Honduras, in the jungle!

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The next day, after our shopping extravaganza we just spent a lazy day in La Ceiba. We walked to the opposite end of town that we had been in the previous day. We went all the way to the beach... about 30 mins walk through the centre of town and along to the nightclub district, but of course nothing was open except a few small shops. We had brought our salami sandwiches with us for lunch and bought some beers at a little comedor and ate. At one point a big truck pulled up next to the shop and it was full of gas cylinders, not sure if they were full or empty, im assuming full because a guy was sitting on top with a giant shotgun! not the safest idea in the world, one accident and the whole thing goes boom!
We decided we wanted to see a movie and walked back to the cinemas that are on the other side of town after getting some more money from an ATM in the centre. Unfortunately after a long walk back both the cinemas in the area were only open from 7pm onwards! so we went and got some icecream instead and headed back to the hostel. Dinner was leftovers from the night before.
Next morning we had to get up and be rady to leave at 8am on the dot. We were going to the Jungle Lodge, its the same owners as the hostel we were in, Banana Republic. The lodge is only half an hours drive away so 9 people crammed into a modified jeep wrangler with extra seats in the back tray section it had. The lodge IS in a jungle, right on the Rio Cargana, its soooo beautiful, the hills go for km´s and every single one is covered in jungle. There are monkeys, toucans, snakes, caymans and many more animals here. We were here to the white water rafting and ziplines through the canopy on separate days. Each tour here includes a nights accomodation. White water rafting was pretty sweet! 3 hours, we start by driving up the river a bit, then a 30min swim/hike up river a bit which was fun, it included a bit of rapid we had to grab a rope from the guide who had gone ahead and pull yourself through the rapids! Another bit we had to cross the river at a place where there is a very strong current, so we would start swimming and they´d throw a rope to us, was fun! Plus there were 2 places we had to jump off high rocks into deep water. Then we floated back to where the boats were, in lifejackets and helmets, just floating on our backs through all the rapids! was awesome!
Then the rafting began, Dario and I were in one infaltable raft with a guide at the back and a trainee at the front (need to have 4 in each boat and the other 2 boats had 3 paying customers in each). we practiced the commands etc for 10 mins then headed off down the river. Most of the rapids were pretty easy but loads of fun, after the first major one which was a mini waterfall the guides purposely put our boats straight under the falls and we all got wet and nearly overturned, was loads of fun! it was a bit like a bucking bull too coz of the pressure on one side of the boat. All but one were pretty easy, we had to all pull over and get out of the boats while the guides looked at a class 4 rapid from above to see how safe it was and the correct was to go through it. The guides would take turns to be prepared with a rope at the bottom of the rapid incase someone from another boat fell out. we were last and gave our camera to another guy who took pics of us coming down! noone fell out luckily. We stopped after 2 and a half k´s of river at the lodge for a quick snack of fruits etc and to jump off the 8m high cliff back into the river below! that was awesome! Then we went again for another 3km of easy class 1 and 2 rapids.
That afternoon we got dried off and went for a half hour walk to the local village along the only road through the mountains here. We found it, its tiny! 2 little shops selling softdrink, rice and a few other things and one little bar. We bought some beers coz unfortunately being a touristy place, the lodge is expensive for food and drink. On the way back we stopped at a very cool little suspension bridge that crosses the river. Its very high over the river and very thin but long. We went and took some pics, and some kayakers were going through the rapids beneath us. There is a dog that lives at the lodge and we walked with us most of the way, always checking we were following him... he´s a gentle giant doberman that everyone here knows and loves. There is also a resident macaw at the lodge, he sits in the same tree most of the day, occassionally coming down to harrass the kitchen for some more food. Apparently he was rescued from people who took him from his nest when he was young, he never learned to fly as a result and walks everywhere.
For dinner it was a quarter chicken, rice and beans and salad. We made a new couple of mates here, Melissa and Vinnie, american travellers. Vinnie used to work really hard and had majorly high stress levels so is now on a trip of a lifetime for a few years seeing the world... but surprisngly he is a very picky eater which was funny. He was really nice and bought us some beers! Our room is very basic and we have resident mice we think, just coz Darío accidently left some Maria biscuits out and when we came back one was half eaten on our pillow!
Next morning we went ziplining through the jungle canopy which was pretty awesome! There are 8 cables some are short, some are long, but they are all high up. Dad you woulda loved it, some of the platforms were way up in the big jungle trees like a treehouse! halfway through we climbed down and walked to the farm owned by the lodge and our guide showed us some medicinal plants and dangerous plants etc and fish farming that they were doing, all very interesting. The last 2 ziplines were the longest, the final one being 180m long all the way back across the river to just near the lodge. It was a bit scary the first time, but was great after that! After ziplining Darío and i walked with a young man named Nelson who works at the lodge back to the village for the sunday afternoon football matches. I walked back again by myself and Dario stayed and played a game which every player bets 10 Lempiras, his team won! so he won 10 Lempiras (50c) and had beers with the boys after the game. I had time ot myself back at the lodge. On the walk back i saw a green snake crossing the road and took a photo once it had climbed safely onto the fence. I swam at the very nice pool that is at the lodge, it is made out of the rock that exists here with a few added pieces of concrete here and there to seal it properly, but there is a constant flow of freshwater from the mountain through the pool which keeps it nice and clean. Past the pool is the clifftop to jump off into the river 8m´s down. There were about 10 young americans there so i jumped off with them for a while before Darío returned a few hours later.
That evening we had dinner - locally caught fish with of course, rice and beans. We bought a bottle of local rum for $5 and shared it with Darwin, our rafting guide, and seemingly the DJ for the night... a computer was hooked up to speakers. we finished the bottle, then Oscar the owner gave us free shots of this crazy rum that ferments a bit in about 20 different herbs! needless ao say we were having a bit of a party. After a tiny sip of beer, Dario decided it was time for bed, but i stayed up later and partied on, very funny evening. But next day we both felt the need to stay in bed! We caught the 1pm transport back to la ceiba to catch the 4pm ferry to Utila, one of the islands that make up the bay islands.

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