Because we had been traveling at a very rapid pace through Guatemala, we decided that it would be nice to slow down a little bit and head over to the Bay Islands, off the coast of Eastern Honduras. Famous for its variety of cultures, pristine beacches, well preserved coral reefs and the cheapest scuba diving in the world.. it sounded like a dream. We were told to stop in a city named Tela on the way there for its nice beach and lively town... well, the town was lively and the beach was dodgy and dirty. Did not like Tela too much. Stayed for a night.
Made our way to La Ceiba, which is the port town to get to the Bay Islands. The Bay Islands consist of 3 islands, Roatan being the largest and our destination. In La Ceiba (if i at all missed the States), we were greeted with a sleu of American franchises. Let us see, we had Popeyes, KFC, Burger King, Quiznos... I mean, you name it. There was also a Super Mega Plaza that pretty much looked like a mall back in the States. A little akward for a thrid world country. But anyway, take it with a grain of salt I guess. So blah blah, we took a ferry to the island along with a handful of other American travelers going on their one week Carribean vacation. It is easy to say you have been to Honduras when you fly into the International Airport, take the luxury liner bus to the luxury ferry and go on your way to the luxury resort... at least we are happy we did not do it that way.
Roatan was a paradise though. You can smell it in the air as you pull up to the dock. Palm trees line the ocean and jungle covers the rest of island. Our drive to our hotel was a refreshing one, the area being much less inhabited and much more peacful from what we were used to. We opted for a hotel runned by a very beautiful and interesting family that we would soon learn a lot from.
Burkes Place, aka our home for a week, was owned by a family of African decent. Many people in Central America, along the Carib coast are of African decent, coming from abandoned slave ships way back in the day. Actually, most of the islands in the Carib have that story. Roatan was a mix of Latinos (or Spaniards as the African decent people called them), the African Carib people, and the Garifuna, another African decent tribe. The Garifuna and Latinos do not really speak English, only their own respective languages, but the Carib people speak both broken, as iI like to call it, Jamaican style English, and perfect English as well.
The Burke family had cats, chickens and even about 10 deer living on their property. We learned how to properly cut open a coconut with a machete and learned about the beautiful plant species. The beach we opted to relax on every day, free of one week vacation travelers, was quaint, clean and we were even able to snorkel around the reef. Cannot complain really.
About 2 days into our stay there, we received new neighbors. Harry and Marnie. As Harry would say, what a life gift to have met these people. The moment we met them we could feel their energy and life surrounding the area. We were fortunate enough to spend a few days together, learning from them and discussing life late at night. Very special and we will never foeget their beauty. Harry, Marnie, if you are reading this, it was an honor to be in your presence, and we will never forget you. We hope you find all that you desire in life and continue your beautiful journeys. We will meet again!
And if that was not enough, we met the most lovliest people from Sweden traveling around Honduras planning a holiday for Swedish travels. We shared a bottle of wine and it was love at first site.. haha. Suzanne and Daniel, we learned a lot from you and we will never forget you. We will be looking for you when we move to Sweden to live the wonderful lives you Swedes do! We envy your jobs and wish you all the best. Please keep in touch. If you ever want to come to Chicago you have an open door. Lots of love from us...
After about a week in Roatan, we finally realized that we could not live there forever and decided to move on. Another full day of bus riding brought us to Lago de Yojoa which we thought we would accomplish a lot of, but our lazy lifestyle from Roatan came with us. Staying for about 4 days, the only thing we really accomplished was hiking around the flower and coffee plantation that we were staying on, and visiting a magnificent waterfall. Yes, we stayed on an old estate that was a producer of wild flowers and coffee beans. A beautiful river coming down from the mountains ran through the property. The backdrop was a flourishing jungle spread over handfuls of mountains. We camped at a hostel and Brewery owned by an American. We saw his dodgy collection of Ancient Lencan tools that he found while digging up his land. We think those things should probably be in a museum... and Joe ate termites to relieve his congestion. Ancient remedy. You know me, I am all about my homeopathy and alternative medicine, but I could not bring myself to do it. He said it tasted like lemon salt, haha.
Now we have been in a city called Comoyagua. It was the capital of Honduras before it moved to Tegucigalpa. Another large and colorful colonial city, there is not much to do here except see a museum or 2 and deal with the extremely rude people. So we are at the internet cafe.
Tomorrow morning we continue our journey to Danli, a cigar mecca. Then quickly moving down into Nicaragua.
Love and Peace to all... love, us
