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This update made possible by the kind folks at ¿Que Tal? Café in Coxen Hole, Roatan, Honduras. If you are on the island sometime, be sure to drop by and enjoy their food, drink and friendly service! |
8 November, 2000
Woke up sore. K & L took a walk and saw some great views of Gracias. Bb and Steve slept in and took their word for it that the view was wonderful. We got a little bit of a late start, but headed out along a dirt road towards Lake Yojoa, chatting about the anti-carjacking tips that a local dutch innkeeper had given Kelley and Lori. The most useful was to not drive at night or in the evening, and if when you leave town you notice that a late-model 4x4 or sporty car is following you, you should turn around and head back into town. Apparently some carjackers follow targets a few miles before running them off the road and a couple of guys with automatic weapons jump out- at that point you've already lost. Good advice, but the fact that it stemmed from her explaining that this particular road was safe…. well, it wasn't all that reassuring, really.
Today was also Kelley's first day of driving, and it just so happened that the road we were on was a decent quality dirt road but 
had several rutted sections. Kelley did just fine once he got accustomed to the clutch (their cruiser is automatic) but Steve realized that when you've logged a few thousand miles in your truck with two not-too-different driving styles, riding in back with someone new driving isn't as relaxing as he had hoped it would be. Next time Kelley drives, Steve is sure to relax more, first time is always the hardest, right?
Our destination for the day was Lago de Yojoa- a huge body of fresh water in the mountains of Honduras that is supposed to be a hot destination for Hondurans on the weekends and as a summer home spot. We were looking forward to the Fried Black Bass that is the trademark dish of the region. Along the way there we noticed a curious phenomenon: along the side of the highway, sometimes well into your lane, were people selling everything from oranges to watermelons to honey to concrete. The curious part is that all of the same vendors were clustered together. There was a mile of orange piles, all indistinct from one-another, then a mile of honey, apparently equal, then concrete by the pallet… and so on. The only way we could figure it was that there must have been highly regional specialties.
We made it to Lago de Yojoa as dusk was approaching and found a nice hotel to stay in called Hotel Agua Azul. Perched right on the lake, the views were spectacular. We got the cheap room and it was… cheap. Falling apart, literally, but good enough to sleep in for one night. 
The shower was downright dangerous- and electricians nightmare: a 4000W appliance with bare wires visible about an inch from running water! Our dinner of whole Black Bass (over a pound of fish each) was scrumptous. The only downside was perhaps the voracious mosquitos- Steve and Beebee renewed their vows to treat their clothes with the bug gunk we've been carrying around for six months to keep the vicious little vampires from biting through our shirts or pants. For some reason we never seem to take the time to apply the stuff as it takes four hours to dry and we always remember about two hours before we want to leave. Oh-well, one of these days we'll remember. Maybe instead of doing an site update sometime…
The girls finished of the night chatting in our room while the boys shot some pool and debated physics, biology, criminal punishment and a variety of other un-ending topics. Fun night for all.
9 November, 2000
We woke up and birdwatched in the early morning before leaving the lake. On our way to Tela, we decided to stop at Honduras' largest waterfall, Pulhapanzak. As we pulled up, about seven young men swarmed our car. Hmmm. Beebee felt very uncomfortable leaving Sandy behind, but they followed us into the park and out towards the waterfall trying to convince us to pay them to take us behind the waterfall. Since we were sore, sore, sore after our hike and the trail down the side of the waterfall was muddy, rocky and slippery, we all decided we could see plenty from where we were. The 20-story fall was beautiful (can falls be any other way?) and we gazed at it for several minutes, walked back upstream a bit and went for a nice cold dip in a shallow swimming hole.
We decided we wanted to try staying in Tornabé, a Garifuna village for the night. We passed it on the first try and found ourselves in Tela, where we shopped, pulled out money, all the things you do in town. We found the Tornabé exit fine on the way out of town and wound down a dirt road into the heart of Tornabé, which really is all of town -- a few restaurants (not open since it's the off season), a place to make phone calls, and a hotel at the end of the road aptly named The Last Resort.
Once again, since it's the off-season, we (okay, Steve) wrangled a gorgeous cabaña; (two bedrooms, a tiled bath with hot water, huge sitting room, and wet bar) for about half price. Woo hoo!
10-12 November, 2000
We were the only people at The Last Resort until the afternoon before we left -- just fine with us! We spent our days under the umbrella on the expansive raised deck that looked out to the Caribbean.
We got into a rhythm of swimming -- the ocean was warm, with waves just big enough to play in, reading, beading, drinking rum and eating fish. On the third day, we must have been feeling restless as we spent the day building a sand castle. The locals were enthralled. There was one kid who stayed and watched us the entire time. All in all, the three days there were blissful.
While we were in Tornab&eqacute; we drove into Tela a couple of times (about a 20 minute drive) to eat out (incredible fried fish, decent pizza) and to buy groceries. The road used to have a bridge, but that washed out during Mitch, we believe, and so now everyone drives around the lagoon, out towards the ocean to get into Tela. Not infrequently, people get stuck. Steve helped one poor guy who was in up to his doors. Steve is still a little surprised at how well the winch works at yanking people out of things.
Happy Birthday to Katielynn and Ky.
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| Pelicans in Tornabé | Bb sits down | Palm frond | Local Fishing boat |
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| Steve and the very sweet Lassie | Tornabé | Relaxing on the deck | Cocos, avocados, yum | Sandy to the rescue |
13 November, 2000
The ferry to Roatán doesn't leave until 3 p.m. so we took some time in the morning to stop by the Lancetilla Experimental Garden. The garden was established in 1926 by the United Fruit Company as an experimental garden and is now run by the Honduran government. It is the largest botanical garden in Central America and the second-largest collection of Asian botanicals in the world. We got a two hour tour by a sweet young woman who taught us all about the different trees in the garden, from Bamboo to Strychnine, to Mahogany to Cinnamon. Fabulous! Beebee thinks the highlight of the tour was the nutmeg nut and the leaf cutter ants. Admission was $6.00 per person, you can check their website at www.lancetilla-oimt.hn
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| Bamboo trees | Bolas de Cañon | Leaf Cutter ants | Nutmeg! | Primavera - a distant relative of Ginger |
14 November, 2000
The three of us (sans Steve) spent a mucky, wet, rather cold night in a room barely big enough for its two beds. Coxen Hole, Roatán is definitely a place to stay if you've no other options. Kelley took a shower and he later described it to Steve as, "You'd be more comfortable standing naked in a cold wind." Sleep was choppy at best and the 5 a.m. alarm was a welcome sound. We were out of bed and looking for the Alessandra Express in 15 minutes. We found two other boats we had seen at the dock yesterday and asked the captain of one if he knew where she would come in. He laughed a little and told us French Harbor, which is on the other side of the island. We hailed a cab and took off. About 10 minutes into our ride, Sandy and Steve passed us going the other way. We frantically told the driver to turn around. In English. Beebee frantically spit out "turn around" and "Landcruiser" in Spanish. He got the idea, but Sandy was out of sight for a mile or so. When we spotted her we asked the cabbie to honk the horn. He wasn't sure about his at first, but as Steve was completely clueless and our cabbie was gaining speed around the corners chasing him, he could barley stop honking. Finally, after about five minutes of frantic honking and us waving our arms out the car windows, Steve pulled over.
Turns out his night was quite pleasant. Slept like a baby on the ship, had no problems at all. We couldn't believe he'd left French Harbor and he told us that if we'd seen it, we would have realized as he did, that we never would have found him there. So, happy ending!
We
decided to get out of Coxen Hole, ASAP and get to the pretty side of the island, called West End and West Bay. We spent all morning (from about 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.) looking for housing. Since Beebee's going to learn to dive, the rest will do their diving during the same time period, and for that, we need a hotel, not a campsite. After realizing West Bay was expensive, we hiked around West End and found a gorgeous little place -- quite a lot like what Steve and Beebee would like to build some day. We pay $10 U.S. per person, per night. Each couple has a huge room, full bath and shaded front deck (with a hammock). Steve and Beebee also have a kitchen nook, complete with stove and sink (no oven). The grounds are beautifully planted and maintained. The place is super lush and shady and just across the sand street from the Caribbean- best curbside parking we've found yet.
Food here is a bit more expensive than on the mainland, just as we thought it would be and so we eat one meal a day out and the rest of the time we nibble on groceries.
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| Lush Arco Iris | Green Arco Iris | Verdant Arco Iris | Inside Arco Iris | Drinking rum on our porch |
16 November, 2000
Steve's birthday! Big 27. He got treated like a king for the day and enjoyed it tremendously. Pancakes for breakfast, snorkeling at midday and we spent the evening a restaurant on a pier watching a brilliant sunset. All in all it was one of the best birthdays he has had in a number of years.
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| Sunset on the Caribbean | Looking for Sagittarius | Our bar on Steve's 27th birthday |
17 November, 2000
Lazy day today (read: a little hung over from last night). Beebee made the committment to get certified for diving, the girls lazed by the water. We played some cards. Looked at flowers. Hard life around here.