Beachside Again!

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Say What!

The Garifuna People: Warm, Friendly and Impossible to Understand

When the bus driver told us that this was the stop for Tela we piled out of the bus into what seemed like a little bus stop on the side of the highway in the middle of nowhere. If this happens to you, follow the sign that says Tela with a bunch of hotel names underneath it. It's definitely a walkable distance if you hate taking the cabs as much as we do. If you go straight along the road you'll walk through the central park and right onto the beach.

In terms of accomodations this place was a little weird. The Miramar hotel, which is recommended in the Lonely Planet was dingy, dark and altogether uninviting. We scooted out of there. The place we ended up in didn't look great from the outside. It was a two story building called Hotel Sara, with a big sign welcoming backpackers on the side. Inside though, the rooms were super clean, with a fan, a plug, clean bathrooms and a communal balcony for 100L. It was the best deal we found. The only beef I had with it was the noise on the weekend from Andy's Discotheque, which is right next door and operates Friday and Saturday all night long. As well, the bus terminal for the Triunfo buses is right outside, but they didn't really get to me. They only really start operating around 8:00am and by that time I'm already up.

The only tour company that seemed open while we were here was Garifuna Tours. They seem to have an almost complete monopoly on the industry in this town. There's another place called Coco Tours but it was never open while we were around. The Garifuna prices were a little much, but the tour we finally went on was pretty cool. The problem is that for a lot of the tours they need a minimum of four to six people signed up to go. We want to visit the Punta Ixtobal, and tried for two days. The girl finally told us that if we wanted to pay an extra 50L each we could go just the two of us. It was really worth it. We were driven to the national park in Triumpho de la Cruz, the larger Garifuna town just east of Tela. The guide outfitted us with a two person kayak and we travelled up and down two rivers into lagoons and through waters covered in green, surrounded with lush jungle, flowers, white faced and howler monkeys and all kinds of birds. Apparently you can also catch glimpses of crocs and spider monkeys as well. This really is the best way to see this type of scenery. The kayaks are the most silent and versatile kind of transportation so you can crawl into small spots and are less likely to scare everything away. If you can convince them to go super early in the morning, you'll probably see more stuff.

Since we couldn't take the tour on the first day, being less than the minimum four, we visited the Lancetilla Botanical Gardens outside of town. If you are planning on walking to these suckers, go early and be ready for a good 6 or 7 km walk. Take the road out of the city that leads you to the highway. Take a right (away from La Ensenada and Triumpho) and stick to the left side of the road. There's a spot in the road that's lined with huge flowering trees, just past these you'll see a sign directing you to Lancetilla. Pay your entrance fee at the booth near the highway. The walk from here to the visitors centre is at least another 4 km. We ended up getting lifts from really nice people in pickups who took pity on us both ways. If you get the offer, take it. There's grub and bathrooms and all that stuff at the visitors centre. You can buy a pretty badly drawn map for 10L or you can take a guided tour for 100L. Since most of the plants in this garden are trees, you get a lot more out of the place with a guided tour. Origins of the plants, what they're used for, kinds of fruits, which are poisonous,etc. There are a couple of decent swimming holes around here too. Bring your bathing suit. The best one is at the far end of the gardens.

The town of Tela itself is obviously a weekend place. Families from the citities of Progreso and San Pedro Sula flock here on Saturdays and Sundays. But the city is essentially asleep every other day by 9 o'clock. Eating advice is to do so early. There are a ton of bars in the city, lots on the beach. Our two favorite places for food were the Luces del Norte and the Casa Azul, both within a block of each other, one block off the beach. There are a couple of great liquado places in town and Tuti's on Principale has a great cheapie lunch special. The last time I looked it was a half roasted chicken with all the trimmings for 28L. The other thing that killed me about this city were what I've ended up dubbing fried chicken alleys. There are two that really stand out, one on a street right next to the Parque Central and the other next to the market. Vendors line both sides of the street and sell only one thing: Pollo Frito. The only variations are whether they're served with fries or fried plantain. The other place this place is known for is the Maya Vista Hotel on the east end of town. The restaurant's food is apparently not great (and a little pricey) but it's a good place to have a beer or a coffee and enjoy the view.


The day after our tour of the lagoons, we decided to grab one of the buses to the Garifuna village of Triumpho and hang out there for a couple of days. We jumped off the bus and walked the beach in search of cabanas to stay in. The first place we came upon was the place listed as the upscale joint in town. We decided to have a look, just for kicks. Really nice rooms, but empty. We were quoted 500L by the girl who answered the door, but then the owner stepped in. "I'd rather the room be filled than empty," he said. Good business guy. He said he'd give us the room for 300L with a free continental breakfast. We told him we'd come back.

We checked out some of the stuff further down the beach and were quoted, guess what, 300L. The places weren´t even close to as nice. We took the schwanky joint.

Then we tried to get ourselves some lunch. Eating in this town, we discovered was somewhat of a challenge. They only really entertained tourists on Sunday, and there are only about two places that are guaranteed to be "open" everyday. The other problem is that when you order your food, they often have to either go out and buy the ingredients or at least make the whole thing from scratch, which includes the rice, getting the fire going, the works. Be prepared to wait at least an hour for your food. It will be amazing, but it'll take a while. The place that we found that was a pretty guaranteed bet is right on the beach, called Don Bocho's. It's run by a nice Mamie named Paola. She makes the meanest soups, both vegetable and fish. Get the fish with a coconut milk base.
Fantastic! All her other stuff is great too. Apparently the inner building of the restaurant has been there, same materials and everything, for over 100 years. Don Ambrosia Bocho's grandfather built the place and his mother was born inside the same walls. Hell of a history! The local hangout most nights is the pool hall on the main street. Be prepared to feel out of place unless you've befriended one of the locals.

There are also a number of discotheques along the beach that probably get pretty hopping on the weekends. Dancing's a pretty big deal in this town.

Closer to Tela is the little town of La Ensenada which we walked to today. You can walk there along the beach from Tela, it takes about 45 minutes, or take the bus. Although it was a bit smaller than Triumpho, La Ensenada seemed like it was more open for business. Houses here had gardens, places generally looked a little cleaner and there were a number of places where life actually seemed to be stirring. This would be a cute place to while away a couple of lazy days on the beach. We're now in Tela and for the first time in like a month the date on this entry is finally correct. I'm up to date and will attempt to keep it this way until the end of the trip.

Our next destination sounds will probably be La Ceiba tomorrow and some of the Garifuna villages around there. Hopefully I'll have another food column up soon. Maybe on the wonders of fried dough.

Until then.

Much Love

Vanessa

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