Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Have You Ever Seen The Rain Coming Down On A Sunny Day

I’m back from Honduras safe and sound, and having a very difficult time keeping my eyes open! The trip had its ups and downs… literally, there are a lot of hills in Honduras! But seriously, it had its not so great moments, but overall, I’m very glad I went.

My journey there began at 4am Saturday morning, where I was pretty much unconscious as a van picked me and my fellow travelers up. I pretty much slept through the trip, waking up once in a while to be stunned by gorgeous scenery. It also became quite hot the closer we got to the border.

We crossed the border, found a hotel for a steep 7 bucks each, and it was off to lunch. I could go on and on about lunch, but basically I’ll just say it was the SLOWEST service any of us had ever had. We were a little crabby after a long wait for lunch in the hottest weather ever with no air conditioning, but off to the ruins we went.

We were hot and tired and didn’t feel like walking, so we decided to hop in tuk-tuks. It was the first ride in one for all of us and well worth it. Tuk-tuks are basically mini car-like things with three wheels that act as cabs. There are really big hills in Copan, so it sorta felt like riding on a rollercoaster at times. We had a fun ride and got to our location for a whopping $1. Here is a picture of a Tuk-tuk I photographed on my first day in Antigua.


We got to the ruins, and I was blown away. The first thing I saw were two Macaws in the tree and their feathers were magnificent. They were too far to get a good shot with my mediocre zoom, so we moved along.

We arrived at the area with the ruins. They were so well preserved and had so much detail. They really were interesting to look at, walk around, and climb on. Our tour guide was great and gave us a lot of the history. Back in those days there was a lot of bloodshed, and it was always the winner of something who would happily be sacrificed. We walked all over the area and climbed up on some of the ruins too. All this in the pouring rain, which started the minute we began the tour. It was super sunny all day before this. It was actually the most refreshing rain yet, and instead of hiding from it I fully embraced it.

I really enjoyed learning about the ancient Mayans, but I enjoyed taking pictures even more…



Right as we were leaving the park, our feathery friends, the Macaws returned, but this time there were six of them and they were super close! It was a great way to end the tour.


The rest of the day wasn’t all that exciting. We walked around a little, took much needed naps, and had some dinner with our tour guide from the afternoon, and tried desperately to fall asleep in the million degree heat. I will admit, there were most definitely times the Park Place Tower pool and air conditioning were sounding very good as I lay awake in the sweltering heat.

The next morning we woke up early, although not 4am early, to a hotel room, and entire city, with no electricity. It didn’t matter too much for us, because we were going horseback riding for the morning. No electricity required.

The day before a man at the ruins told us where to meet him and he would be taking us on our tour. We met in said place in the morning, but there was no man there. Instead we were led on a 2 ½ horseback riding tour through the hills of Honduras by two ten year old boys. And I must say, they did a pretty damn good job!

The scenery was gorgeous. About halfway through we got to a teeny tiny little village where all the locals tried to sell us cornhusk dolls. Also, throughout our ride, there was an insane amount of dogs. There are tons of strays here in Central America, but on this trail it was crazy! There was one dog who didn’t leave our side the entire time. I later found out the dog belonged to the kids leading us. I was very impressed with his stamina.




After riding it was back in the van for one miserably hot ride. We all felt like we might die. About 2 hours into our ride we took a pit stop, and from then on the weather suddenly dropped what felt like at least 25 degrees. We were back near Antigua.

So, I’m back “home” in Antigua, and glad to be back. My house mom, Beatrice, actually just came in my room to tell me there is still no electricity in Honduras and their President is missing. I think it’s good I came back when I did.
Tomorrow is the first day of school. I better get to bed if I can…

"Have You Ever Seen The Rain" Creedence Clearwater Revival

6 comments:

  1. Joules,

    It looks like you are having an AMAZING time! The pictures are incredible - keep posting them :)

    How's the cold? I hope you are feeling better. You look great!

    xoxo

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  2. Now that you managed to topple the govermnment of Houduras what are you going to do for an encore? Your pictures look great. From the horse to the tuk-tuk it sounds like quite an adventure.

    Can't wait to hear about school.

    We love you,

    Rand (Your Dad)

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  3. Julie,
    I love the blogs! I've been without a computer for a couple weeks, but went right to your blogspot once my new one came in. Glad to hear you are having a good time! August will be here before we know it. I can't wait to see more pictures!
    Chris

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  4. Does anybody drink wine in Antigua?

    RWP

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  5. Aren't you so glad you decided to go? When would you have this opportunity again....Enjoy.

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  6. Julie--I would like an apology for any complaining you ever did about my lack of blogging. MORE BLOGS MORE BLOGS!! So, so, so happy you look like you are having quite an experience...can't wait to hear about the kids!

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