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Published: June 12th 2009
Toys for the kids
Yes they really do dye chicks multi-coloured and flog them on the market as toys. A town called thankyou
Gracias, one of a series of towns on the 'Ruta Lenca'; the mountainous and indigenous zone of Western Honduras. We planned to visit the cloud forest but never foresawthat none of the four banks would have an ATM, so spent the next day retracing our steps to Santa Rosa and chasing round town looking for a machine that would work. The frustrations of Central America! Still, we made it to the hot-springs and swam around in the lovely sulphurous water, supposedly good for your skin but it doesn't half make your hair frizzy!
Lucky for us, the circus was in town and we enjoyed a cringeworthy night out complete with candyfloss. The first act was by far the worst, a man that looked half-cut attempting to juggle on a unicycle, except he kept dropping the skittles and falling off his bike. The girl juggling fire with her feet and the gymnast performing on a strip of fabric hung from the ceiling were pretty good. Then they brought out an angry ostrich, with a piece of rope tied to it's leg, it charged around the ring looking for a way out...then they tried to balance kids
on it's back! The first child fell off after one buck of the incensed bird, but undeterred she wanted to get up again straight away. The adults were half hysterical with laughter, half aghast at the total lack of caution. The next kid up for it managed a turn around the ring before being bucked off. Next came the lowly lion - 'all the way from Africa ladies and gentlemen' - announced the compere. Poor thing was not happy being driven through flaming hoops at the crack of a whip and the lure of dog biscuits. Thanks Circo Modelo for a night of pure entertainment!
Here's hoping...La Esperanza
Somewhere under the thick cake of mud, there appeared to be some sort of paving on the streets. To me it was just a hot and dusty place with not a lot happening. Though we did chance upon an artesania festival, got a bottle of fruit wine and stayed-in to watch a film on cable. Well, there was not a lot of 'going out' to be done! The other surprises here were cheap internet, steak and mushroom sauce and carrot muffins. I left unimpressed, not knowing at the time that
this would become my home for seven weeks!
Colonial Comayagua
Once the capital city, this historic town was pretty peaceful and friendly, though after spending an afternoon visiting the museum and looking at 15th century churches, you've just about covered it. The Cathedral's claim to fame is it's 800 year old clock, one of the oldest in the world. Originally built by the Moors for the palace of Alhambra in Granada it was a gift to the Americas by King Philip of Spain. Perhaps more impressive was the discovery of 5 Lempira baleadas!
A trip to Tela
One of those places that sound a lot better than it actually is. Obviously a popular spot with the locals but really just a beach town full of cheap shops and retaurants. I don't know why I checked into the Mar Azul, the electricity had been cut off and there was no sink in the 'bathroom', the shower had no pressure so you had to wash and flush with a bucket. But I kind of felt sorry for the crazy lady running it and she did redeem herself with an unusual knowledge and love for the British Royal family.
Mangosteen fruit from Lancetilla Botanic Gardens
I've never seen this fruit anywhere but here, delicious taste and such an amazing shape. Reminds me of a perfume bottle... I hired a shoddy excuse for a bike and headed out of town to the Lancetilla Botanic Gardens - founded by the United Fruit Company in 1926 for the purpose of experimenting with the cultivation of tropical plants. It was a cruel coincidence that the founders wife died from eating a poisonous fruit. The huge plot of land makes for a pleasant walk but is more of a tree plantation than a garden but I got to try the delicious mangosteen fruit..a taste not too far off lemon meringue pie!
La Ceiba and Roatan
Most people spend one night in La Ceiba then take off early for the ferry to Utila the next day. Going against the grain, I spent a total of six nights here and headed to Roatan, the largest Bay Island. Utila or Roatan, that is the question; Utila is cheaper with a big backpackers scene but all about the diving, a tiny town and no beach to speak of. Roatan is a bigger island with several towns and more to do but catering mainly for the US resort tourist. I decided to ditch the divingin favour of snorkelling (cheaper) and went to Roatan
armed with food supplies in preparation for roughing it in the cheapest place.
Valeries has to be the direst hostel I've ever been to; a ramshackle construction resembling a shantytown. A filthy sesspot of a kitchen with one gas burner, one functional shower and only one flushing toilet. American Valerie seemed oblivious of the faults and has been trying to sell the place for two years.
"Any buyers?" I asked.
"Oh, plenty but I don't like what they want to do to the place."
That would be burning it to the ground and starting again I imagine. The saving grace was the nice crowd of people and the availability of duty-free rum!
Anyway, the island was beautiful, as were the beaches and barrier reef. Every time I went snorkelling there was something new to see - a giant stingray, a shiny barracuda, a shoal of squid and scores of rainbow coloured fish. Despite planning to do more, the white sand beaches and turquoise coloured waters are hard to drag yourself away from. In a burst of motivation I made the 10k return trip to Sandy Bay for the Marine Museum and Botanic Garden. After trying and failing to
Swinford Park, La Ceiba
A monument and historical park donated by the United Fruit Company get to Cayos Cochinos on the cheap we perhaps had a lucky escape as they were filming the Spanish version of Survivor there at the time!
Six days later I was back in la Ceiba looking for adventure and I found it in Pico Bonito National Park. The park is mountainous cloud forest and difficult to penetrate, one of the few paths are to Rio Zacate Falls, and they don't make the path easy to find! After several false starts and misdirections an old man gave me a lift in his pick-up truck through the pineapple fields to the trail head. It was a damp steep trek and I got quite excited about the Blue Morpho I spotted...what do you call a butterfly twitcher? The insect musuem in La Ceiba is really worth it is you're not too scared about creepy crawlies, the eccentric owner has been a lifetime collector and will infuse you with his passion for the bug world. He even has some hands-on live specimens for the less squeamish...ok, I managed to stroke the tarantula but couldn't bring myself to hold him!
White-water-rafting is another way to see part of the National Park and the
Guarding the beach...Sambo Creek
Not the most attracttive looking beach I've ever been to! giant boulders strewn in the crystal clear waters is an impressive site. The rafting outfit were quite impresive too and kitted us out in all the gear, including helmets; you never get helmets here, who cares about health and safety? It was all going well until I realised it was Evangelist rafting and he had us all holding hands saying thanks to Jesus! Yeah, right, Hallelujah, can we jump in now???
The capital..Tegucigalpa
More of a transit hub than a hot destination, the city centre is dominated by US food chains and little else but I sought out a few museums and chanced upon a golden opportunity.
The Government granted the food chains tax concessions which has meant that the local restaurants can barely afford the city centre rent. Though the famous Don Pepe's has withstood the onslaught thanks to the Virgin of Suyapa. Honduras' most famous saint stands only 6 inches tall and was once stolen from her home in the Basilica, only to turn up in the gents at this local eatery. The mens loos have now been converted into a shrine with replica Virgin's, newspaper clippings of the lucky find and a donation box
Zacate waterfall, Pico Bonito National Park
A three hour hike in the cloud forest leads to this peaceful spot...I saw my first Blue Morpho flitting past here (giant blue butterfly). for your convenience.
Heading out of town to Valle de Angeles, I met a young Scottish lad on the bus, I was busy telling him that I was looking for volunteer work but had turned up nothing in Honduras, so was heading to Leon tomorrow to try there. As my luck would have it, he turned out to be a volunteer co-ordinator and was offering my the chance to return to La Esperanza to work on a construction project. Well, you can't look a gift horse in the mouth can you, so I turned on my heels and headed back to that dusty old town...
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Christine
non-member comment
Great Story!
Hi! I just wanted to write and say thanks for your story and for sharing your experience in Honduras! I'm heading there to backpack through next month and gleaned some great information and great ideas from your experiences. Sounds like you had a great (and interesting!) adventure and I'm looking forward to the same! Take care and happy travels!