Giving up Wifi for a stay in the Cloud Rainforest

As I stated in my status, I was wifi deprived for our stay in La Tigra, but not to worry, I will back track to Wednesday’s stressful adventures.

We left Nicaragua on Wednesday, and the travel from Esteli to Honduras is not an easy one on Easter week. I woke up early to gather information about this chicken bus we had to take. It seemed like an easy plan to take local transportation and if all failed we would be able to just take a taxi to the border for 50$ total and walk across to Honduras. So I thought…

We left for the bus at 9:00 am, for the 9:20 bus. At 9:30am, a bus pulled up fill to the brim with people. As Americans, we figured it was full, yet Nicaraguans were walking into the bus and we were left on the curb. We agreed to just suck it up and take a taxi. Of course, no one had any desire to wait another hour for the next bus, so we asked taxi after taxi. We had an offer for 80$ which we refused and then 100$ which we were trying to bargain down. Sam noticed another bus coming for Ocotal and we ran towards it, handing our backpacks which were strapped down to the top of the bus and we walked in. I thought we were safe.

Let me describe to you what a chicken bus in Nicaragua looks like. If you have ever seen an American school bus, you have seen a chicken bus. Now add some religious stickers, some paint, some crazy destination font, and about 200 people and bam, you got yourself a Nicaraguan chicken bus.

The ride to Ocotal was over 2 hours long. I stood, for two hours long. Brodia, Sam and Tori sat on top of each other with another woman next to them. After about 2 hours, the bus was much less crowded and I was able to leave a spot next to a puking child and move myself by Sam, Tori and Brodia. Just in time to have a panic attack. I crouched down in the aisle while Sam and Brodia hugged me and petted me. We arrived in Ocotal and I was drained. I couldn’t think about the next step. Luckily, everyone stepped up, got some food in me and even got a taxi. It was all orchestrated by this Nicaraguan 24 year old man who Brodia accidentally talked to and it all worked out. We took a taxi to the border (Las Manos), paid our 1$ exit tax, the 2$ immigration tax, walked over to the Honduran flag and paid our 4$ entrance fee, got our stamp and started looking for mini-shuttles or taxis. The only thing we could find was another chicken bus. I was still exhausted and could not see the end of this journey, but we exchanged some money from whoever had the biggest stack of Honduran money and got on the bus to El Paraiso. There we got a mini-shuttle (a little pricier) to Tegucigalpa, where we were supposed to have a rental at the airport. Can you guess what happened to the rental car? It was very obviously given away, so we were left stranded without a car.
I had it with the rental cars at this point, and so we headed towards a taxi driver. He quoted us 60$ to go up to La Tigra, to our cabin (El Rosario). We argued it down to 50$ and after the 1h30 drive up a steep hill in a mini-van, we agreed that he should be paid the original 60$. He argued with us and got 70$ out of us, but we were exhausted and ready for our home cooked dinner.

Our hosts cooked us this beautiful vegetarian dinner which we ate three servings of each. Then they had lemon grass tea waiting for us, and banana bread for dessert. We even got to enjoy the home made raspberry wine and taste the honey mead and the blackberry wine. Monika is a vet, so there is enough pets on the propriety to satisfy everyone, while Jorge is a horticulture engineer.

It was a fabulous way to end a very emotional day.

On Thursday, we woke up in the jungle to the sound of birds and the sight of the little town down the valley (San Juancito). We had planned that day to hike in and out of La Tigra national park. So after a healthy breakfast with homemade jelly and home cooked bread, we took a warm shower (rare in Central America and set off to the trail around the park. The altitude almost immediately took me down. With Sam’s expert instruction, I managed to get my body to accept the fact that we were above 5000 feet above sea level and to be okay with it. We hiked in the primary jungle and after a photo shoot at the waterfall and exploring some old mining caves, we got home around 4:30pm. Our host, Monika, cooked us what she called a quizza (A quiche/ pizza), and we devoured it while Jorge talked to us about the history of their property. It was heartwarming to see the passion he holds for his projects in his life. We finished the night with some mead and blackberry wine at the candle light. We tried to wake up for the sunrise, but it was so cloudy that we went right back to bed.

Friday was our departure day from El Rosario, and our arrival for our 18 hours stay in Tegulcipalga. Jorge brought us down to the capital all the while sharing with us stories of his travels to Hawaii. During our drive down the mountain, he also showed us the many different trees which inhabits Honduras. We had a little over an hour of driving, and once we got in the city, he remarked how the city resembled a ghost town. Good Friday is considered a national holiday in Central America and each country celebrate differently. Honduras is known for a procession down the main church in town and their "carpet" displays. Volunteer artists create beautiful religious scenes using colored sands and little rocks. The two most famous towns to have those displays are Tegulcipalga and Comayagua.

Originally, we wanted to go up to Comayagua to see the carpet display and then to the Lake Yojoa for some water activities. Without a car and with the holiday, we were stuck in Tegulcipalga, which in the end worked out best for us. We went to the town center to see the Easter carpets Tegulcipalga had to offer. The vibrant colors used to create the "carpet" display contrasted with the rundown buildings. The volunteers had been working on the biblical scenes all morning now, and we were able to see their finished work all the way down the main plaza, where we enjoyed some local "baleado"- tortilla, refried beans, chicken/eggs, sour cream and cheese. Sam, Tori and Brodia had some street corn topped with cheese, mayo, and salsa rojo. We walked back while enjoying the little side streets of the capital. We saw nothing but beautifully dressed children and locals admiring the artists at work. Once having our feel of culture, we got back to our hostel to enjoy some time with high-speed internet.

Tomorrow, we head to El Salvador for a quick 24 hours in the country and then I head back to the East Coast.