40¨ flat screen television.

  Pulhapanzak, Honduras
Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Malcolm driving ´Nilla.

We woke up to Julie outside the van calling 'Mi-col' repeatedly.  It was now the morning of May 30, 2007 and whether we liked it or not, it was time to get up.  We opened the side door to see Julie's smiling face and she was surrounded by a cluster of other local kids.  Julie had heard that we may be leaving today and wanted to say goodbye.  We were touched.  As soon as the van doors opened, the young kids piled in and climbed up and onto everything.  Again, anything not bolted down became a toy. 

Time to look at photos.

By the time they were done playing, a random pile of our effects had formed on the sofa.  The smaller kids all took turns sitting behind the wheel to pretend they were race care drivers, complete with 'vroom-vroom' sounds.  It was a hectic start to the day, but we had fun.  We enticed the kids to leave the van by taking our small photo album outside.  They all surrounded Julie on her bicycle as we flipped the pages and explained who people were and where some of the landscape pictures were taken.  The snow covered mountains certainly got a rise from the children.
 
 
Fausto rode up on his bicycle and had a plan in place for us to get our photographs from Ruiz.  Since the photo developing machine in Tela was still broken, we were given the option of taking an hour drive to San Pedro Sula to get them done.  Otherwise, there was no telling when we would get them.  The decision was easy...drive to San Pedro Sula.  We arranged to pick up Ruiz alongside the highway just outside Tela and we would all make the trip together.  This way, we could be there when the photographs were developed and then be on our way south to Tegucigalpa.  We hurried to get the van packed up, grab some quick showers, and say our final farewells to the gang at Lito's Place.  As we turned to leave we saw that the hand painted ceramic piece we had given to Braulio and Blanca was now proximately displayed behind the bar.  It filled us with happiness to see it hang there and know they liked it.  We were sad to be leaving, however knew we had to press on.  As usual, news of our departure spread through the village like wild fire and by the time we were on the road out of town, we were getting farewell waves from everyone.  Of course as we neared Crecensia's house, she came running out so that she could give us each a big hug.  We departed with word of well wishes to each other. 
 
 
We were right on time to pick up Ruiz and he was impressed with our promptness.  Little does Ruiz know that this was a first on the trip for us.  Generally, we are fashionably late for everything.  It was a short drive to San Pedro Sula and took only about 1.5 hours.  Thankfully, the traffic in the morning was very light.  Ruiz navigated us around San Pedro Sula to a small shop called 'Konica Quik Photo'.  We were motioned to sit in the waiting area, as Ruiz walked behind the counter to connect to the developing computer.  It was odd to see Ruiz walking around behind the counter like he owned the place, but no-one seemed to mind.  A hour passed before we were presented with our small photograph package.  As we flipped through them, we both had puzzled looks on our faces.  Then we leaned toward each other and simultaneously said "these are not the photographs we picked".  Oh, let the fun begin.  As we explained to Ruiz that the photographs were not correct, he responded in telling us that he thought that they may be wrong because he had picked all 50 photographs from memory. 

Hotwheels!

Not to be judgemental, we asked how he thought he was able to pick the correct 50 images from a file of nearly 250 pictures.  Ruiz simply responded that we had provided him the image numbers from our computer after the photographs were uploaded and then he simply decided on a picture that may potentially match from the image numbers on his camera.  To us, this seemed nothing short of crazy.  Since Ruiz was aware that we have a laptop, with all the images, we questioned him as to why he would not simply ask to see our file and the images corresponding to the numbers we gave him.  Ruiz agreed that would have been a good thing to do, but he did not.  The response was priceless.  We copied the correct images to a thumb drive and provided it to Ruiz for developing.  Surprisingly, Ruiz guessed correct on 13 of 50 photographs, so he only needed to reprint 37.  As the reprints were slowly spitting out of the machine, Ruiz set off in search of another camera shop to get our larger prints developed.  In an effort to not have any more issues with wrong photos being printed, we once again supplied Ruiz with a thumb drive that contained nothing but the images he was to get blown up.  Foolproof.  He ran off and was back in 20 minutes with wonderful photos.  With everything the way it should be, we had our package of photographs and were ready to leave.  Ruiz was rather upset that he had a handful of misprints that cost him money.  We actually did not mind having the pictures, so we negotiated a price to offset his loss and to get us a few extra developed prints.  It was nice not to leave things on a sour note.
 
 

San Pedro Sula.

Leaving San Pedro Sula was slow going.  The streets are very narrow and we needed to drive right into the middle of the outdoor market in order to get out to the highway on the other side.  The street is lined with rainbow coloured umbrellas and there is a constant stream of foot traffic up, down and across the street.  Slowly, we drove the four blocks through the heart of the market and ended up at the major artery leading to the highway.  For once we did not get totally lost in the middle of a strange town.  San Pedro Sula has a ring road that circumnavigates the entire town and controls the flow of traffic very well.  The only downfall is that all the intersections are traffic circles and the signs are once again nonexistent.  As we rounded the main traffic circle, Geraldine was leaning out the window asking other motorists which outlet we needed to take to get on the path to Tegucigalpa.  Not the most conventional way to get directions, but it seemed to work.  The route to Tegucigalpa took us around Lago de Yojoa, which is touted to be one of the nicest places in Honduras. 

Road to Pulhapanzak.

After a short drive from San Pedro Sula, we found a small secondary highway leading to Rio Lindo and onward to the Lago de Yojoa.  It was still early in the day and we were ready for adventure.  The dirt road was recently completed and is likely the smoothest dirt, or paved road for that matter, that we have driven on the trip thus far.  The road lead into the small town of San Buenaventura, which is situated in the hills.  The roads were cobblestone, steep and included massive speed bumps both uphill and downhill.  Poor 'Nilla was tossed front to back and side to side.  We were both feeling a little seasick as well.  The first scenic stop along the Rio Lindo is Pulhapanzak, which is a massive 450m waterfall.  We have heard that Cascadas Pulhapanzak is the tallest waterfalls in Central America.  We cannot verify the statistics, but we can say that they are big.  The waterfalls are surrounded by a tree covered park that has gazebos for picnicking. 

Pulhapanzak falls.

The river atop the waterfalls is calm and shallow enough in spots to provide decent swimming holes.  We parked under a massive tree in the parking lot for shade and then headed off to tour the park.  We walked directly to the waterfalls and marvelled at the amount of mist that was coming off them.  As soon as the falls came into view, we were covered in a light spray of  water from head to toe.  We were both set on getting a swim in before dark, so we decided to leave the waterfall gazing for another day and head back to the river.  The water in the river was varied shades of blue and green easily denoting the shallow water from the deep water.  The deep water was fast moving and led directly to the waterfalls.  Since we were only about 30m from the top of the falls, we played it safe and swam close to shore in the clear yet cold river water.  It was nice to get some water to splish-splosh around in after a hot day of sitting in the 'Nilla and cruising the countryside.
 
 
We were just getting dried off from swimming when the rain started.  Scrambling back to the van, we made it in the nick of time.  Once inside the van, the storm outside raged and large drops of water pounded on the roof.  The sound of water hitting the roof was reminiscent of being caught in a  hail storm.  Thankfully, it was just rain today.  With little to do outside in the rain, we holed up in the van where Michael prepared a rather tasty bean soup and bottle of wine was cracked for the occasion.  It is not like there was any formal occasion, but we like wine.  Time passed quickly in the van as we played games and chatted.  We tried diligently to fall asleep, however the random flashes of lightning, the sounds of clapping thunder and the massive raindrops that beat the roof like hands on a leather skin drum kept us awake most of the night at Pulhapanzak.

Photos of May 30, 2007:  http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=16xvaj2z.44832jzr&Uy=-lpzx6u&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0
 
 

Before we snuck under the fence.

In the morning of May 31, 2007, we both were a bit groggy from having such a poor sleep.  Michael slept somewhat, but Geraldine was up most of the night.  At least she was treated to the sights and sounds of a wonderful rainstorm.  We woke up in the morning to some guy yelling outside our window that he found some other 'Canadian Brothers' traveling down here.  We assumed he was pointing at the van and when we begrudgingly emerged from inside, he was actually quite pleasant to meet.

Michael of the jungle.

  A young guy in his late 20's was traveling Honduras with his wife.  Originally from Toronto, Ontario he now calls Miami, Florida home, but he could not resist coming over to check out 'Nilla and ask about our trip.  We shared a few stories and he moved on to tour Pulhapanzak.  Once we opened the doors to the van, aside from having a few people staring at 'Nilla, we found three tour buses parked less than 10m away from us.  Our peaceful rest area in the park was now a tourist filled bus stop.

Lookout from beside waterfalls.

  Oh well, we wanted to get up anyway to hike around the falls.  We slowly made breakfast and geared up for a hike in the thick vegetation around the waterfalls.   We were set on finding some beautiful views of the falls minus all the mist.  By the time we started our excursion, the tour buses were pulling out of Pulhapanzak and once again the park was ours.  We walked all around the flat land of the main park before slowly creeping under a barbwire fence to explore the terrain next to the waterfall. 

Bench hopping.

There was no set path here, but we managed to follow tree roots, fallen piles of rocks and water runoff shoots to get to some amazing views.  The first spot we walked down to, Michael had a bit of a tumble.  He was leaning on a branch with his right arm and trying to get his feet down the slope in front of him, when without warning the branch gave way and he stumbled down the short decline for about 3m before coming to a stop. 

Tree climbing.

  With a scraped arm and a mildly bruised ego, we resumed hiking down the slope to the lookout.  We found a spot that was very close and the ground rumbled from the force of the water. It was majestic.  After snapping a few quick shots we tried to hike further down the side of the falls, but the path area was quite overgrown and impassable.  It was hot in the dense vegetation along the banks of the waterfall, and we headed back to the park after an hour or so of hiking down and back up again.  Back on solid and level land devoid of treacherous obstacles, we wandered around the river and soaked up the sights.  Michael found a bench that had been consumed by the river and enjoyed jumping from the banks to the bench and back again.  Meanwhile, Geraldine found a rather large tree to climb and scurried her way out and across a branch that was hanging over the river.  With her expert tree climbing skills, Geraldine made the sketchy climb effortlessly.  
 
 

Michael on path to falls.

Exhausting all things interesting in the park, we scrambled our way down the path on the opposite side of the falls.  With all the rain the night before, the uncovered trail was filled with slippery rocks and massive mud puddles.  Unlike our brief trip down the misty path in flip-flops the day prior, this time we were armed with hiking boots and trudged right into the mud puddles without missing a beat.   We welcomed the watery haze from the waterfall as it cooled us down on our journey. 

Large falls at Pulhapanzak.

The path ended at a ramshackle fence and there was a clear footpath leading around the end post.  Obviously, we followed it.  The trail led along side a rather steep hill that was majority washed out leaving a gulley in the middle.  Scrambling down the gulley and grabbing trees to slow our decent, we reached a wooden boardwalk at the side of the river.

One shot from the platform.

  We found a man standing at the bottom chewing on a candy bar.  It did not appear that this man had followed our path through the muddy forest as he was still relatively clean from head to toe.  The man noticed the mild fatigue on our faces, giggled at us, and then pointed toward a nice path that led to steps back up to the park.  Ooops.

Self-timer shot.

  A trail map would have been helpful, but we enjoyed our excursion at any rate.  The boardwalk led toward the waterfalls and provided a breathtaking view.  The entire Pulhapanzak waterfall was in view including the pools at the bottom of the river and the small white-water falls down stream.  We were able to snap one quick photograph as the spray off the water left a nice wet film all over the camera.  Needless to say, we took the sidewalk route out from the waterfall back to the park and immediately hit our favourite swimming hole.  The water had a cold bite that we embraced after a long day hiking and sightseeing.
 
 
It was afternoon when we finally got back to the van and realized we needed to get moving to find a place to camp at the Lago de Yojoa before nightfall.  As Geraldine prepped a wonderful sandwich lunch filled with vegetables from a recent market trip, Michael headed out to rinse off our hiking and swimming gear.  Michael was none to impressed with himself when he dropped the freshly rinsed clothing into the dirt just outside the van.  With his head hung low, he treked back to the wash area and cleaned the clothes all over again.  After snacking on our lunch we were ready with full bellies to depart.  'Nilla was all cleaned up from the recent rain and we put the pointed her out of the park and headed for the lake.   The road back out of Pulhapanzak was as slow going as the drive up.  The roads were still steep, rutted and covered with massive speed bumps.  Some locals pointed us down a side road to get to the lake, however after two or three kilometres we had to turn back as the road was just not meant for 'Nilla to travel.  We assumed that there would be an alternate route to the 4x4 path we started on seeing how Lago de Yojoa is a major landmark in Honduras.  Our assumption was correct and only a few minutes later we reached a nicely paved road that led up the hills toward the lake.  The scenery on the drive to the lake left a lot to be desired.  Water is sourced from the lake and the pipes leading downhill are all above ground.  It really took away from beauty of small farms and well groomed flowering bushes scattered alongside the road.  We passed through a few small towns before reaching the major transportation hub of Peņa Blanca.  There were roads leading into and out of this crowded and confusing city in the hills.  We had no idea where to go as nothing seemed to mark the path to the lake. 

Lago de Yojoa.

With one hand over her eyes, Geraldine pointed and that was direction we followed.  Luckily, her feminine intuition was working as she picked the correct path and after driving nearly ten kilometres the lake came into view.  We set our sights on camping at a place called Finca las Glorias on Lago de Yojoa.  The area advertised camping, rental cabanas with full access to the lake and hiking trails.  The Finca is well signed and we found it rather easily, which is not usual for us.  A long narrow and windy dirt track led into the grounds, which was more of a water park and resort.  It was not our usual style, but we inquired about camping rates anyway.  The young man at the counter walked us over to a clearing in a field of lime trees to the area designated for camping.  It was a mosquito infested field for the low, low price of $10 USD per night...yeah, no thanks.  The weather had been very overcast with scattered showers the entire day and we did not feel like holing up in a stifling van watching swarms of mosquitos try to penetrate the screens of the van and draw our blood. 
 
 
We pushed on around the lake and passed some very scenic spots that were mainly for private residence or farm land.  At the south end of the lake we were faced with a fairly steady incline into the mountains. 

Eerie setting.

The lush humid climate of the lake quickly became a memory as we entered into mountain passes filled with massive pine trees.  We rolled up the windows slightly as the chill in the air was so noticeable.  We searched for areas to camp along the way, however before long we reached Comayagua, which was literally on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa.  We then set our aim on reaching Noemi before it was too dark to drive.  Comayagua was filled with photo worthy sights, however we were only able to capture a few things on the camera.  The dark storm clouds mixed with the night darkness set an eerie scene above the large church steeples and massive cemetery gates that were along side of the highway.   Still pictures just did not do the sights justice as the sky seemed to move in and around the stationary inanimate objects.  

Lookout on Pan American.

  Thankfully, traffic was nearly non-existent, which gave us the opportunity to drive at a snail's pace and stare off in every direction.  As we were still climbing the mountain, we were enthralled with seeing mountain goats.  According to the locals they are not goats and some odd form of sheep, but to us they looked identical to goats.The switchback filled road reached a glorious lookout near the top of the mountain and we pulled off to check it out.  Michael was happy to pull over as he was just stung by a bee inside the van.  It was not his most manly moments on the trip as he shrieked like a school girl when he was stung.  The scenery from the vista was tremendous and we could follow the path of the road down the mountain in the lake valley on one side and on the other side we could see the hazy silouttes of still more mountains.  
 
 
Our time at the lookout at the summit was short lived as we were now on a mission against time.  We needed to keep moving to reach Noemi at Casa Lajoya in Villa Elena.  After hours of climbing up the mountain, we were pleased to put 'Nilla in neutral and roll straight down the other side to Tegucigalpa.  As luck would have it we were again pulled over by the local authorities for curiosity reasons and for them to inspect our paperwork.  With everything in order we were then asked for some form of paperwork from the Canadian Police.  The officer repeated his request numerous times to our expressionless and confused faces.  After tiring of the question and no answer game, he gave up and sent us on our way.  The turnoff to Villa Elena was not more than five kilometres down the road from our police inspection.  Noemi had given us detailed directions, which of course led us straight to her door.  Casa Lajoya is 15000 square foot mansion set in the hills above Tegucigalpa.  'Nilla looked right at home parked out front in the garage for all those passing by to see.  We loved it.  Noemi greeted us with open arms and welcomed us in for dinner.  Michael took over in the kitchen and let the girls catch up on what had transpired over the past few days.  We all sat down to a late dinner and chatted the night away.  As we all started to yawn, Noemi showed us to our bedroom.  We were thrilled as we entered the room and saw a queen size bed waiting for us.  Unbelievably that was topped off with our own private bathroom.  The bathroom was in an uncompleted state as the entire household was undergoing major construction, however as we told Noemi, we were delighted simply to have a toilet and shower within walking distance and the condition of the bathroom had absolutely no affect on us.  As we settled into our cushy new sleeping quarters, we noticed a large 40" flat screen television, equipped with satellite, at the end of the bed.  Michael must have been preoccupied with the fact that we had a room to sleep in as even he completely missed seeing the television at the onset of the tour.  It did not take Michael very long to find the remote control and flip through every channel.  Who knew old reruns and Spanish commercials could be that interesting.  The television kept us thoroughly entertained until the wee hours of the morning before our eyes simply refused to remain open and we fell into a sound sleep.

Photos of May 31, 2007:  http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=16xvaj2z.5wjfgfcn&Uy=-lnhiiu&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0