I met them at the airport on Friday at a little after one. We got them some lempiras and took a taxi to the bus terminal. We boarded a bus to CEIBA and started our journey. We had good snacks on the bus (cheese curds from Wisconsin!!!!), avocado and tomato sandwiches, oranges, plantain chips and cookies. When we reached Ceiba it was raining and we quickly found a taxi to take us to our hotel in Sambo Creek (about 15 minutes from Ceiba by car). I was glad the other two were in the car with me as the hotel was at the end of a long lane and would have been spooky if I was alone. We arrived and got situated in our room and went to the restaurant/bar area where we were introduced to Dante, the owner of the hotel – Paradise Found. Dante is social and a talker. We were lucky enough to meet up with Tony the DiveMaster who was taking us snorkeling in the Cayos Cochinos (Pig Islands) the next morning. Mary, Katie and I caught up over a couple of beers and a light dinner. Then off for a restful night of sleep or so we thought. The hotel owner got the urge to play his guitar and stereo loudly most of the night.
The next morning we woke up to cloudy skies and rain. That did not stop us. We had to wake the hotel owners up for breakfast…but worth it as we got beans and bacon! My tummy was happy. We then boarded the boat (it looked like the one in the picture above) and took off for the 1.25 hour ride. We hit some waves and got soaked by sideways rain but soon we arrived to the cayes.
After some snorkeling in murky water due (still nice snorkeling I saw a few types of fish I’ve never seen before) to the rain we visited a Garifuna village on one of the cayes. Here’s a few pictures of this caye and the friend that Mary and Katie made :)
Point of clarification. In the Cayos Cochinos there are two islands and several cayes. The difference between an island and a caye has to do with elevation. To be an island there must be elevation of over 100 feet. I learn something every day.
Our trip back to the mainland was drier, smoother and less eventful. We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the main road and beach before a great dinner of garlic shrimp. We then spoke to the hotel owners about setting up our plans for the following day.
After a quiet night’s sleep we again woke the owners up for breakfast (the hotel is a bed and breakfast) and asked for them to call the hot springs and arrange for them to pick us up. We waited and waited and boy was the wait worth it. The hot springs outside of Sambo Creek are amazing. I did not take my camera to all the springs but Katie did so hopefully more pictures to come soon. First, you see the mountain side and some smoke? That smoke is the steam from the hot springs. It’s a little hard to see in the photo but its the bit of grey on the mountainside next to the tree on the righthand side (I had a nice arrow made to go on the photo but can't get it to translate to this blog page).
This is the three of us before we got into the hot springs.
There were seven pools of water and many more waterfalls than that. We started at the top where the hot water boils out of the earth and then proceeded down the seven different pools. At pool number 4 we got volcanic mud baths.
We liked to think we were that tan but to no avail. We then ventured down to the last three pools. Here is where the story gets sad for me. Please look at the following two pictures and list the differences you see:
1. You’re all thinking when did Andrea get a pedicure? Me too. That was a year ago for my friend Hector’s wedding. So the nail polish is one difference but not the main one.
2. New chacos. Yes, a big thanks to Mary as she sent me the link and let me send them to her house to bring down to me. They are like walking on air. My feet are very happy (hope that translates in the photo). Also, they are in my color scheme :) But that is not the difference either.
3. In picture two I only have on one toe ring. RIP my beautiful knot toe ring. You served me well for about 14 years. You will be missed. And if I had to lose you anywhere I’d have to say in the hot springs is the best place. Mary took a picture of me as soon as I realized I lost the ring and the sadness shows. I got my foot wrapped up in a weed and got freaked out and then hit a rock which snag the ring and broke it. Off it floated to never never land. I’d do it again to have those warm waterfalls massaging my back and taking my cares away.
Finally, it was time to head back to reality but not before one last picture (thanks Tammy for the shirt).
This morning they got to experience SJBS. They saw acto civico (Monday morning assembly), helped out in the kindergarten class and got to eat a sprinkle covered chocobanana. It was sad to see them leave but I think we all greatly enjoyed the visit.
I also learned more about the stance that teachers and state employees are taking in Wisconsin against Scott Walker. Wish I could be there to take part in all that is going on. Mary and Katie brought several treats – CHEESE CURDS, hot tamales (who knew the valentines editions come in three colors – white, pink and red – can’t wait to try them), rice krispie treats, flavoring for water (it’s getting hot so I need to start drinking water), two shirts – my wardrobe keeps growing!, pencils for the school and books to read and puzzles to do. I also got to try pretzel m&m. All they got in return was a weekend with me, plantain chips and coconut bread. Thanks so much Mary and Katie – miss you already.
No comments:
Post a Comment