Copan, Honduras

So when my new Dutch and German friends told me they were going to Honduras to visit the Copan Ruins I was jealous of their little adventure so immediately informed them I would be joining them. Initially I'd decided to skip Honduras (although I did travel through it already) because the location of their main tourist attractions was somewhat inconvenient. But hey, I have no plan. Why not travel for an entire day through Guatemala to get there?! 

Anyway, I won't lie. It was pretty cool. Definitely my favourite Mayan Ruins. What made it super cool was that some kind of bird loving conservationists have started a program to repopulate the area with Scarlet Macaws which were a very important animal to the Mayans. So as soon as we arrived at the site we saw these guys....

After spending at least 20 minutes marvelling at the birds we decided we should probably check out what those Mayans did. The actual site of the ruins is gorgeous and although it doesn't look too jungly, it's very very lush and I can confirm that I came away from there with at least 20 mosquito bites. 

The cool thing about this ruins is the carvings, statues and large heads dotted around the place. I didn't get to see that at Tikal (Guatemala) or Tulum (Mexico). 

There were lots of images of skulls which I thought was pretty cool. 

By the way, please don't ask me anything about the Mayans. I do not know. We wandered round without a guide and information is seriously limited there. 

Later that afternoon we decided to head to the bird sanctuary responsible for breeding these birds to release back into the wild. It's called Macaw Mountain and I'd highly recommend it if you're in Honduras. They are also a sanctuary for injured birds, birds confiscated from animal traffickers or those that have previously been pets but couldn't be cared for adequately. 

Here's a few which were confiscated. Unfortunately some of them can't be released into the wild if they can't fly, but they are given a nice home here. Some aren't even native to Honduras. The scarlet macaws are and the ones that can't be released are used for breeding. And the toucans definitely have to be one of the weirdest looking creatures around. Check out the beaks!

These green parrots are not native but are often sought after for the illegal animal trade. They cut off their long tail feathers which is very sad to see since they are such enormous birds. The sanctuary had quite a large number of these slowly recovering and regrowing their feathers. 

And the coolest part was. We got to hold some! 

This little one was my favourite though. What a cutie.

The guide at the park told us that the Macaws lay three eggs but only hatch two so they collect the third egg and also hatch those. Once they have a group of 30-40 birds (a mix of adults and juveniles) they will release them into another area like a national park. I was really impressed with the whole thing and it's privately run too. What good humans. 

So after a great visit to the bird sanctuary we headed back to the hostel through the very quiet streets of Copan. Even got to see a cute little pony on our way back. 

That night we went to have a few beers and play some pool with some of the local Cowboys. The next morning we all parted ways and I was in for a fairly ordinary start in Guatemala. Stay tuned...

Santa Ana Volcano

I wasn't sure if I'd like El Salvador since the general feeling is that it's 'dangerous' and I knew it was less touristy than most other Central American countries so I hadn't planned how long to stay. Since I was enjoying it so much I decided to head to a town called Santa Ana to climb a volcano. 

In other countries they'd hit you up $30USD to get driven to the volcano, have a guide in English and then return. Well not in El Salvador. The almost 1 hour bus ride cost 90 cents. I paid $2 to enter the park and $1 to the volunteer guide. Two cops also joined us as is customary here and off we went. Bargain volcano. 

Here's a picture of the tougher volcano I chose not to climb. What I've learnt about volcanoes from an experience in Greece is that they're hot, dusty and often smelly. They are far more enjoyable from afar.

When I consulted the Internet on other things to do in Santa Ana it informed me that people visit mainly to appreciate the architecture of the theatre and church. Here's a photo of the theatre for you to marvel at. And well the church was under refurbishment so I didn't even bother to take a photo. Yep, glad I didn't just come for that. 

The weird thing about Santa Ana is that it becomes a ghost town almost as soon as it gets dark. People just do not go out. All the restaurants are closed or empty and it's kinda creepy. I cooked in the hostel but they recommended to everyone to order takeaway food. Very strange place indeed! 

Anyway, I'd already spent my two minutes marvelling at the architecture so I was happy just to hit up the volcano. I got the bus out there in the morning with a group of people from the hostel, all there for the same reason. 

The walk up took maybe two hours and was fairly pleasant and shady most of the way up. The view of the neighbouring volcano was lovely too.

Once at the top the scenery changed a bit. This is what it looked like at the summit. 

And the coolest thing about this volcano was that it had a crater lake at the top. The colour was a crazy radioactive looking blue due to the sulphur content. Pretty cool hey!?

As you do in these parts of the world we bumped into a stray dog on top of the volcano obviously taking himself for a walk. And after enjoying the view and a banana we headed back down for the bus. 

Eating, Reptiles and Eating Reptiles

The food in Salvador was pleasantly surprising too. The national dish without doubt is the pupusa, they are cooking them on the streets and in pupusarias  everywhere! It's made using a corn meal dough and then filled with something. Usually a combination of beans, cheese, pork and possibly a vegetable (less likely obviously). But usually it's quite well blended (including the pork) so it's more like a paste. Anyway this is one plus the usual cabbage salad which I highly approve of.

My next trip was to another small town called Juayúa (why-you-ah) because I heard they held a food festival in the plaza every weekend! Sold. No sooner had I arrived I was consuming this skewer containing several animals. 

After lunch I saw some locals who appeared to be eating ping pong balls. Turns out they were turtle eggs and I was invited to try one. I decided to since it's unlikely I'll ever get a chance again. The guy pulled off a part of the shell, added salt, chilli and lime and then I was instructed to down it like an oyster. Ultimately it had no flavour and was like consuming a raw egg but the texture was definitely thicker. Although I'm sure it has given me magic powers, improved my fertility or cured some kind of ailment in advance. 

When I returned the next day I got the gallina en chicha which is chicken cooked in a sweet alcohol. The bowl on the left contained chicken, sausage and some vegetables cooked in the chicha. The small plate contains the obligatory double carbs plus some avocado. The meat was tasty but the sauce was just super sweet which is not my thing. 

After that I wandered around and saw some weird things. These white things are apparently fruit. The texture was similar to an apple or radish but the flavour was non-existent. Pass. 

I then got a bag of what I thought were dates. I asked the woman at the shop and she said they were seeds from a palm tree (I assumed it was dates since Spanish is just a shit language to describe things) but it turns out I was wrong. They were literally large seeds soaked in salt water so they were dark and swollen up to look like dates. Completely inedible. Will not make that mistake again.

The next day I went to visit some of the nearby towns. I stopped for lunch in Ahuachapán (yep weird names in these parts) and had a rather unremarkable chicken soup at the market, but I did get to experience this cucumber chilli concoction which was super delicious. 

Also I got to consume a fair amount of coconut in my travels and this is how they serve it here. Bagged up and ready to go. They even put the coconut meat in there for you. And yes, drinking from a bag is an art, and no, I have not yet mastered it. 

When in the plaza the first day I had noticed this guy just casually hanging in the plaza with a giant snake. Turns out he was the owner of a local reptile place. 

I decided to visit since it was just a block behind the plaza and cost $1 (they use US dollars here) and I heard you could hold a snake for another dollar so I decided to go all out. 

He also had some cool chameleons. I literally bypassed the cage thinking it was empty but thankfully the guy came and pointed them out to me.

And he also had the creepiest ugly frog I've ever seen (with the exception of the turtle frog - Google it. You'll probably gag though so be warned). This is apparently a pac-man frog. Gross.

But it wasn't all hideous creatures. Luckily for me the hostel I was staying had recently unknowingly adopted this kitten. So I spent several hours a day playing with it or watching the dog try and eat it. Quite amusing. 

So my first town was Ataco where I wondered round a bit and climbed the standard Latin American hill with a cross on it. The weather was lovely and it was a nice little town for wandering. 

Also, as all small towns in Latin America go there was a Jehovah's Witness office just in case Catholicism is no longer working out for you. 

Then in Ahuachapàn I found this amusing sign in the plaza prohibiting 'immoral acts'. 

They also had some rather fancy trees. 

And of course, several churches. But more interestingly I realised that all tourist attractions have a sign with a QR code. Pretty cool. In fact I felt like El Salvador was quite set up for tourism, but sadly lacking the tourists. Visit it people! I'm going to say it was probably my favourite Central American country.

Chicken Buses & Chickens in El Salvador

After León I went to another town in Nicaragua called Matagalpa. It's a mountain town famous for both coffee and cigars but I didn't sample the latter. My next plan was to get to El Salvador since I thought I was going to skip Honduras. There's three options in Central America; expensive comfortable tourist buses that go between capitals, even more expensive shuttles that will take you between tourist towns or the infamous chicken bus. 

I was too far away to return to the capital and too poor to afford the shuttle so it was to be a long day of travelling via chicken bus. My first bus left Matagalpa at 5.15am. I crossed the border between Nicaragua and Honduras after 3 buses at around 11.30am and then waited almost an hour on the other side for a ride to the nearest town. 

After 3 more buses I was at the border of Honduras and El Salvador. It was just after 5pm and getting dark. I crossed into Salvador and a local guy suggested I stay in the church (for free). I said I would feel guilty since I didn't believe in God. He then offered to take me (and my enormous backpack) on his motorbike to the next town. I politely declined and eventually the bus came. I arrived at the terminal at 7pm and grabbed a room at the closest hotel for the night. 

Next morning I grabbed a nicer express bus to the capital San Salvador. The Salvadorians are known for being extremely friendly and I do agree. A kid got on the bus selling bags of white liquid  (drinks come in bags here) and when I asked the guy next to me what it was he promptly bought me one. It was like drinking a rice pudding smoothie. Delicious. 

After several hours we make it to the capital and I spend ages trying to figure out where to get the bus to my next destination of Suchitoto. There's no real system and if you ask people you'll get sent all over the bus station or the town. I had five different people tell me different things. Eventually I had a shop keeper assure me that the bus would pass the road I was on but that was after arguments and discussions between several other neighbouring shop keepers. 

So I wait on the street while I'm lectured by another shop keeper about how I shouldn't travel alone. Next minute a woman and her child walk past with a box full of baby chickens for sale. She tried to sell me some but again I politely declined and just asked to take a photo.

Soon I was on the bus to Suchitoto and I purchased a bag of rambutans for the trip. I asked the girl what they're called in Spanish and she tells me 'lychees'. Haha. 

After an hour and a half I arrive in the cute little colonial town on Suchitoto. Complete with dogs and drunks on the street. 

It was quite hot so later in the afternoon I took a stroll down to the lake and on the way I saw this stencil on almost every house. 

When I got to the lake I realised they had a slight problem with the vegetation. This is where you would take a boat ride from.....if it was possible.

The next day I managed to find a good view of the lake from someone's property. I thought the view was amazing because of the weeds!

One of the main touristy things to do is to visit the nearby waterfall which has unusual rocks. I was told that I could visit with the police which sounded kinda strange and unnecessary but apparently there are occasional muggings and they like to protect their tourists since they don't have many. 

I turned up at the police station at 3pm for the tour with the tourist police (yes that is a thing in this part of the world). They asked me how many people in my group and when I just said me they looked perplexed. I said it's ok I can just go by myself (it's less than 2km from the town) but the main guy at the desk said absolutely not and that I should wait. Five minutes later I had two cops to accompany me and a chauffeur service to the falls in a police car. Here's my new buddies who kindly agreed to pose for a photo.

I mainly went for the novelty of the police escort but it actually turned out to be a pretty cool waterfall. Here's some pics...