| |
In a delightful little turn of good timing, we arrived in Tegucigalpa the day before the beginning of the feast of the Feria de Suyapa. La Virgen de Suyapa is the patron saint of not only Honduras but, as of 1982, all of Central America. She usually lives in the small Iglesia de Suyapa, but on holidays she’s brought to the fancy Basilica de Suyapa. This is not too hard of a task since she’s only six centimeters tall.
Where’s it at?
Though the name suggests both mammal and fish, whale sharks are indeed sharks. These bus-size behemoths, found in tropical waters around the globe, can reach more than 12 metres in length and weigh 34 tonnes. Whale sharks are gentle giants, filter feeders that prefer small fish and plankton to people. They often swim with their massive mouths agape to hoover up their prey. Seeing one up close will leave you spellbound and feeling like Jonah.
We were bad tourists today: After four weeks of insisting on only local dishes, we had Wendy’s for lunch. Then we skipped Tegucigalpa’s Museo para la Identidad Nacional and watched a movie we had downloaded on iTunes while the rain — the whiplash of the tropical storm that was wrecking havoc on the Pacific beaches of Honduras’ neighbors — pounded against the metal roof above us.
Every trip has that point, when you’ve had your fill of cultural experiences and the familiar, even Wendy’s, sounds appealing. In a place like Honduras, that point might arrive a little sooner than in other places. Over the past month, we had quadrupled our life consumption from birth to present of fried chicken.
The Honduras we think we know is a small Spanish-speaking country wedged somewhere between North and South America, between the First World amenities of its capital and the Third World poverty of its countryside, between an affordable cultural vacation destination and a risky stop in politically unstable terrain.
But there’s a tiny piece of that country, not quite 25 square miles’ worth, that is so rare and different that the few who have been there tend to want to stay forever — and many have.
Before us the ocean was brilliant blue green with mild 4-foot swells. We sped across the Honduran channel at 40 mph aboard the Galaxy Wave Ferry, knick-named the “Vomit Comet.” The name is well deserved due to the typical chop encountered in these seas.
We were heading to the Honduran coastal town of La Ceiba from the island of Roatan. I thought seasickness pills were in order, but my wife went without.
Travel to Honduras – Episode 291
by Chris Christensen
Listen:
Amateur Traveler Episode 291 – Travel to Honduras
Or see more at: http://centralamerica.amateurtraveler.com/2011/07/30/travel-to-honduras/