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| Our Cabin |
Right after school on Friday we left for the lake! During the week, I had checked my car from under the hood, to changing the tires, even having a mechanic take a quick look so this road trip would go smoothly! There is a cool app called WAZE that can give me directions around/out of the city. Once we had navigated the Anillo Perifico (main highway) and driven past Comayaguela then we were on the open road! The highway goes to the business center of Honduras, San Pedro Sula, so they were in fairly good condition. We passed through a couple bigger cities but as it grew dark, I was more nervous about the wet mountain roads. Along the way, I drove through several police checkpoints but was never stopped (even though I don't have license plates) thank God! We were packed in my car as Kelsey, Karishma, Amanda, Keiko, Irey (dog) and I were all on this adventure!
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| Map of Lago |
After I turned off the main highway to go north of the lake, we took a few wrong turns. Finally, we made it to the D&D Brewery where we were staying. The five (and dog) of us stayed in a cabin, besides a mass of resident insects it was fairly clean. We had made it to Lago de Yojoa!
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| Helena (blonde) making a bracelet |
Helena, who I had met a couple months ago and who is volunteering in the area, was also staying at the D&D. So we spent most of the evening exchanging stories about our children. Helena is originally from Sweden, but lives in the States. She came down with a cultural exchange program that placed her at a foundation in San Francisco de Yojoa. She works with disadvantaged boys from San Pedro and the surrounding area. The village where she works is quite small and no one speaks English, so although Helena is fluent in Swedish and English it has been a total emersion experience for her learning Spanish. It was not long before the rain started and I went to bed exhausted from school and surviving the crazy mountain driving.
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| Hiking Las Naglas |
We didn't have anything planned too early on Saturday morning, so after a cup of coffee and omelet, I chatted with some people from Tegus and other teachers from the countryside. Around 10am (though nothing happens on a schedule), we headed out on a hike up Las Nalgas (literally, butt cheeks) which was supposed to take a couple hours but took us much longer... We hiked with a couple who organize missionaries to come to Siguatepeque. It was a nice (very hot/humid) cimb. At the top, we could view the town of Las Naranjas and Lago de Yojoa.
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| Freddie making a trail |
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| From the top: Las Narangas |
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| ...halfway there? |
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| Success |
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| From the Top: Lago |
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| Actually a photo of ME! |
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| Path of Misadventure |
So, we wanted to see the lake, right? Well, what we thought would be a relaxing evening on the water soon turned into the greatest misadventure of our weekend! We set out about 3:30p carrying all of our things and large inner tubes, on what we had been told was a 20 minute stroll. At the rate we walked, this turned out to be an hour hike down a dirt road, along a narrow trail on the bank of a canal, and through a lot of mud/ cow piles.
We did eventually make it to the lake though quite muddy and wet from the pouring rain. I was the first one in the lake, floating and swimming with my inner tube. We were in a narrow part of the lake, where I could swim across to touch the stone cliff on the other side. This part of the evening was really neat, though I didn't stay out long because I didn't want to get too tired or too far away from the shore. The others, however, did not seem to have the same apprehensions and were out of the water for a while despite the sinking sun and imminent darkness. Swimming back to shore was a little difficult due to a current from the canal, so our very patient guide had to push two of the girls back to shore. The return hike in the dark, pouring rain, carrying our gear, and avoiding cows was quite the opposite of exciting. I had brought a flashlight, but that didn't go far between seven people. Finally, we arrived back at the D&D with our hair matted, soaked to the bone, and covered in mud...i'm sure we looked like vagabonds....
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| At the lake |
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| Jamaica Flowers |
After showering and congratulating ourselves on survival, I ordered their well-known hamburger and a couple glasses of vodka and Jamaica juice (a species of Hibiscus, pronounced hamaica) which was delicious. Although we stayed at a nationally renowned microbrewery, I didn't do more than taste one flavor...unfortunately, I don't like beer.
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| Coffee Seedlings |
Sunday morning I was up early, excited to be visiting Cascades Pulhapanzak!!! This morning I had coffee and a baleada. The coffee here is excellent as it is grown right there in the mountains and ground up fresh. The falls were only a 20 minute drive from where we were staying and very easy to find. The roads are full of holes and surrounded by people walking, livestock roaming, people travelling horseback, and lots of dogs. When we arrived at the park, we first went to view the front of the waterfall which was beautiful with a rainbow. Then we signed up to walk "behind" them.
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| Pulhapanzak |
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| ...and me again |
Prepared to be soaked, we descended with out guide to the base of the falls. It had been raining every night for several weeks, so the water was strong. The guide took the five of us girls, griping hands for dear life, through the narrow cliffs and waist deep water. Water from above was pouring down on our heads and shoulders, so we were told to keep our head down and breath through our mouth. It was so much fun!!! The spray of the water was powerful, but for those moments I could see through it, up the waterfall to the clear blue sky, it was amazing!
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| San Francisco de Yojoa |
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| San Francisco de Yojoa |
After the return hike, I changed clothes and started driving north again to visit the village where Helena is living. Soon I was driving in this quaint village full of colorful buildings and cobbled streets. I was able to see the house where she lives and peer through the gates of the foundation where she works. We noticed all these fancy horses headed in the same direction, so we did a little investigation and found out that there was to be a race at 5:30p. (This "finding out" involved a lot of standing around, asking questions that we didn't understand the answers to, and being stared at.) Unfortunately, I didn't want to be driving back in the dark so after snapping a few photos I said goodbye.
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| Malcom and Rolando |
Monday morning we were up super early to go out bird watching on the lake. This is the event that is the "thing to do" on Lago de Yojoa. It was such a neat experience to be rowed out on the lake just after sunrise. Although I don't know anything about birds, I can see that it is a fascinating environment for naturalists to observe. Our guide, Malcom, a life-long nomad originally from Britain, is a bird specialist who could tell you anything about local weather patterns, wildlife, and life in general. We were out on the lake for several hours, identifying many species that I cannot remember and six species of cranes. Our rower was very experienced and patient. I took a turn rowing and zig-zagged across the canal several times before settling into more of a wavy forward direction. Our group returned to the D&D, packed up, and started the trip back to Tegus. I don't think any of us were ready for school to start the next day.
I wanted to stop at Cuevas de Tauble on the way back. It was an ok walk to see the caves, but I think Missouri has better to offer in that department. We arrived safely back in Tegus before dark! Successful weekend!!!
Wow, made it through a long week! Everyday felt like pulling teeth as we attempted to fit instructional time between Christmas rehearsals. Wednesday was school, faculty meeting, spanish tutor, and salsa class. It was our last class for Level 1! It was fun as we celebrated a classmate's birthday and said our "goodbyes for now".
The day of the Christmas concert was very long! It was only a half day of school, but then we had a math seminar and ATLAS/TESC work to do. The kids came back to school at 5pm; it was a mixture of stress and excitement as Ms. Cuty and I attempted to corral the kids on the bus with their santa hats. We got off at the high school gym and we tried to stay in two straight lines as all the Kindergartners walked across the stage. However, the kids performed well and no body fell off the stage! I remembered to turn all the pages for the high school accompanist and the faculty choir hit most of the notes = success!
