La Tierra Firma

The week between Christmas and New Year's the clinic was closed. Erin came to visit for 2 weeks, so we spent a week traveling the Honduran mainland (la tierra firma). Our journey began by ferry to La Ceiba, a big port city, then traveled South into the Parque Nacional de Pico Bonito.

Parque Nacional de Pico Bonito

River rafting and rock jumping on the Rio Cangrejal including some class 4 rapids!

Omega Lodge in national park. Our cabin spanned a creek.

Tipical Honduran plate. Platanos fritos con crema, huevos fritos, aguacate, tortillas y frijoles.

60m waterfall we hiked to in Parque Nacional Pico Bonito

Next we traveled West to Refugio de Vida Silvestre Curo y Salado (wildlife refuge named after the intersection of the rivers Cuero and Salado with the sea). We arrived at dusk and because the restaurant was closed, a park tour guide brought us to his home, a little hut, where his mother made us dinner. The plantains, eggs, and beans all came from just outside the home. 

In the morning we went on a sunrise canoe tour through the river and mangroves. Our local guide pointed out many species of birds and we even saw some howler monkeys. 

A Dole coconut plantation security guard filling my nalgene with coconut water. 

Next we traveled to Copan Ruinas, a large Mayan Ruin site on the border of Honduras and Guatemala.

On the left is the ball field where 6,000 Mayans would watch until the winner was sacrificed. 

Largest Mayan hieroglyphic stairway. 

In the Valley of Copan we toured a shade grown coffee plantation. Most of Honduras' coffee is grown in this mountainous region at about 7000ft which is ideal for the coffee plant to grow. As you can see in the photo on the left, the coffee plants are grown on rolling hillsides among thousands of other species of plants and trees. It was not the "farm" I had expected. We walked with our tour guide through the plantation as he explained the process of coffee harvesting and processing. Then we stopped at the cafe on the hillside for some delicious espresso. 

On the left above: an Annatto fruit. A pungent red dye from the seeds is used for food coloring and clothing dyes. 

On the right above: a yellow coffee fruit (more bitter flesh), the mucus covered coffee bean, and a red fruit (sweet flesh). Both fruits are ripe, just different species of plant. 

A very decorated graveyard we came accross

We spent New Year's in Copan, where even the tiny children were lighting off fireworks and other explosives all night.

We also went horseback riding through the hills of the Copan Valley up to a little village. The village had been given a grant by the World Bank to set up a studio for the women to make these colorful corn husk dolls to sell to tourists. There was also a weaving studio and the women sold blankets and scarves. A woman can make 10 dolls in a day, and the cute but forceful sons and daughters sell them each for one dollar. 

View over Copan

Pretty Macaw Birds

On Saturday we took the long journey back to Roatan which included a lot of bus time and a roller coaster of a ferry ride. Overall for the trip we were incredibly lucky with travel schedules, everything just lined up and we spent just the right amount of time in each place (unlike some other travel misadventures I've had!). We hit pretty close to all of the "Honduran hot spots." I'm so glad I got that week of and the chance to see the Honduran mainland. It is a great contrast to the island life. I also was very please to speak Spanish all week, unlike on Roatan where one can easily speak only English.