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Austin and Turner went to Honduras for 2 weeks to visit their Aunt Dawn and Uncle Jim. And this is how it went!

There are a lot of photos in this blog, so please click on the photos to see the photo albums. The next blog will include videos of Turner and Austin’s Great Adventure!

And now…a bit of what they Experienced, Saw, Did, Learned and Ingested!

EXPERIENCED…

Austin and Turner Experienced…

– Being uncomfortable during travel.
– Traveling in the back of a pickup.
– Riding in a tuk tuk (aka… 3 wheel mototaxi).
– Being stuck in a roadblock during an anti-coup political demonstration.
– Trying to speak and understand Spanish.
– Having huge macaws and parrots all over them.

Bird Peeps of Honduras

– Having monkeys crawl on their shoulders and heads!

Monkeys Mon-Chee Chees!

– A typical Garifuna seaside village.
– A typical indigenous mountain village.

Turner and Austin do life Village Style

– A tropical lightening and thunder rain storm.
– Drinking from a bag.
– A hot water shower from an electric shower head (aka widowmaker) without getting shocked!
– Being hot hot hot!
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SAW…
– The Copan Mayan Ruins.

Turner and Austin Take Copan by Storm!

– Dead animals on the side of the road being eaten by turkey vultures.

From Online Edits

From Online Edits

– An anti-coup political demonstration.
– Sea turtle, eels, conch, queen angel fish, large grouper, anemones, sponges, a lot of other tropical fish, colorful corals, a sunken submarine and so much more under the sea!

Roatan Sealife!

– Large iguanas, crocodiles, bats, and spiders that walk on water!

Turner and Austin meets Honduras’ Wild life!

– Their aunt and uncle negotiating for cheaper prices.
– Street dogs.

Turner’s photos of the Dogs of Honduras

– Campesinos (country-dweller, farm workers, indigenous workers in the country side) going about their daily work.
– Very poor people and how they live.

The People of Honduras – A and T’s Trip

– How young some Honduras (6 years old even) have to work to help out their family, some performing dangerous work.

From 2009_08_18 – Turner

– Fresh pan de coco being made by Garifuna women in an outdoor earth oven.
– Salespeople on the bus selling cold drinks, candied popcorn balls (which they both bought and ate fast), cookies, chicken meals, water in a bag and watches (which Uncle Jim bought).
– Outdoor market places.

Turner and Austin See their first Street Markets.

– Beautiful sunsets.

Honduran Sunsets for Austin and Turner

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DID…
– Zip-lined through and over trees.
– Snorkeled in the Caribbean Sea.
– White water rafted in Class 3 and a bit of Class 4 rapids.
– Kayaked on rivers in mangrove jungles.

Ziplining, Rafting, and kayaking…Honduran Style!

– Volunteered with boys in an orphanage.
– Played soccer with Honduran kids.
– Taught the boys at the orphanage how to walk on a slack line.
– Made friends at the orphanage.

Austin & Turner Volunteering at Casa del Nino

– Played Farkle!
– Jumped off rocks 20-35 feet into a rushing river below.
– Floated down Class 3 rapids without a boat!
– Slept in a hostel.
– Rock climbed and bouldered.

First Timers at Jungle River Lodge

– Bought stuff in the street market.
– Climbed up Mayan temples.
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LEARNED…
– About the Mayan Culture at Copan, including that the captain of the winning team a ceremonial activity (a game) was sacrificed, and that this was an honor!

Mayan Museums & Living Quarters

– The root of the Ceiba tree can grow up to 2 kilometers in its search for water.
– How Archeologists would number blocks of stone to try to figure out how to put them back into their original temple form.
– That ancient Maya were masters of drainage engineering and modern Hondurans still have not figured it out.
– More of the Spanish language, including curse words.
– How to equalize their ears when diving under water.
– That cows in Honduras look different than cows in the States.
– The many uses of a machete.
– That a house can be made of mud and sticks or bamboo and palm fronds.
– How pineapples grow.
– That a Honduran public school day lasts less than 4 hours a many days are missed because the teachers are frequently on strike because their wages are low and they frequently don’t receive their paychecks.
– That there is no shortage of sugar and bread products to satisfy Turner’s need for carbs.
– That their 40-something year old Aunt and Uncle can swim better than them.
– About the Pirate Captain John Coxen (Coxon).
– That their Aunt Dawn reminds them of their mother.
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INGESTED…

Food for Austin and Turner in Honduras!

– New tropical fruit (and how good fresh tropical fruit is compared to some American fruit).
– Licuados!
– Fresh coconut water out of a coconut, and horchata, tamarindo and jamaica juices.
– Baleadas.
– Fried plantains, thick ones, thin ones and super crispy chip-like ones!
– Lots of chicken and rice, or rice and chicken.
– Pastillos.
– Fresca, their new soda of choice.
– Jim’s homemade pineapple upside down cake.
– Fried yucca.
– Fresh right out of the oven pan de coco.
– Super sweet coconut candy
– The Garifuna’s style of a cinnamon bun.
– Coconut M&Ms…yes they exsist!
– And local beer (only Austin though).
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AND NOW A QUICK OVERVIEW OF THEIR VISIT:

Austino and Turnito’s Trip Start to End

DAY 1 – Picked up from airport, drove for 3-4 hours squished in the pseudo back seat of a pick-up truck.

DAY 2 – Went to the Copan Mayan Ruins and Macaw Mountain.

DAY 3 – While Austin was sick and asleep all day, Turner and Uncle Jim went to the Copan Museum, which they both thoroughly enjoyed. Then afterwards they went with Aunt Dawn to another archaeological site where the Mayan nobility of Copan lived.

DAY 4 – Four-wheeled drove to an indigenous mountain village in the back of the pick-up and then drove all the way across the country to La Ceiba.

DAY 5 – Took a boat to the island of Roatan, went to a fundraiser party for the Roatan Marine Park and snorkeled at Black Rock in West Bay.

DAY 6 – Snorkeled a lot in Half Moon Bay and then relaxed. That evening we celebrated Turner’s 16th birthday at an asian food restaurant where they had karaoke. Unfortunately the few people that were there only sang country, Turner’s NOT favorite music! But we hope Aunt Dawn’s surprise song, Happy Birthday (with everyone there helping out) and his second chocolate brownie for the day made up for it!

DAY 7 – Went to Gumbalimba Park for the day, hiked, learned some history of Roatan, saw parrots, monkeys climbed on us, swam in a pool and snorkeled more!

DAY 8 – Took boat back to La Ceiba and volunteered at Casa Del Nino in the afternoon. Austin and Turner introduced the slack line to the boys. The boys loved it and tried to do it over and over again and wanted Austin and Turner to show them how to do it again and again.

DAY 9 – Relaxed in the morning and volunteered in the afternoon. Soccer was played and Turner said they kicked his butt. The younger boys enjoyed having big guys to climb all over and the teens enjoyed having American peers to hang out with, and even though there was a language barrier…they seemed to communicate just fine! After volunteering we went up the mountain and stayed at the very rustic Jungle River Lodge on the very beautiful Cangrejal River.

DAY 10 – White water rafted on class 3 and a bit of class 4 rapids, bouldered all over huge rocks, jumped off cliffs and rocks from 20-35 feet up into the rushing river, and the boys even tried some rock climbing. Then drove back to La Ceiba for more volunteering in the afternoon. We were very impressed how well Austin and Turner jumped in with volunteering with the boys. We have seen so many college kids come volunteer this past summer that didn’t have nearly as much confidence and the now how to even play with kids! I hope Austin and Turner keep on volunteering and maybe come back with us to visit the boys again!

DAY 11 – Went souvenir shopping in the morning and then the last day of volunteer work for Austin and Turner. Some of the older boys even hugged Austin and Turner good-bye!

DAY 12 – Slept in and relaxed during the morning and then took a bus (not the old American school local “Chicken bus” as planned, but rather a “directo” more comfortable bus with no AC and plenty of locals cramming on) to the beach town of Tela.

DAY 13 – Got up early for kayaking through the mangrove jungles
at Punta Izopo, visited two Garifuna beach villages, swam in the Caribbean sea and had lunch. Got to see coconut bread being made in a Garifuna village and ate some fresh out of the oven.

DAY 14 – Got up and took a taxi to the airport and hung out for
a while saying good-bye to Aunt Dawn and Uncle Jim.
(Aunt Dawn did not cry until they were out of sight).

Turner’s Art & Life Shots – Honduras 2009

Aunt Dawn and Uncle Jim really enjoyed seeing their nephews and sharing with them so many new experiences! I hope Austin and Turner enjoyed their visit just as much!

And now 40-something Aunt Dawn and Uncle Jim will rest up after trying to act really young to impress their 16 and 17 year old nephews!
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Posted in July - Sept 2009, Year Away in Central America: Oct. 7, 2008 - Mid December, 2009
Tags: bus rides, Buses, Caribbean Sea, Central America, Honduras, Islands, Jungle River Lodge, La Ceiba, Mayan Ruins, Orphanages, Roatan, snorkeling, Travel, Volunteer Work. La Ceiba, Volunteering