The Hog Islands

-
These past 10 days I've been accompanied by a quirky little Quaker boy from Pennsylvania who sometimes meets with the Mennonites. I probably shouldn't say little, he towers over me and is a Black Belt in Karate...I know a Quaker/Sometimes Mennonite with a Black Belt in Karate. I said he was quirky. Anyway, enough about him, there will be more about his exploits tomorrow. For now I wanted to show you some photos of the Hog Islands, though they don't do the place justice. My dear Karate Quaker friend wanted to see some islands in his time here but in that traveling to any one of the 3 main Bay Islands is at least a 2 day, $100 dollar affair I axed, no, I karate chopped the idea. As he was sobbing and begging me to reconsider, something hit me, an idea...they seem so few and far between these days. Turns out that there are these little cays about 2o kilometers of the coast that are absolutely stunning (or so the they tell me, I had as of yet to see them) and the round trip tour can be done in 8 hours and for about $35; I had always wanted to visit them but had just never had the time or reason to do so. Upon hearing this option my blubbering companion perked right up and then laid right down for a nap. We invited 2 of the kids from Laureles to come with us and the next day, bright and early, we found ourselves in a 15 foot long motor boat headed out to sea. An hour or so later we arrived on the main island, signed in with the park authorities and then spent the rest of the day snorkeling and eating fish on one of the inhabited islands. It was an absolutely perfect day, the best snorkeling I've ever done and for the price it couldn't be beat. We got back around 4pm and took a nap...who knew paddling around in Paradise could be so exhausting.

one of the tiny little cays on the outskirts of the collection with the mainland in the background
another of the tinier cays, probably about the size of a high school gymnasium

the mountains of the mainland

one of the 2 main islands

we brought carlos and oder with us for the day...don't worry they didn't have school, turns out the public school teachers here prefer to strike over the right to be compensated while on strike than to actually go to work. that's a topic for another day. yay quakers! yeah, so like i said, the photos really don't do this place justice, it really is absolutely perfect and pristine. i'd love to go back so if you're a quaker or a mennonite or a karate expert or a combination of the 3 and want to come visit me i'll be more than happy to accommodate you, so long as you pay my way to the islands. yay frugality!
peace.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Coming to Honduras

-
Image
The other day in philosophy class I was teaching about existentialism, a philosophy with which I have myriad problems. The universe is absurd, life is meaningless, authenticate yourself with irrational leaps of faith! Hopeless and disconnected from reality if you ask me. Get out of the café Camus, mix with some common folk! Nevertheless, as I was introducing the material I mentioned that the existentialists really probed the questions of Life's meaning and purpose: "How do I create myself to be unique and significant?" "How do I live an authentic existence?" "How do I give my life meaning and purpose in an otherwise meaningless universe?" These seem to be questions that are attendant to societies that possess extreme wealth and privilege and an over-abundance of leisure time. I have serious doubts that 15th Century English peasants or even nobles for that matter, spent much time contemplating how they might make their lives unique or leave a...
Read more

10 Years In Honduras

-
Image
My good friend Jessiel Rivera reminded me the other day that it was 10 years ago this month that I arrived here in La Ceiba. I remember my arrival here from Costa Rica fairly vividly. I had been getting teary-eyed on the plane from a combination of sleep deprivation, my longing to remain with my friends in beautiful San Jose and some sad indie music on my iPod. It was a hot and terribly humid Sunday afternoon when I landed in the La Ceiba airport and when I stepped off the 10-seater hotbox of an airplane onto the tarmac I was sweaty, bleary-eyed and disheveled. I looked like a typical gringo backpacker except for my mountain of luggage that I had in tow. Two members of the Central Mennonite Church picked me up in their car; how they knew I was the Gringo they were supposed to collect was beyond me but they got it right. I remember them remarking on the number of suitcases I had brought (3) and their heaviness (maximum weight allowance); and the resulting weight of embarrassment I felt ...
Read more

Chucu & His Homies

-
Image
William, I've thought about what to write all day now and while part of me would like to continue exploring the theme and meaning of Justice from philosophy class, or rail against the seemingly monolithic, lock-step acceptance and use of P.C. language and how it's destroying our culture and ability to communicate with each other, or stake out my claim against the tyranny of gay-marriage; I'm left thinking that in that I haven't truly written anything since September of last year it might be nice to begin this new season of writing and opining with a fresh and sunny story from Los Laureles. Thus I bring you Carlos Jose Ucles Ferrufino, affectionately known in Laureles (and other parts) as Chucu. I shan't write a long bio on him as I did with Chihua; at least not today. I do though want to share with you a scene from his birthday back in November. Normally when a birthday in Laureles rolls around I arrive with a cake, we sing a song, say a prayer, eat, drink co...
Read more