La Ensenada, Tela, Honduras

What is a “Banana Republic?” It is a derogatory term that describes

a politically unstable country dependent on the exportation of a major product such as bananas. In most cases the company doing the exporting plays a critical role in the politics of the country – for example the United Fruit Company in Honduras exporting bananas. Bananas only became popular in the United States at the end of the nineteenth century. In return for land, United Fruit (today Chiquita Brands) developed the infrastructure such as roads and ports that made exporting their bananas and other fruits easier and less expensive. 

Tela, Honduras, about an hour’s drive east of San Pedro Sula was once the home of United Fruit and its subsidiaries. What was once the residential compound for staff is now Telamar Resort with traditional wooden buildings. We have stayed there but as a special treat for successfully driving and taking care of business in Honduras we booked three nights at La Ensenada an all-inclusive nearby. 

Most of the all-inclusive resorts in Honduras are on Roatan Island

but the ones on the mainland of Honduras are less expensive. The north shore of Honduras is basically two-hundred miles of beaches just waiting to be developed.  We have stayed a La Ensenada before and loved it. The free-form pool is large and perfect for whatever one wants to do.  The beach is nice with shade trees and sport activities. On Friday and Saturday they have stage shows. Our accommodation was first rate and looked like it had just been redecorated. We had an upstairs room with a long, wide porch. 

All meals are buffet, normally. But on Sunday there were so few guests that meals were ala carte. Everyone at the resort and in all of Honduras is very helpful and accommodating.  I asked the chef to show me how to make a traditional recipe and he said, “No problem.”  The area has acres of pineapple plants mainly for the Dole Food Company and the beaches are lined with coconut trees so Chef Luis Felipe said Coconut Pineapple Seafood would be a good choice as it is representative of the area. He set everything up on a deck by the beach. I didn’t want him to go to all that trouble but it was appreciated. I think any variety of seafood could be used. 

Coconut Pineapple Seafood (Mariscada Teleña)

2 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ red onion, minced
½ green pepper, diced
2 sprigs fresh thyme 
2 oz shrimp
2 oz squid 
2 oz mussels on half shell
2 oz fish, tilipia

2 oz conch
Salt and pepper as desired
½ cup coconut milk
½ cup fish broth
2 oz (more if desired) pineapple cut in 1 inch cubes
1 tbsp cornstarch as needed
2 sprigs fresh cilantro for garnish
fried plantain  

Preheat the pan, add olive oil, when warm fry the garlic, onions and

peppers.Once it is fragrant add the thyme and shrimp, stir it for a couple of minutes until shrimp is pink. Add the squid and mussels; stir it for another couple of minutes. Add the fish; cook another couple minutes. Add conch last so it will be soft; cook for another couple minutes. Add salt and pepper, coconut milk and fish broth, cook it for several minutes. Add pineapple and cornstarch to thicken it. Plate, garnish with fresh cilantro.
Serve with fry plantains chips.

Unique places to visit

When I travel, besides seeing all the usual tourist spots, I like to see some of the off-beat things.  There are several books and websites that I found helpful.  “Roadside America” has a web site where I can bring up a map and pick out the unique things to see in the area in which I am traveling. It is easy to search by location. Some are places we’d visited without checking their web site like Boldt’s Castle but I like to check out the ones that I might miss such as the statue of the large cow with sunglasses in

Lowville. 

I also like letterboxing which is an intriguing “treasure hunt” style outdoor activity. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly-accessible places (like parks) and post clues to finding the box online.  Many of them are in or near historic sites and/or parks where there is something unique or offers a great place to hike or just relax and enjoy nature. There are over 200 in Oswego County.  We “planted” some but got a notice from a letterboxer that it had washed away but the website is set so people can place notes to let people know the last time the letterbox was checked and any other pertinent information.  There used to be a couple letterboxes at Mexico Point Park. 

“Atlas Obscura” is my new go-to when I travel.  When I was in Ithaca I checked out their site and while I knew that most of the students at Cornell were “brainey” I didn’t know that the college is home of the Wilder Brain Collection. Burt Green Wilder, a professor of anatomy founded the Cornell Brain Society in 1889 to collect the brains of “educated and orderly” people.  There is one of Helen Hamilton Gardener, a suffragette

who wanted to prove that a woman’s brain was not inferior to a man’s and one of a murderer.  I also like that “Atlas Obscura” lists 15,000+ places from all over the world.  I have visited some of them.  I think Myanmar’s Kyaiktiyo Pagoda is one of the most amazing things I have seen.  The 611-ton golden rock defies gravity as it teeters on the brink of a 3625-foot precipice. I have seen many of the things listed but I am always on the lookout for unique things to see. I like the fact that they add new places. I just submitted Casey’s Cottage, which is one of the most unique places in Central New York.  The cottage is closed for the season but, if you haven’t seen the inside of the cottage put it on your “must-visit” list for next year.  

We will be going to Honduras again soon and we are always

looking for something new to see so I checked Atlas Obscura’s site.  They list nine places in Honduras. We have visited the Hieroglyphic Staircase, the Rosalila Temple, the fort in Ooma and Lancetilla Gardens now I want to see the Talgua Caves which are called “The Caves of the Glowing Sculls.” There are a couple of other things listed that I’d like to see. When we were in Cincinnati we took pictures of the Mushroom

House which was listed in Atlas Obscura. It is not made out of mushrooms but looks like mushrooms. Wonder what the neighbors thought?

I think it is fun to check out the larger than life things on Road Trippers. Many were done to advertise a product or something and many have outlived their original purpose but are now just fun attractions. 

Las Marias, Honduras

Las Marias is the last village on the Rio Platano River in Honduras. Beyond Las Marias there is only the rainforest.  John and I, with our son and guides, traveled for many hours from the coast up the Rio Platano to Las Marias in a motorized dugout. The forest looked untouched with just a few long-legged egrets now and then. The only human we saw was a man in a dugout loaded with bananas heading down river.  It was truly an amazingly beautiful river trip – even with the short tropical downpour.

When we arrived at the village of Las Marias (pop. About 150)

there were women washing their clothes in the river with youngsters splashing around. A man was ready to head down river in his dugout which had a large pig in it. To market, to market… I wish I had been there to see how he got the pig down the slippery slope that led up to the village and then into the dugout.  

The village was a collection of weathered one-room buildings on stilts.  We were told that they had planned to build an outhouse for us but never got around to finishing it.  Our

accommodation was one of the stilted buildings.  They did have foam floor mats for us to sleep on.  Once John chased out the chickens all was fine.  The pigs that slept under the building could not climb the ladder to get into our place. 

The next day was special.  After breakfast we headed down the slippery slope to the water where several pipantes (dugout canoes) were waiting for us. There were no seats until Elias using his machete

slashed a couple of branches just the right length to fit in the pipante creating seats.  The next several hours were amazing.  Each pipante had two polers. Up the river we went through the rapids until we got to a shallow spot where we had to get out and pull the pipantes through.  At lunch time we stopped at a “summer camp” which was basically a clearing with a thatched palapa.  Our guides had brought along lunch – spaghetti and there were plenty of coconuts for liquid refreshment.  Interestingly, Emelisa noticed that one female polers was not offered any food nor did she seem to expect it so Emelisa offered some of hers. 

After lunch we continued up the rapids to a spot where there were

petroglyphs in the large boulders in the rapids.  This, they said, was the entrance to the territory of the Lost City.  We refreshed ourselves with a swim and then headed back down the river to Las Marias. 

That evening the town people requested a meeting with us at the church. Unbeknown to us, Emelisa was the sister of the then president of Honduras. At the meeting they discussed some of their issues including the fact that they needed another teacher – the only teacher had 80 students.  I

noticed sneakers and backpacks scattered around the village that had been provided by a kind-hearted organization. Why weren’t they being used? They said the sneakers were too slippery on the way to the school which included slippery spots on the trail down to the river to the boat that carried them across to the other side and up another slippery slope– bare feet worked better. What were the backpacks for?  Books. What books? Too often we assume we know what people need or can use. 

I asked the head of the village if he had ever been to the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa. No need.  Everyone comes to Las Marias so it must be the best place.

La Mosquitia, Honduas

One of the great things about travel is that the memories are always with you. A name, picture, book, or movie often summons up wonderful travel experiences.   That happened to me recently.  The book “The Lost City of the Monkey God” by Douglas Preston was on the New York Times best seller list.  While reading it I had flashback images of our adventure to the area of the Monkey God. The “Lost City” wasn’t really “lost.”  Stories of a city in the middle of La Mosquitia have been around for hundreds of years but it wasn’t until recently the actual city was located and explored. 

La Mosquitia is in the easternmost part of Honduras along The Mosquito Coast (named after an indigenous group not the annoying bug). It is a tropical rainforest accessible only by water and air and inhabited by the Moskito, Pech, and other ethnic groups.  Part of it is designated as the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, a World Heritage Site.

  
The idea for our adventure started with a book written by one of my favorite travel writers, Paul Theroux.  His book, “The Mosquito Coast,” told about a family adventure or misadventure on a Honduran river in La Mosquitia. A movie with the same name starring Harrison Ford followed.  While searching for things to do in Honduras I found that there was a tour to La Mosquitia.  So off I went with my husband, John. and our son, Jim.  Our tour included the owners of the tour company, Emelisa and her son, Alfredo, plus our guide, Elias.


The adventure started as soon as we boarded the 10-seater airplane in La Ceiba. John sat in the back most seat. Behind him the live, clucking chickens in a white burlap bag undulated like a giant amoeba.  We ran into heavy rain which buffeted us around mercilessly. There was no door on the cockpit. Looking out the cockpit window I could see – sea, land, trees, sky as we were bounced around. Frightening! Amazingly we landed in Palacios on

the soccer field that served as a runway. I was impressed with the pilot’s skill - we did better than the other plane on the side of the runway that was missing a wing. 

While our provisions were transported to our next mode of transportation we walked through the town to a stream where we boarded small motorized boat that took us out to sea and then into Ibans Laguna. I notice a TV antenna on a bamboo house – electricity had not reached this part of Honduras. Factoid: a small TV will run for 30 hours on a car battery. When we reached the tiny jungle village of Belem our supplies were transported to a horse and cart while we walked to Kuri where we stayed in a traditional house on stilts owned by Don Sixtos. Along the way we stopped at a school and that boasted a sign in Spanish, “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.”  

We went swimming in the ocean while the wife of Don Sixtos’ cooked us a hearty and delicious meal on her clay stove that included fresh fish, rice, pineapple, coconut milk, and, a first for us, breadfruit. The next day, the son of Don Sixos, ferried us for eight hours up the Rio Platano in a motorized dugout to Las Marias where the adventure

continued.

Caribbean Getaways

The recent hurricane season has been extremely disastrous on the islands of the Caribbean but there were some that did not suffer any damage. Undamaged Islands still suffer from association with potential travelers thinking the entire Caribbean was destroyed. Keep in mind that the best deals are in the off season or at the beginning and end of high season.  Often the best deal is a package that includes airfare. 

1. Roatan: The largest and most popular of the Honduran Bay Islands has long been popular with divers but there are a variety of accommodations from live-aboard dive boats to all-inclusive resorts.  Roatan along with its two sister island – Utila and Guanaja – are located on the second largest barrier reef.   
2. Caymans:  The Caymans are a British Overseas Territory made up of three islands in the western Caribbean Sea. Grand Cayman, the largest island, is known for its beach resorts and varied scuba diving and snorkeling sites.  A great place to pet a ray.

3. Bonaire: The Island is part of the Netherlands and out of the hurricane zone so any time of year to visit is great. It is known for great diving with some sites that can be accessed by just walking into the water. The pink salt flats are unique as is the donkey rescue center.
4. Haiti: Haiti could benefit

from tourism money at it is still trying to recover from the 2010 earthquake but most of Haiti’s resorts and landmarks such as the Citadel and ruins of Sans-Souci, once the royal  palace of Haiti’s 19th century King Henry I. There are great beaches. 
5. St. Lucia: The name may conjure up romance but there is also adventure. Not to miss is the Diamond Botanical Gardens to learn about how cocoa is grown and processed into chocolate. Plan to visit the waterfalls that has been featured in several movies. The island is a favorite stop for yacht owners.
6. Jamaica:  The Island is a favorite destination for those

looking for reasonable places to stay especially at one of the many all-inclusive resorts. Montego Bay has British-colonial architecture and the capital of Kingston is home to the Bob Marley Museum.  Dunn’s River Falls is a must-do.
7. Curacao: The Dutch island is out of the hurricane belt and known for its beaches tucked into coves and is large coral reefs. The capital, Willemstad is picture perfect with pastel-colored colonial architecture. Onshore access to the reefs makes it popular with snorkelers and divers. 
8.

Barbados: The eastern Caribbean island is part of the British Commonwealth where afternoon tea and cricket are still local traditions. Don’t miss the Jacobean-style St. Nicholas Abbey.  The mansion is one of the oldest plantation houses in the Caribbean. A do-not miss is Animal Flower Cave with pools deep enough to swim in. 
9. Grenada: The smell will tell you why Grenada is called the “Spice Isle.” There are several nutmeg plantations to visit. The capital of St. George has Georgian buildings and an 18th century fort, and, of course, resorts and beaches.  Check out the world’s first underwater sculpture park. 

10. Trinidad & Tobago: The two-island nation is off the coast of Venezuela and is known for its distinctive Creole traditions and cuisines. The smaller island of Tobago is known for its beaches and the Tobago Main Ridge Forest Reserve which shelters hummingbirds. There are daily flights and ferries connection the two islands.

Honduras' Copan

When I travel to archeological sites like Copan I wonder what Oswego County and places like New York City will be like in 1500 years.  If the global warming progresses as some predict the oceans will rise significantly and possibly 1500 years from now the cities and localities we know today may be under water. Seems impossible but I imagine the Mayans never thought their flourishing world would one day be overtaken by the jungle. Copan is just one of the

great Mayan cities with pyramids, temples, and where art flourished. Copan is considered the most artistic of the Mayan cities and sometimes referred to as the “Athens of the Mayan World.” Copan started as an agricultural settlement around 1000 BC and reached its peak between AD 300 and 900. Today all that is left are the impressive stone works.  At one time they were bright and colorful. The civilization began to decline due to war and unsuccessful battles that led to internal revolts.  Also, it is thought that the population grew beyond its ability to feed the people and, of course, there were diseases that were introduced by the explorers. 

The hieroglyphic staircase contains over 1250 blocks of stone. Each

stone of the stairway is engraved with Mayan text. When the structure was discovered much of it had been disturbed by nature and people. The stones were reassembled without an understanding of the language so the stones are not in the proper sequence consequently the text is out of order.  It would be like having 1250 loose pages of a history book with no page numbers and in a foreign language. Another issue is the interpretation of the glyphs. There is much to learn. 

One of fascinating sites is the ball court. The game was popular throughout Middle America and it was more than a game. The game often had a religious significance where the sport was literally a game of life and death. The exact rules are not known and there were many variations but the object was to get the rubber ball through one of the rings. The players couldn’t use their hands.  Today the site is quiet but wandering around and then sitting on one of the benches I wondered what it must have

been like when it was in full swing.  None of the people’s homes or shops made of wood and reeds have survived. Their ceremonies must have been impressive.  John and I first visited the site in 1990 and an archeologist had recently discovered the Rosalila Temple inside Temple 16.  We were fortunate that our guide knew the archeologist and we were allowed

to walk in the narrow path that led to the part of the hidden temple they were uncovering. Today, for a separate fee, it is possible to enter the tunnel to the temple but I understand it doesn’t go very far.  However, to get an idea of what the temple was like the museum has a great reproduction of the Rosalila Temple. We have much to learn about the Mayans.  

Not far from Copan is the Macaw Mountain Bird Park & Nature

Reserve where there are many macaws and other colorful birds.  The object of the park is to protect, preserve and breed macaws and then reintroduce them into the wild.  Several of the bright, beautiful macaws are once again free to fly in and around the great city of Copan. 

Change is coming to Trujillo, Honduras

O’Henry is better known for “The Gift of the Magi” but he also wrote “Cabbages and Kings” based on his stay in Trujillo where he fled in order to avoid being charged with embezzlement. He coined the phrase “Banana Republic.”  The book was written in 1904 but not much has changed in Trujillo.  

Trujillo has a fascinating history.  On August 14, 1502 Christopher Columbus’ fourth and final voyage arrived at the mainland of the America for the first time. Under Spanish rule Trujillo became the capital of Honduras and a fortress was built on a bluff above the Bay of Trujillo but the Spanish could not defend the area from pirates so the capital was moved inland. 

There is an American who features strongly in Central American

history and yet most Americans never heard of him.  His name is William Walker. Walker was a well-educated American who was a privateer and invaded Latin America with the intention of setting up English-speaking colonies under his personal control. He actually usurped the presidency of Nicaragua and was the country’s president for one year. He was defeated

by a coalition of Central American armies and was executed in Trujillo in 1860. There is a stone monument at the site of his execution and he is buried in the Old Cemetery. 

Several unsuccessful attempts have been tried to revitalize Trujillo in recent years. The most bizarre on was in the 1990s. Trujillo Bay was to be the site for constructing the Freedom Ship, or The Floating City, which would float around the world. The plan was over the top with condos, universities, and more.  The locals were pinning their hopes on it but nothing came of it but a few signs and a website. Now, however, they are

trying to make Trujillo a cruise port. Some cruise ships have stopped but the area is not ready for the big ones but it is a good port for ships with less than 1000 passengers.  They have spruced up the city square and there are actually tours people can take. 

On our last visit we went out on a dive boat.  Amazing, years ago we unsuccessfully tried to take a boat ride - there were boats but no working motors.  A Canadian, Ken Reaume has a real dive boat and all the necessary equipment. Some of us went snorkeling and some diving. Trujillo Bay has a place called Starfish Bay where the starfish are different colors. It was a great day. Hopefully, it will be the start of a new renaissance for Trujillo.  Another fun time was on the Rio Grande where there are swimming holes between the huge boulders plus an area with a natural water slide. 

There are several “gated communities” that have been developed in

the last 15 years but they seem to be languishing in the sun. All the properties have been sold but only a few houses have been built. There is a bright light on the horizon - Njoi, a gated community that can hold its own with any in the

Caymans and elsewhere.  They seem to be doing it right with all the necessary infrastructure and beautiful homes – only a couple have been built. 

Before arriving in Trujillo some of our family stopped in La Ceiba and went canyoneering down the jungle waterfalls - one waterfalls was 83-feet high.  Honduras has a lot to offer tourists.

Where is Columbus buried?

For years there has been a controversy as to where Christopher

Columbus is buried. It seems Columbus continued to travel after he died! In 1506 he was buried in Valladodid, Spain. When I was in Seville, Spain I went to see his tomb in the Cathedral of Santa Maria de la Sede.  It is huge with four full-size elaborately attired figures carrying the casket on their shoulders. Later Columbus was moved from Valladolid to Seville. 

Later, at the request of his daughter-in-law, Columbus and his son, Diego, were transported across the Atlantic to Hispaniola where the remains were interred in the Santo Domingo cathedral. When the French captured Hispaniola in 1795 he was disinterred and taken to Cuba. In 1892, at the close of the Spanish-American War, the remains were sent back across the Atlantic to Seville. 

The issue was muddied even more in when a leaden box containing human remains was discovered in the Santo Domingo cathedral with the inscription “Illustrious and

distinguished male, don Cristobal Colon.  The Spanish did some DNA testing in 2006 that indicated at least some of the remains in Spain belonged to Columbus.  To date there has been no DNA testing of the remains in Santo Domingo. In the Dominican Republic his remains are in the large lighthouse monument built for that purpose. With all the interring and disinterring and moving the remains from one place to another it is possible that both Seville and Santo Domingo have some of his remains. 

Columbus led four voyages to the “New World” but it wasn’t until his fourth voyage that he set foot on the mainland of the Americas. After visiting the Honduran Bay Island they set sail again and for a month endured the storm-tossed sea.  When the mountains of the mainland were finally spotted Columbus thanked God. Today the mountains near the north coast of Honduras are called “Gracias a Dios” (thanks to God). On July 30, 1502 his ships sailed into the large Trujillo Bay. Most of the early voyages included a priest. The first Catholic mass was held in present day Honduras near the present-day town of Trujillo. 

Much is made of Columbus’ voyages and, yes, crossing the

Atlantic in such small ships and not knowing where they were going was certainly adventurous and brave. There were many brave seamen through the years and there is much controversy about what people reached the Americas first.  

The Mormons believe that Lehi arrived about 700 BC. The Irish believe that St. Brennan made landfall in AD 500. Many claim that Leif Erikson, the Icelandic explorer, was the first European to set foot on the mainland of the Americas 500 years before Columbus. In Hong Kong I visited the History Museum where there is a model of one of Zheng He’s ships on display. Next to it is a model of Columbus’ ships.  They would fit on the deck of one of Zheng He’s

ships which were 400 feet long. The Santa Maria was 50 feet long.  Zheng He’s many voyages predate those of Columbus. His voyage in 1405 was comprised of 317 ships and 27,870 men. Some believe that at least one of his seven voyages made it to the Americas. For sure he made it to India and Africa. Most likely there were others; regardless, Columbus is the one who changed the history of the Americas.