Leon, Nicaragua

When we were researching our Central America trip, we talked to several people who recommended visiting Leon. Most of these people had also visited Granada, which they said was nice too. Based on our own reading, we had initially decided to skip Leon entirely, so when the opportunity arose to spend a night there, we happily took it.

Our shuttle arrived quite late, around 10:30-11:00. I had emailed the hotel the day before to make a reservation, but they never responded, so I was a bit worried they would not have any rooms available. Fortunately I needn't have worried, they had plenty of rooms. We put the boys straight to bed and all slept in late the next morning.

We had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel's restaurant the next day then headed out into the town to see the sights. We were immediately disappointed, and it just kept getting worse.

Leon is a city that is falling apart. I realize Nicaragua is an extremely poor country, but whether from lack of money, lack of interest, or lack of will, the people of Leon just don't really seem to give a shit about their city. The main square is a barren wasteland, nearly devoid of vegetation, with a broken fountain full of nasty green water. Their cathedral is falling apart and badly in need of repairs and paint. Every street we walked on was filthy and full of disintegrating buildings. There were drifts of garbage on every street, graffiti everywhere, piles of human and dog feces on nearly every street, and we even saw a dead dog that someone had stuffed into a trash can that had obviously been rotting there for days.

The people we encountered were all somewhat standoffish at best and in other cases downright hostile. We encountered far more frowns and scowls then smiles.

The few sights we were interested in seeing were all closed, even when they were supposed to be open. After about two hours of walking around in the roasting heat, we decided to get the hell out of there and got on a bus for Managua.

Amy and Liam in front of the crumbling cathedral

Gnarly mural depicting the 1959 revolution. Yes the streets are literally running with blood. Whee!

Another revolution mural

Good times, good times

Now that's refreshing!

Lago de Yojoa, Honduras

From Copan Ruinas we headed to the largest natural lake in Honduras, Lago de Yojoa. However, to get there, we had to pass through San Pedro Sula in order to switch buses. Amy and I made the decision to go this route somewhat reluctantly, because San Pedro Sula has the highest murder rate in the world and our Honduran-born property manager told us flat-out to avoid it. However, we figured switching buses at the main bus station and bugging out ASAP should be pretty safe.

Just getting the tickets from Copan Ruinas to San Pedro Sula was an interesting experience. I used my limited Spanish to figure out where the ticket agent was located, navigated the small town to what I thought was the right place, and walked through the door...into someone's house. I was looking at a dining room table, a couch, and a middle aged woman sitting on the couch staring at a television blasting out a telenovella. She eventually looked up, I said something like "Lo siento, es una casa privado o una officina?" (is this a private house or an office?) she said "Si!" So I sat down at her kitchen table and bought four bus tickets.

The next morning we walked across the little bridge on the way out of town, got on the bus, and made it to San Pedro Sula with little trouble. When we arrived, it was pretty amazing how huge the city is--nearly a million people--and it is an industrial powerhouse, producing the vast majority of Honduras' GDP. If you've ever purchased a garment with a 'MADE IN HONDURAS' label, it was almost certainly made in San Pedro Sula. There are factories everywhere, and a nasty brown haze overlies the entire place. As we pulled into the bus station, we saw a very large group of soldiers, or maybe military police, meeting with their commanding officer. We got off the bus and saw more guys with guns just standing around. When we walked into the bus station, a very friendly looking Honduran walked up to me and started speaking Spanish about a million miles an hour. After my customary "Pardon, mas despacio y simplemente" he slowed down a little and was easier to understand. The bus station is enormous and was somewhat reminiscent of the large train stations we've been through in Europe--connections to every part of the country, shops, services, food, cell phone kiosks, you name it, the bus station had it. There were also thousands of people to-ing and fro-ing, and when I explained to our 'guide' where we wanted to go, he marched us about 1/4 mile through the never ending station. We made it to the Mochito bus ticket counter, purchased our tickets, and were quickly ushered to a bag scanner/metal detector combo. There was a guy with an assault rifle on either side of this contraption, and yet another guy with a gun at the door. We passed our stuff through the scanners and jumped on the bus. So far so good.

We started driving south out of the city, and the young ticket collector was very enthusiastically whistling and calling out our destination at every little fruitstand and market stall we passed along the way. At one of these stops, a very tough looking fellow wearing a long-sleeve shirt got on the bus and immediately started distributing little cards containing bible verses and the name of a church. Amy tried to refuse it but he insisted. After seeing the look in his eyes she decided to take it.

We drove along for about 15 minutes uneventfully when one of the women sitting next to me started saying "Muerte, muerte!" I couldn't really understand why she was saying "Death, death!" until the bus slowed and we could all see a dead man, laying in a pool of blood, right in the middle of a collection of market stalls. The police were there, and a man wearing rubber gloves and a face mask (who I assumed to be the medical examiner) was looking through the man's wallet and other possessions. It was not clear how he died, but before we could get them to look away, the boys saw the whole thing. It made a big impression on them, and we've spent a lot of time talking about it since, to help them process it. But on the bus, our religious friend took the opportunity of this poor man's passing to sermonize the entire bus. In a voluminous voice, he expounded upon the need to find God, that we must all be saved, etc, etc, then he took off his shirt to reveal a torso and arms absolutely covered in gang tattoos. He told us about his former life as a gang member, that he used to drink too much, beat his wife, rob people, and overall act like a complete scoundrel, but that he has since found the lord and we all should too before we end up like that guy. The whole thing was very surreal, and one of those experiences that occasionally occur while traveling that you might have wished to avoid but end up being unforgettable glimpses into the reality of the country you are visiting.

The rest of the ride was blessedly uneventful. We got off the bus in Lago de Yojoa and walked a few hundred yards down a dirt road to the D & D Brewery. This place is (to my knowledge) the only brewery-hotel combo in all of Central America. It was started a few years ago by an American named Bobby who was working as a volunteer for a non-profit humanitarian organization when he discovered this run-down hotel. After finishing his volunteer service, he bought the hotel, installed a brewery, fixed everything and did a bunch of remodeling, and has been doing a booming business ever since. He truly loves Honduras and has been doing a lot of work to promote Lago de Yojoa and provide work not only to his own employees but also to the guides, taxi drivers, and restaurant owners in the area.

We made it to D & D!

Beautiful vegetation all around the brewery

First pints!

The brewery

The brewery has its own restaurant, with lots of vegetarian options, and due to the availability of really good beer, we ate almost every meal there. We sampled the pale ale, amber ale, and porter, but shied away from the three varieties of fruit beers. They were all really tasty, especially after 10 months of Belikin. We started our first full day with an early morning outing to watch birds at the Los Naranjos Parque Ecologica. We saw a lot of really cool birds, including a squirrel cuckoo, Montezuma oropendola, several hummingbird species, and numerous other species that we saw very clearly but could not identify because we do not have a Honduras-specific bird guide. We have a Belize guide and a Costa Rica guide, and they're very helpful, but there are many species in Honduras that are either endemic or do not exist in either Belize or Costa Rica. Nevertheless, we really enjoyed seeing them. The forest we hiked through was filled with large, beautiful blueish-green cicadas that provided a cacophonous accompaniment to the birds' songs.

Liam looking for the squirrel cuckoo

The river flowing into Lago de Yojoa

One of the approximately 10,000,000 cicadas we heard

Lochlan found a snake skeleton!

On the boardwalk portion of the hike

Birding

We hiked until we had a view of the lake, then it was time for breakfast, which we had at a restaurant near the park entrance. We were the only people there, and the owner was very friendly. Similarly to Copan Ruinas, the food was very inexpensive, just over $2 USD for a full breakfast with eggs, toast, rice and beans, and juice.

We relaxed back at the brewery for a couple of hours before grabbing a Mochito bus to Pulhapanzak (which naturally the boys started calling 'Pull Your Pants Up') where we read there was a beautiful waterfall we could hike behind. The bus dropped us off on the main road at the turn off for the falls, where we found some cheap lunch before walking about a half mile the falls. The entire area is privately owned and is a sort of 'tourist camp' with a bunch of cabins, zip lines, the river, and of course the falls. We found a very friendly fellow named Luis. He showed us to the office where we paid roughly $10 apiece for Luis to guide us down to the falls. At first I was a bit reluctant because it seemed unnecessary and expensive, but within mere minutes I was very happy we had spent the money.

The hike started simply enough, and Luis took several photos of us with the falls in the background. He mostly spoke English with us, which was nice, and he had an easy repoir with the boys. We hiked down towards the base of the falls, and it became increasingly wet from the spray. The rocks were slippery, but he was good about pointing out particularly bad spots. The first big challenge for the boys was to jump off a 3 m rock into a pool, and Luis was really great about putting out encouraging and enthusiastic vibes--he jumped first to show the boys where to go, gave them some encouragement, and they just went for it! We made it closer to the base of the falls, and the sound was deafening. The volume of water hitting all around us was really stupendous! Our final stretch was *through* the water, and they had strung a steel cable along the rocks to make it easier to traverse the falls without getting blown off the rock and down the river. It was the hardest part of the hike, and we had to look down and breath through our mouths to get air. Again, he was great about keeping the boys going. Finally we made it to a little cave behind the falls. It was really impressive. At that point he gave us the option of going back or continuing on to a larger cave, but that required squeezing up through a tiny opening. The boys opted to go for it, so we all hiked up into the next cave. It too was pretty cool, but farther removed from the water. We took some photos then retraced our steps, passing through the water and back to the pool the boys had jumped in earlier.

Ready to start the hike. The falls are behind us.

Getting closer to the falls

Loki jumping off the 3 m rock

We've crossed the pool, ready to pass through the waterfall

That's a lot of water!

In the little cave behind the falls

Climbing up into the bigger cave

Inside the big cave

At this point Luis gave the boys an option of jumping off a 5 m rock, which they decided to do. That was very exciting for them. We continued hiking, up the side of the cliff towards the camp area, when he stopped and said, "OK guys, this is the 10 meter jump. Do you wanna do it?!?" His confidence and enthusiasm were so contagious the boys said "YEAH!!" I said "OK, fine, you guys can do it, but I'm going first." Luis looked at us and said "OK, the important thing is to not think about it, you just have to jump! Stand here, give yourself a little push, and aim for the spot where I land." And in a flash, he was gone. Down, down, down he fell for what seemed like a very long time. He splashed into the river, then popped up and said, "OK, your turn!"

Loki jumping off the 5 m rock

I looked over the edge and my stomach did a back flip. It was SO FAR DOWN. Seriously like looking off the roof of a three story building. But I was committed at this point. I stood on the edge, looked at the target and forced my legs to push me off the edge. It was terrifying, and I totally screamed on the way down, but I did it! Liam was next, and he didn't even hesitate. He landed safely and popped up with squeals of pure joy. Lochlan was next and he too just launched himself into the river, I couldn't believe it! Both of them wanted to do it again, but I really didn't think my heart could bear to see my babies launching themselves off a cliff again so I told them no. Amy very sensibly remained on Terra Firma the whole time and documented the jumps for posterity.

Me, scared shitless, but jumping off the 10 m rock anyway

Liam jumping with no fear

Lochlan, jumping like it's no big thing

that's a long way down!

Hiking behind the waterfall was awesome, and I would recommend it to anyone. It is not easy, but is totally worth the effort.

We ate at the brewery and sacked out early after our full day.

The next morning we woke up early and met our birding guide, Freddyt. We had scheduled a tour with a local guide through the brewery, and Freddy led us to the river where we met his brother Rolando. The two of them rowed us and two other guests at the Brewery, Patrick and Karen, up the river to the lake. We saw a lot of really cool birds, but not too many new species. Still, it was nice to get really clear views of a crimson collared tanager, snail kites, sapphire browed motmots, limpkins, black-necked stilts, and purple galinules. Our guides beached the boats on the lakeshore near a mountain side where they typically see keel-billed toucans. We heard several, and the guides saw one flying, but we were not able to see them. Finally, Rolando found one across the lake fairly high up a slope. It was pretty far away, but everyone go to see it.

Beginning of the birding tour

Our guides, Rolando and Freddy

Lochlan with tiny turtle we caught in the lake

Looking for toucans

We paddled back to the launching site, thanked our birding guides, and packed up our stuff. We had originally planned on staying three nights at D & D, but Bobby told us of a relatively new shuttle service that would take us directly from Lago de Yojoa to Leon, Nicaragua in one quick stretch. The prospect of a direct trip, with no bus transfers, and having a local guide us through the Honduras-Nicaragua border, was very enticing so we decided to go for it. Bobby did not mind that we were leaving a night early.

Just before we left, he explained to us that he belongs to a group that is promoting tourism in Honduras, and he asked if he could take a picture of our family to use in their campaign. We said of course! The message they want to convey is "Look at this nice American family vacationing in Honduras! If they can do it, so can you!" We said goodbye and headed south, towards Nicaragua.

Bonus picture:  Honduran infrastructure. Can you spot the bird's nest?

Copan Ruinas, Honduras

I never thought I would visit Honduras. The news out of Central America during my teenage years was pretty grim, and even now, things are a bit dicey in certain parts of Honduras. In particular, the cities of San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba are really dangerous. One of our property managers in Belize is Honduran and he flat-out told us not to go to either of those places. We did careful research and decided there were two places we really wanted to see that seem interesting, fairly well-touristed, and safe:  Copan Ruinas, right near the Mayan site of Copan, and Lago de Yojoa.

Our 4:00 am shuttle from Antigua to Copan was very convenient, but the terrain became increasingly mountainous and the road increasingly winding as we neared the border. Our driver, like all Central American drivers (as far as I can tell) was a complete maniac and drove about 1,000 miles per hour at all times. We were sitting in the back of the van, and poor Liam became so car sick we had to get the driver to stop so he could puke his little guts out on the side of the road. I think the driver felt pretty bad, so he slowed down a bit, and Liam and I sat in the front. That helped a lot.

Apparently Optimus Prime lives in Guatemala

A mountain that looks a bit like King Kong

We crossed the border with little trouble and were in the town of Copan Ruinas within twenty minutes. The town is surprisingly charming, with a cute little park in the middle of town and close-packed buildings on the hilly streets. There were also men with guns EVERYWHERE--police, military, private security guards, you name it. We must have seen over 100 guys carrying weapons within this tiny town. I think they are trying really, really hard to get a handle on the security situation and Copan Ruinas is a very important tourist destination. It was a bit unnerving, but it actually did make me feel that if I had a problem these guys would come down on the perpetrator like a ton of bricks.

The weather was quite sunny, and given our experience in Antigua the previous day, we decided to head straight for the ruins even though we were all tired from our early morning.

We made it!

Downhill view from our hotel room

Uphill view from our room

View of the Copan valley

Enjoying the national brew of Honduras

We walked about 1 km to the ruins, paid our entrance fee, and hired a guide. We have visited many Mayan sites, and I felt like we didn't really need a guide, but I'm actually glad we hired one. Copan is quite a bit different than all of the other sites we visited. It is not noteworthy for massive temples, but rather for an abundance of intricate carvings.

However, what made it most notable for us is that Copan is the site of an intensive effort to reintroduce the scarlet macaw. There are have been several reintroductions, and there are numerous birds and a handful of breeding pairs flying wild and free in and around the ruins. When we first saw them, it was truly magical--they are such startlingly beautiful animals, it almost doesn't seem real when they zip over head or land in a tree just a dozen feet away. We spent a long time looking at the birds, photographing them, and just watching them fly around.

Our guide did a great job explaining the meanings of all of the carvings and answered all of our questions quite thoroughly. He lead us through most of the important excavated structures and carvings. The structure that made the biggest impression on me was the 'history temple'--a building with steps that tell hundreds of years of history of Copan and the surrounding area. Unfortunately, when archaeologists first discovered the site, the facades of the steps were all in a heap and covered with vegetation, and they put them back in place in random order. They are now going through the painstaking process of reassembling the steps correctly and interpreting what it all means. It was very interesting.

We had a delicious Honduran dinner that evening and sacked out early to catch up on sleep.

This is the stone they would use for sacrificing humans. The channel carved along it is where the blood would flow. Seriously.

In front of one of the many representations of 18 rabbit

At the ball court

One of the history steps

The history steps

Lochlan doing the Silly Jaguar dance

The next day we decided to walk up into the hills outside of town to visit Macaw Mountain, the bird sanctuary that is spearheading the effort to reintrocude the scarlet macaws. The center was founded several years ago by an American businssman. Apparently he ran a fish processing and freezing plant on Roatan (a Honduran Caribbean island) and his wife was passionate about birds and bird conservation. She had amassed a huge collection of tropical birds, particularly of parrots, but when they got divorced she moved back to the USA and he was left with this huge collection of birds. He bought the land for Macaw Mountain and they are still going strong. The facility is in a beautiful setting, up in the mountains with a stream running alongside and through the property. The enclosures are all very well constructed and the animals are clealry well cared for. All of the birds are donated, and they are either former pets or injured animals that cannot be reintroduced to the wild for one reason or another. Our guide showed us dozens of parrot species, hawks, and owls. We ended the tour at the interaction area where we all got to hold scarlet, blue and gold, and great green macaws. That was fun, but a little intimidating for me. The boys also made friends with a keel-billed toucan who seemed to take great joy in attacking all of our shoes!

The boys and our guide on a bridge across the creek

We walked back home in the blazing sunshine as a storm approached, and watched the torrential downpour from the safety of our hotel's rooftop deck.

When it rains, it REALLY rains

We were all really impressed with Copan Ruinas and the surrounding area. If we'd known it was so cool we definitely would have stayed an extra night or two.