We faced the Honduras border crossing with a little depredation as we have heard that it is one of the more problematic (and expensive) crossings. Thanks to Lori and her “quasi” Spanish we avoided a bribe from the Guatemalan officials (exit fee) which they finally laughed at and said “next time” (kind of upset the tourists that had already paid the fee!) The Honduras crossing was no problem at all and we got through for 30 bucks each (bike fees) vs. the 60 some previous MC riders told us about. Our first stop was the Copan Ruinas…supposedly a must see on the Mayan ruin tour. Yes it was kind of nice but sure didn’t match Palenque or Tikal. The big difference with these ruins is that there is a lot of detailed rock carving and lots of large Cieba Trees (national tree of Guatemala) as well as Scarlet Macaws.
The next day we got to see about 350 KMs of Honduras and it can be best described as lush and green! Impressive cloud covered mtns. and lots of pretty streams and rios (rivers). They have had torrential rains lately and lots of mud slides dot the hillsides and sections of road as we pull into La Cieba (which happens to be the hub for venturing out into the Bay Islands…Honduras number 1 tourist destination) La Cieba was a bit of a gong show and it wasn’t until dark that we found a hotel near the ferry terminal and guess where we had dinner. Yes…a “Booger King” and it was the first Burger King that I have ever seen with an armed guard…those Honduran whoppers are valuable! (About the same price as Canada and even taste the same) The next day we hopped the ferry to Utila (one of the Bay Is.) and spent two days getting out butts cooked and taking in some fantastic snorkeling (Lori says the best we have ever seen and I have to agree!) So many gorgeous fish, fantastic coral and rock formations (makes you want to have an underwater camera….talking of which…I dropped my Nikon FM2 and super wide angle into a mangrove swamp we were exploring by kayak. No more camera for me but I am hoping that Terisa will pull through and DHL my spare to Nicaragua. (I can hear Dan-O moaning about me and the cameras…and maybe he is right as this is number two for the trip) We also saw a huge sting ray (3-4 feet across) which was kind of cool…definitely looked like a Crocodile Hunter type killer!
Today we hit the road to Parque Muralla…Lori’s travel guide raves about the place…only place in the world where the rare Quetzals actually group and hang around the camp site…fantastic hiking etc. Well, after over 100 kms of awesome dirt road (fantastic mountain scenery and fun riding) we arrived and the place is completely shut down…nothing (which is neat in its own way!) at all exists anymore and there are definitely no Quetzals hanging around the visitor centre! However this is our first night in a cloud forest and it is neat…lots of birds calling from huge deciduous trees and it is nice and cool out. I think it is going to feel great to get back into the tent and cook over the stove! Tomorrow we will see what some of the trails look like…but this is true jungle and my first excursion into the bush makes it appear that we will not be walking too far! Until next time…
The next day we got to see about 350 KMs of Honduras and it can be best described as lush and green! Impressive cloud covered mtns. and lots of pretty streams and rios (rivers). They have had torrential rains lately and lots of mud slides dot the hillsides and sections of road as we pull into La Cieba (which happens to be the hub for venturing out into the Bay Islands…Honduras number 1 tourist destination) La Cieba was a bit of a gong show and it wasn’t until dark that we found a hotel near the ferry terminal and guess where we had dinner. Yes…a “Booger King” and it was the first Burger King that I have ever seen with an armed guard…those Honduran whoppers are valuable! (About the same price as Canada and even taste the same) The next day we hopped the ferry to Utila (one of the Bay Is.) and spent two days getting out butts cooked and taking in some fantastic snorkeling (Lori says the best we have ever seen and I have to agree!) So many gorgeous fish, fantastic coral and rock formations (makes you want to have an underwater camera….talking of which…I dropped my Nikon FM2 and super wide angle into a mangrove swamp we were exploring by kayak. No more camera for me but I am hoping that Terisa will pull through and DHL my spare to Nicaragua. (I can hear Dan-O moaning about me and the cameras…and maybe he is right as this is number two for the trip) We also saw a huge sting ray (3-4 feet across) which was kind of cool…definitely looked like a Crocodile Hunter type killer!
Today we hit the road to Parque Muralla…Lori’s travel guide raves about the place…only place in the world where the rare Quetzals actually group and hang around the camp site…fantastic hiking etc. Well, after over 100 kms of awesome dirt road (fantastic mountain scenery and fun riding) we arrived and the place is completely shut down…nothing (which is neat in its own way!) at all exists anymore and there are definitely no Quetzals hanging around the visitor centre! However this is our first night in a cloud forest and it is neat…lots of birds calling from huge deciduous trees and it is nice and cool out. I think it is going to feel great to get back into the tent and cook over the stove! Tomorrow we will see what some of the trails look like…but this is true jungle and my first excursion into the bush makes it appear that we will not be walking too far! Until next time…
