Birdwatching and Beers

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  Pena Blanca, Honduras
Saturday, December 20, 2008

I arrived at the D & D Brewery and Hostel, near the Lago de Yojoa, after an easy trip up through the San Pedro Sula main bus station, where people were nice enough to walk me right to the gate where my bus would arrive. It had been raining on and off since I arrived in Honduras, and this day was no exception, which in itself wasnīt all that bad, but it did make it difficult to navigate the dirt roads in Las Naranjas, the (very) small town where the D & D is located. Itīs a super friendly place, and all the kids would yell "goodbye" whenever I would pass by. I asked them once what happened to "hello," but they werenīt really interested in my smart-allick comments.

My guidebook tells me that the D & D is owned by a former Oregonian, and that he brews his own beer and makes his own sodas right there on site. Unfortunately, Gringo Robert wasnīt there for me to meet, but the promise of beer was enough to get me there, with the lake being a close second. The lake is beautiful, surrounded by high mountains with cloud forests on them and miraculously devoid of motor boats. The locals for the most part do all of their lake travel on little wooden rowboats. Iīm not sure why they do, but it keeps the lake really peaceful. I spent the first day hiking around the lake a bit and then through a coffee plantation that was down the street from the D & D.

The next day I hung out with two Michiganites (Michigonians?) who are making their way through Honduras for a couple of weeks during their winter break from school. We went on a birdwatching tour on the lake with a great guide, Malcolm, who is a serious birdwatcher and has been living down the street from the D & D for a little over a year. Malcolm knew where to look for all kinds of birds, as well as otters, bats, and even some huge iguanas. Although, for the iguanas, he got help from our rower, who could spot iguanas hundreds of feet away with barely a glance up, without pausing in his rowing! That same afternoon we went to Pulphapanzak Falls, after a quick trip to the town of Las Vegas (not that one) to get some money at the bank. The falls reminded me of Oregon, which had the effect of making me a little homesick, what with the beer, the deep greens, and the fine mist that shot up from the falls.

Luckily, homesickness rarely lasts when each day is different, and the next day I met up with some German guys to travel down to Tegucigalpa to make my way to Nicaragua! Goodbye, Honduras!!

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bats, Lago de Yojoa	birding tour on the lake	coffee drying in the sun, Lago de Yojoa	family out fishing, Lago de Yojoa
Lago de Yojoa

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