Dear Team Adventure Force Magic Power Associates,
I am writing to inform you, the members of our prestigious
organization, of a FASCINATING NEW DEVELOPMENT. It seems that love is
available in infinite quantities, radiating from all life.
Interesting, isn´t it? I guess you just sort of open up to it and it
breathes right into you. I am truly blessed to have all my relations.
Honduras is lovely, very nice people, very different, real pine
country. We are poised to explore some cool places and were just in
some awesome park called La Tigra. It was truly exquiisite. I hope
everyone is doing well and healthy and happy, and please don´t forget
to love yourselves, its so important, whenever that little voice comes
in that marginalizes what you´ve done, remember to listen to the other
voices that pat you on the back and give you hope.
Much love, everyone.
Alex
(Here is the message by my friend Stephen, detailing some of our trip if you care to read it.)
Friday evening Lee went ahead of us to the park and when Alex and
I caught up we found him talking to a thickly built young (22) teacher
of karate. He was a very interesting character, very serious, and very
acrobatic. He and Lee exchanged displays of forms, and while I was
familiar with Lee's from kung-fu at home, the karate forms seemed a
little less practical and a lot more entertaining, with flips, big
kicks and other similar feats. This all went on in the main park, and
in the very center there was a raised circular pavilion where they did
some light (and friendly) contact sparring. The whole scenario was
pretty amazing.
Saturday morning we got up early to catch the 6 o'clock bus to a
Miraflor, a reserve about 25km from Estelí. The bus ride was
surprisingly long, over rough terrain, and after 90 minutes of standing
I felt like my feet had already done half a day of hiking. We met a
self-proclaimed park guide on the bus and he gave us some info and
introduced us to a local farm/tourist spot where visitors could sleep
and be fed delicious organic food (which we were, in spades!). In
fact, the entirety of this large reserve is divided up into farms, and
the owners are responsible for protecting the trees on their
properties. The guide we hired, Jugo, told us that the entire thing
(over 200 square kilometers) had once been owned by a single man with a
lot of guns and connections, and after the revolution it was taken and
given to people to work for themselves (whereas before they'd had to
work for him). Jugo, 22, had volunteered in a Costa Rican park for 3
months some time before, and hoped to move on to other parks with more
tourist traffic. He showed us a beautiful mirador (lookout point), a
great little waterfall with deep, cool water for swimming, and, despite
his desire to call it a day at 3 o'clock, a path in a nice spot of
forest along which we saw many types of plants, including some orchids
(which smelled great), and most fantastically a huge matapaulo tree.
It was enormous, with a hollow center so large we could fit inside and
even climb to the top! It was probably a good 75 feet up - Jugo and
Alex reached the top, Lee got part way up and rapelled down using a
thick vine, and I climbed up about as far as I thought I could and
still be able to get down reasonably well. It was a fantastic
experience, and it made me want to practice climbing even more. After
that we paid Jugo and bade him farewell, then walked to the mirador
again for sunset. Remarkably beautiful begins to describe it. We
could see trees, valleys, farms, and mountains in the distance, with
thick white clouds moving near, but not quite over, the sun. In
addition to this, we were blessed with an extraordinary sight earlier
in the day: at around noon we looked up to see the sun completely
encircled by a rainbow. It was simply riveting, and we all lay down in
the grass to look at it for a while.
The next day we got up late (after 7) to a breakfast of pancakes
and honey. This was surprisingly anticlimactic because we were
expecting another delicious breakfast of rice and beans, perhaps with
some fresh salted cheese and tortillas. Ah well. We relaxed and
talked some more with two women who'd arrived the previous evening,
both of whom lived near New York and worked in a family care practice.
The older of the two, Louisa, was a nurse-practitioner who'd travelled
extensively to work on projects helping people in need (
e.g. in Cambodia just after the Khmer Rouge), and talking with her and
her friend Kate was refreshing. They headed out on horses and the
three of us walked down the road to where we thought the nearby lagoon
was. After a half hour we were told we were heading the wrong way, so
we turned around and immediately caught a pick-up truck ride which
dropped Lee off at the bus stop (he was heading back early so as not to
miss the meeting with the karate teacher) and us by a few parked horses
further on. We ran into another two women who were also being lead
around by a guide, saw a sort of lagoon (covered in vegetation), then
asked their guide what was down the road: a town called Puerta Azules,
which had been a major fighting spot during the Sandinista days, and
was a strong supporter of said group. We met a lady selling tacos and
other goods at the side of the road near a building with people talking
loudly and one person on a speaker yelling. At first I thought it was
some kind of illicit fighting ring, but the lady told us it was in fact
an Evangelical church. We bought some food, then some sweets from a
nearby cart (solid dulce de leche, it seemed like). We didn't want to
finish it so we went over to some kids and offered it to them. We
ended up asking their parents' permission, and the whole family came
out. The father was wearing a dog tag from the war, and he was very
friendly. Come to think of it, most people are around here. We bought
some tortillas (they were selling), then headed back down the road,
along the way encountering a cowboyish fellow with a big silver belt
buckle. The walk back was long and tiring, but we had a good time of
it and the time flew by. Back at the farm we had a delicious lunch,
then took a nap before heading to the bus back Estelí. It was already
crowded so we climbed on to the top of the bus. It was really nice to
be out in the fresh air, and there were low railings to lean against to
stop from falling off. There were other people, of course, and farming
gear (someone had a plow), produce and a couple of chickens. The main
danger was branches, and we had some close calls. I saw the sun set
over the mountains, and soon after that we had to get down because we
were in the city limits and apparently riding on top of buses isn't
allowed. Louisa and Kate lead us to the center of town where there was
a pretty cool house someone had begun but failed to complete, somewhat
reminiscent of the Adam's family. More interesting was the building
across the street, which featured some of the best graffiti I've ever
seen. I told the guys inside how cool it was, and they invited us in
to see more painted on the inner walls. There were a number of tvs
setup with video game systems, and people playing intently upon them.
Monday we left for Honduras. We rendezvoused at the park, where
Lee said goodbye to some of the students of that teacher, then we
started the bus trek to Tegucigalpa. Along the way we met some really
interesting people, among whom was a young woman who helped us along
the way, as we had to catch several local buses en route. Then an
older lady, mother of four sons (all in the U.S.), shared a cab with us
into the center of town, and gave me her phone number and address if we
wanted to visit. We put up in a dorm room in a hostel owned by an
American, and it was pretty poor, but the guy (Tom) was ok, and there
were four kittens running around. We didn't get a very good impression
of the city, as there was a lot of car smog and a guy at the ATM told
us to be careful of thieves with guns. I suspect it wasn't so bad, but
we didn't dally. Early the next morning we followed Tom's directions
to the bus to La Tigra, a nearby park. They were poor instructions
as the bus, scheduled for 7am, was gone long before then. There was
talk of giving up on the whole expedition and skipping town, but with a
little more persistence, a lucky tip, and asking a lot of people as we
ran down the street, we were able to track down where the bus was
really waiting and got on just before it left!
This turned out to be a worthwhile exertion in the end, because La
Tigra was absolutely beautiful. The bus took us to Jutiapa and on the
road to the park we stopped at a nice lady's house for breakfast (at
first she said she had nothing to cook, but we ended up with a nice
meal of rice, beans, eggs and local coffee). Some guys were digging up
carrots across the way and when Alex asked if he could buy a few, they
tossed us some for free. It's amazing how many carrots were growing on
such a small patch of land - and they were delicious! (we only just
finished them today, Thursday). At the park entrance building we were
given some info and while they were telling Alex and Lee how much it
cost ($15 - muy caro!), I got to talking with a chubby fellow who
seemed eager to chat. He was 22 and had been orphaned early on in
life, then adopted for a time by an American family living in
Honduras. He spoke English quite well, but humored me with Spanish and
he repeatedly urged us to stay at the lodgings on the other side of the
park. He was, it turned out, the person in charge of security and also
the chief (jefe) of the far side. He told us we could stay there for
half price, and we were readily persuaded. We took the southernmost
trail through stunning cloud forest. I'd never seen so much green in
my life: even the trunks of the trees were green with growth. Walking
alone after a time I fell into what might be called a trance-like
state, what I imagine meditation is like when done right, and it was
fantastic. When I caught up with Alex we got to rhyming and had a
great time of it, until soon we'd come upon a towering waterfall. The
chief, Carlos, had said that 40% of Tegucigalpa's drinking water comes
from this park. After some time there spent playing the flute and
such, we went on to find an old mine entrance. Carlos had say they
were too dangerous to enter, but as we had our headlamps we went in. A
long dark tunnel lead to a small barrier, and sitting on that we gazed
upon the mine within: it was completely flooded with water. Alex and I
took turns on the flute, then we all took turns doing chants. It was
pretty magical. The mine had been started back in the 1830's by a New
York based company. They dug for gold and platinum until the land was
granted protected status. It was beautiful.
On the way to our lodging, through the town of El Rosario, we
acquired a ranger escort, a nice guy by the name of Cristoból. He
lived with his mom and walked down with us, and from there on to a
woman who cooked us a delicious dinner of typical food, sans grease!
While waiting we danced in the common room, where an expensive
entertainment system was setup. The entire town seemed to be related,
and this was clearly the place for dancing. Only hours before Alex and
Lee had been talking about how they really felt like dancing...
Yesterday we left for San Juancito, a nearby town with a bus back
to the capitol. We were again escorted, this time by three of the
guides, and they took us on a small trail, with beautiful views and
interesting passers-by (a man with a giant pole riding a donkey, not
entirely unlike Don Quixote). In town we parted and landed a ride to
the bus station some distance away, where we learned that the bus
wasn't leaving for another hour and a half. I've now determined that
there's regular time, in which most of us live, and there's Honduran
time, by which buses travel. I'm not too fond of the latter. By 11
we'd caught the bus, by 1 we'd had lunch, and by 3pm we were on a
comfortable bus leaving Tegucigalpa for the D&D brewery! The bus
ride was longer than the ticket-seller had told us, and we got into La
Guama at 6:30, after the sun had set, where we were told there were no
more buses to take us where we needed to go. All three of us started
talking to people and soon enough we'd found someone to give us a ride
there! It was about thirty minutes away, and we were eight people in a
4-door car, in the rain, driving fast, but we made it safe and sound.
They were really nice, told us where to find them in the neighboring
town, and took off. The D&D had a spacious cabin available, and we
took it. It's run by a really cool guy by the name of Bob Dale (Dale
& Diaz), an Oregonian brew-master, and I took his recommendation of
the porter, which was delicious - and I'm not much of a beer drinker.
This morning we got a late start, but I had a really interesting talk
with Bob, who then showed me his artifact collection. The land, and
all the land around it, was full of ancient ruins, and he'd collected a
fair number of items in his time there. One was a three note flute
from about the time of Christ, a couple of stamps even older than that,
a nicely preserved piece of pottery about 2500 years old, two awesome
jade axeheads, and more. He had something that looked like a corn
grinder but was in fact made of marble and was so well fitting that the
rolling pin made loud sounds when I put a single hair in its path.
Anyway, we left with a British woman named Karina for a nice rowboat
ride into the Lago de Yojoa, which was, of course, beautiful, and are
now about on our way to the D&D, where I'll have to try another of
those beers.. maybe the mango ale...
back to Alex's Road Diary
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