Tour in Tela - Punta Izopo

For the two days we stayed in Tela, we took the opportunity to go on some tours. On the first day, Armando and Lance were supposed to go snorkeling out by a small little island, but because a storm had ripped up the sea, they opted for kayaking in a swollen river (they didn't realize the river was swollen til they got there). I'm glad I didn't go, but they had fun.

Here goes nothing...

Lance went in a solo kayak.

Armando went on a double-kayak with the tour guide.

Peek-a-book - Lance pulls himself through some trees over the river as he passed through a narrow point.

These women prepared them a delicious traditional garifuna lunch afterwards.

Looking at Armando's plate - it tasted great!

Armando relaxes after hard work and lunch.

On their way to the tour, they just happened to run into a traditional tribal punta dance by the Garifuna. I'm sad I missed this part, but I've watched it on the video. The Garifuna dancers dance and the drummers follow the rhythm of the dancer's steps. It's interesting to watch.

These people dance for every occassion in life - birth's, deaths, marriages, christmas. This happened to be a traditional Christmas dance. They go from house to house in the village dancing this dance all day. They only do this one at Christmas time.

Some cute kids in the village.

Beach Life in Tela Honduras

We reached our destination of Tela, Honduras the evening of the 26th and stayed at Hotel Sherwood on the Caribbean Coast. The beach was nice - the sea a little choppy as a big storm had just passed through, but we enjoyed tourist life on the beach.

Marcela and Aunt Judy on the beach at Hotel Sherwood.

This is a view of the tiny tourist town of Tela.

Lance and I in Tela.

As far as entertainment and consumerism, there's a bit in Tela. The people that live there (primary Garifuna people) make their living off of the tourists in just about any way you can imagine. Besides little souvenir shops, here are some pictures of the entertainment and services they sell on the beach.

This guy sold jewelry on the beach, but he also did a fire show for anyone that would donate to the cause. He was good at it!

During the day time the Garifuna people approach you to sell two main things: "Pan de Coco" (coconut bread) and "trenzas" (braids) in your hair. This woman was selling coconut bread - but it's not like coconut bread that you would imagine here - not sweet at all. It's more like potato bread and it can only be found on the northern coast in Honduras.

We all fell for getting the braids. Here Lance smiles at Armando because Armando is trying to barter with the woman braiding his hair. Lance committed before Armando was there and so she got a lot more money out of him simply because he's gringo.

I, on the other hand, had my sister-in-law Judy with me to help me barter and told her I only had a couple bucks in my pocket and she did it anyway. They'll do it for anything. They're either making money doing that or enjoying their laid-back life on the beach under a palm tree.

Armando got "Palmeras" (palm trees) in his hair.

Don't they look great! :)

The three of us after we got the braids done.

And this is when Armando is getting his hair braided. This picture illustrates perfectly how the people just gather around tourists to sell them things. You have the lady selling the bread on the right, Armando getting his hair braided in the middle, and the men singing to us in the background. I couldn't resist - they were playing one of my favorite songs: "Guantanamera!"

To the North Coast- A Stop at Pulhapanzak

The day after Christmas we set out for the northern coast to do some touristy things and see a little bit of Honduras countryside. If any of you have ever driven over Teton Pass between Wyoming and Idaho, that's the only way I can describe the two or three hours driving out of Tegucigalpa. It's steep, curvy, and everyone drives fast and if there are two lanes then Hondurans think that at least four our five cars will fit. I was ready to be out of the car by the time that part of the drive was over.

No, we didn't pack everything we owned for the journey, but someone else did. This is a truck moving someone's belongings on the highway when we left the city. And we saw more than one vehicle like this. Talk about strategic stacking!

There's a region in the middle part of the country that is know for it's fresh, pure honey so we stopped to get some to take to Armando's mom. We bought some too, but forgot it in Honduras. Lance was entertained by the fact that the honey was in every kind of bottle imaginable.

We stopped at the Waterfall Pulhapanzak and hiked down to it. It was very very misty (thus the blanket over Marcela). Judy and Marcela and I hiked back out of there while Lance and Armando hired a tour guide to take them behind the waterfall and then jump off of some lower rocks into some pools of water. This was Lance's favorite part of the trip. They described being behind the curtain of water like being in a hurricane.

Lance is below while Armando is sitting on the side by the guide.

Just a shot I took of the side of the falls.

This is Lance jumping. He's crazy!

The whole falls - if you look close, you can see the three standing at the bottom.

Armando in the middle jumping off another rock.

This is a view from the top of the falls. I wish I could tell you they took this picture from a lookout point, but without me knowing they went to the edge of the fall and snapped this shot. There are only a few inches of water flowing over the edge, so there is no strong current, but I would have died of a heart attack if I would have known they were there on the edge.

This is Armando standing on the edge of the fall.

And Lance standing on the edge.

Christmas Day Outing

The one part of Christmas that felt Christmasy to me was the relaxed lounging on Christmas day and just spending time with family...until we went outside and it was warm - then it felt a little more fourth-of-julyish. We took a late-afternoon outing to what I thought was just going to be a drive-by and look at a statue, but we actually had to walk a little ways to get it it. We enjoyed the walk and view of the city.

Marcela lounging at Grandma Rina's house on Christmas Day.

Marcela ready to go on a drive and walk to the Christ Statue.

We walked (not very far) to see the overlook point of the City at the Christ Statue called "El Picacho"

Ana, Judy, Rosa Maria. There were lots of people out enjoying the holiday.

Lance at the entrance to the Christ "El Picacho" statue.

Everyone inside the park (at the bottom of the statue).

Ana, Rosa Maria, Judy, and Doña Rina. (Armando's Sisters and Mom)

Cristo El Picacho.

Lance sitting on the wall overlooking the city.

After the outing we went to the most popular place in Honduras: Dunkin Donuts! There must be one on every corner. It's the strangest thing. Anyway, it's very popular. And Marcela loves sitting on anyone's shoulders and pulling their hair at full-force. She'd be good at bringing a galloping horse to a stop really fast!

Marcela playing with Aunt Ana at Dunkin Donuts.

Christmas Traditions

Christmas is not Christmas without the traditional Tamales. Every family makes Tamales and eats them all throughout the day on the 24th of December.

Armando's Grandma making tamales.

She first lays out the dough on the banana leaf and then puts in the other ingredients.

Armando helped her roll them up and tie them before they were boiled for a long time to cook them.

Christmas Eve is spent visiting family and friends and then returning home to celebrate the birth of the Savior at 12 midnight on the 24th. At midnight there is a large dinner served, gifts are exchanged and dancing and karaoke until the wee hours of the morning. Kids also light off tons of firecrackers at midnight.

At 12 midnight everyone kisses everyone on the cheek and wishes them a Merry Christmas and then everyone gathers together to exchange gifts and sing karaoke and dance.

We all sat together on Armando's porch. I was dressed a little better earlier in the evening, but resorted to my sweatshirt because I was kind of chilly.

Grandma Ana Rosa, Ana, Judy, and her boyfriend Helaman opening gifts.

Armando's mom, uncle Dario, cousin Jaime, and uncle Jesus.

Armando's sister Rosa Maria in the middle and cousins Paola and Sara.

Grandma Ana Rosa and Helaman.

Marcela woke up with all of the loud noise after midnight and I went to put her back to sleep, and fell asleep myself so, we opened presents Christmas morning.

Her favorite part was the paper! Feliz Navidad!