Jungle Zone and Cayos Cochinos

So for Thanksgiving we had 2 days off. What do you do when you have a few days off in Honduras? Rent a car and drive all the way around the country, that's what fool!

We started out on Wednesday and drove the whole 8 hours to La Ceiba and specifically stayed in Pico Bonito-the national park in the area. We had heard mixed reviews. Some said it was ok, some said it was dirty. Some said the beaches weren't that great.

Well, it turned out to be an amazing trip! That's even with the horrific zip lining I found myself a part of. Our lodge that we stayed at was beautiful. We had a porch that overlooked the river. Across the river was a waterfall. AND we were the only people there.

Thursday: Thanksgiving.
We took a zip line tour of the jungle. Sounds great, right! Wrong. Turns out it's the old timey zip lines where you have to use your hands to stop yourself. Your hands!! Who does that? Jungle tours, that's who. Well, needless to say I never figured it out. The first run I broke too early and had to have the guide come halfway on the line and drag me to the other side. Whoops! I told the guide, "No quiero ir!" That means "Dude, what is this shit show? I had to pay for this? I don't want to go, k?!" I did suck it up and finished the tour. Amit and Damaris were fine. They were like zip lining pros. I did have one good run when I actually had my hands placed in the right place and it all worked out, but it was only short lived. Two of the lines I had to have the guide go down with me. We were connected like partners. That's how I like to think of it. Not that I was the retarded one they couldn't let do it alone.

The highlight of the trip for me was a small farm we visited. We even saw a turkey. A live one.


Friday: Black Friday.
We booked a tour of some snorkeling to Cayos Cochinos. Short little trek through a Garifuna village and off for some amazing islands and snorkeling. This was the most fun I've ever had snorkeling. The water was amazing and I was so calm in the water. Not at all like the Tela snorkeling or zip line the previous day. This didn't have me thinking I might get swept out to sea or get stuck halfway across the jungle. We even had fins. Look who's using their heads! A snorkeling tour with fins.

The highlight of this trip was being able to just relax and enjoy the water. It reaffirmed that I think I can handle getting my scuba certification.

Saturday: Rain. And lots of it.
So we wait for it to stop raining. It sort of does. So we walk down the road to take the hike to see this illusive waterfall across the river that we've been staring at for 2 days. We pay our $7, which was a rip off for me since I didn't get my residencia discount, but whatever! Side note: whenever we can, we try to flash our residencias and I start calling everyone "mi hermano!" As if my residencia status somehow makes us related. People laugh. Mostly.

Across the bridge, up the hills we trekked. Only to be stopped not even halfway through by another downpour. Raining. In the rain forest. That's weird. So there we sat, seeking refuge under the beautiful canopy. We debated for a good while if we should go back or keep going. We eventually decided to turn back. Bummer! Good thing we did, because the monsoon arrived shortly after and it never cleared up again.

The rain took us to the mall. One of our favorite places in Honduras. I actually hate the mall in the U.S., but here the mall is civilization. Food courts and consumerism. Just like home.

And that leads me to perhaps our favorite memory of the trip. We come out of the mall to our rental car. Uh oh. We had a flat tire. Like I've said before, the driving here is a shit show. The parking is not much better. So, as we're getting the tire and jack out of the trunk, people are trying to drive by where there is obviously no room because our trunk is open and we're trying to get everything out. What's a driver to do?? Wait a few SECONDS and then be on their way? Be PATIENT and wait your turn?? No, that would be absolutely ridiculous. So, in the short 2 minutes it takes us to get all the stuff out, a car comes by and is obviously on his way to somewhere he was never tying to be on time to in the first place. Latin America is not known for its punctuality. Well, in true Honduran fashion he starts honking. I just look at him and shake the jack and tire iron at him and give him my best "give me a fucking break!" gestures. He proceeds to yell back at me, in his broken English, "What do you want, beeeeech?" Now, we can only assume he meant "what the hell" and "bitch". I didn't say anything. I mean, what can you say? "Nice English, beeech!" or how about "I love the beeeeech, thank you!"

Thank goodness not all men in Honduras are as ignorant. A nice family helped us change the tire and we met some nice people at the llantera (or tire fixing place). Some nice boys around 13 years old fixed the tire in like 5 minutes flat and charged us $1. Only in Honduras.