After months of anticipation our very first guests, David’s parents finally arrived in Honduras! Several months ago I took some time and planned out the whole trip with the hopes of including a good selection of what Honduras has to offer.
The idea of making the in-laws endure the crazy bus rides of Honduras was kind of comical but definitely not an option. So instead we made them endure the stress of driving a clown-sized rental car on torn up, pothole filled roads with the reckless, common-sense-ignoring renegades that are Honduran drivers.
Once we had collected the parents at the airport and fed them popular Honduran food (Wendy’s) we headed in the tiny car to Trinidad. After unpacking the mountain of goodies (thanks to both sets of parents!) we headed to Lourdes’ to introduce everyone and pickup the tamales she and I had made the day before. All the girls were there including Lourdes, her two daughters, her mother, her sister Lila, and her daughter. I can imagine David’s parents were feeling a little overwhelmed at 6 girls laughing, joking, and talking over each other all in Spanish! The ladies also gave us some bananas from their farm (which they often do) so that the parents could try a banana straight from the finca. I could tell Lourdes had dressed up a bit and put on some earrings for the occasion, which I thought was incredibly sweet.
That night we had an authentic Honduran dinner of beans, tamales, chismol (pico de gallo), and avocado and couple of Port Royal cervezas. After some chatting and catching up we turned in early.
The next day’s adventure was to Lago Yojoa. Originally we wanted to visit Panacam Lodge for its hiking trails, waterfall, and bird watching but unfortunately we were unable to reach anyone by telephone to inquire about the road conditions. With serious doubts that our tiny car could handle anything outside the norm we went for plan B and headed to Pulhapanzak falls. David and I had first visited the falls in March and it was incredible to see the difference in the water flow now that we’re in rainy season.
Pulhapanzak
The next stop on the itinerary was a traditional fish lunch at one of the many restaurants by the lake. We chose one that we had been to before that had a second floor dining area with great views of the lake and even a dock to walk out on. David went for the whole fish while the rest of us enjoyed fillets and of course tajadas (fried plantain chips). When we made our way down to the dock we found it in a state of half completion but ventured out anyway to find gorgeous views, blooming purple lilies, and tropical birds at play. It was well worth the kind of scary walk out!
Someone's excited about their fish!
Purty
On the journey back we made the obligatory stop in Arada to stock up on more baskets. It was mainly so the in-laws could pick up souvenirs for those at home but of course I did some of my own shopping as well, I couldn’t help it! We found some really great ones and nearly cleaned the ladies out. Then it was back to Trinidad for an afternoon walk up to the cemetery where we found a herd of cows mowing the grass around the mausoleums. Another dinner of beans and tamales and off to bed we went, resting up for Part 2 of the Parental Adventures!
(Lack of photos to be explained in the next post…)
It seems like yesterday. We had a blast! Thank you for showing us Honduras. It is a beautiful country.
Wow……………What a cool family.
[...] and Clare’s wedding in 2007. Unlike our first visitors (read about David’s parents visit here, here, here, and here) we had a more “authentic” trip planned for P & C, meaning budget [...]