guatemala, right at the beach of the Pacific Ocean. It consists of four bungalows with two rooms each. There are six two-bed and two three-bed rooms. Each room is with shower and toilet. An Italian restaurant completes the complex. The hotel is quite new, the opening was in April 2001. The neighboring vicinities are not inhabited. The vicinity measures approx. 50m x 30m (30m beach) and offers enough space for some antennas. However, a small power line leads right across the property at about 8m high. Hotel manager Fulvio speaks Spanish and Italian, plus some English. Further information is available via Tel. +502 817 9046 or write to Dulce y Salado, La Curvina (Monterico), Chiquimulilla, Guatemala (no Email address). A good way to get to Monterico is to fly to Guatemala City and then take a mini-bus which costs about 50 US-$ per person but takes you directly to the hotel.
The license for TG is no problem via the CRAG in Guatemala City. Also, the equipment was no argument on the airport at arrival or departure. The next obstacles (mountains) towards EU and JA (and US) are in good distance so they don't pose a problem either. On one photo (below), you see our Titanex LP5. We also had a R7000 and a dipole for 80m. Since the location is near the ocean, everything was exposed to salty water spray over the entire time period. Antennas should be able to take that.
They have only telephone, nothing else at this time. We had our shack in room
5, which is closest to the antenna and has max distance to the power lines. The
antenna was only about 50m from the beach of the Pacific. It's all flat there,
the mountains begin at 20-30 km distance,
not an obstacle to worry. The
hotel is mostly used by weekend visitors, but they look for more guests to stay
for longer periods. We are currently holding the "stay record" with
10 nights. It would be the perfect place for another group like us (3-4 people)
speaking Italian or Spanish - and the sooner the better. It will get harder to book
in the future, as they will get more popular for vacationers. Another word
about license: There is only one license class in TG, available to any licensed
ham as it seems. DB2TR, a member of our group, has only a VHF in DL but was
allowed HF operation in TG ! And I
remember a lady in Guatemala City, hand-inspecting my suitcase for the flight
to Miami. She explained my equipment to a curious inspector: (in Spanish) "...this
is an amplifier and this should be a power supply..." So I can't see a
problem getting equipment into the
country.
73s and see you Andy DL3GA For more questions on this location, contact
Andy at DL3GA@darc.de or DL3GA@qsl.net.
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