I got to watch the sun rise over a winding mountain road on my way to the ferry at 5am. I suppose that’s the upside to being up before the sun. We were finally headed towards the mainland. The ferry was generally uneventful. Like any form of public transit on this planet there was the one obnoxious moron who thought that it was so important to listen to his music at 5:30 in the morning that he put it on a small, but very loud, speaker he wore on his shoulder like a handbag. Thankfully he didn’t splurge for a first class ticket like we did.
The ferry was our first taste of truly Honduran life. No one spoke English and they didn’t accept American currency. Roatan is an anomaly in that the entire island does both of those things. It also makes things look deceptively affordable until you get back to one of the cities and realize that you’d been paying 10x as much for the same thing. The family was concerned about the ferry in general because of all the stories about people getting seasick. One even claimed that they were given medicine upon boarding which was definitely not the case. The ride from Roatan to La Cieba wasn’t super smooth but it wasn’t vomit enticing either. Maybe people on TripAdvisor just have weak constitutions.
At the other end of the ride was my uncle Toñio waiting for us. It was so good to see him again! He drove from San Pedro Sula to come get us and bring us back. We piled into the van we rented and started the long journey back to the city. Our first stop was for breakfast at a roadside cafe. EJ and I had a beef empanada on the boat but that only did so much. Tonio helped us order and we all got eggs and then a couple of chorizo to share. I also had my first real tamarind juice which was amazing. The breakfast came with sour cream, tortilla, scrambled eggs, half an avocado, and refried beans. EJ got a pork chop with his instead of the avocado and said it was the best thing he had ever eaten then proceeded to declare the rest of this trip the trip of the chuleta.
Well fed we piled back into the van and continued our journey through the Honduran country side. For me that consisted of looking at the plantations and mountains in between small naps. Eventually we made it to the halfway point - Tela, the site of our first and hopefully last encounter with sun poisoning. The beach area was totally different. There was now a huge resort and welcome center and we had to check-in before going to the beach. They even built a pool and hotel in the previous parking lot! The beach itself and the restaurant on the beach were identical and as the cold wind blew on us I realized how easy it was here to succumb to the power of the sun without even realizing it as opposed to Roatan where the heat of the sun and still wind became oppressive after only a moment outside. We sat in the restaurant and enjoyed the scenery while sipping on our drinks.
We left soon after enjoying our refreshments but stopped again on the side of the road to buy some Honduran lychee. They looked so different on the outside but the fruit inside was identical to the Asian variety I used to buy all the time in flushing back home. The fruit was delicious and soon enough I was back to sleep. I awoke again as we were entering the city and soon enough pulling up to the hotel.
When we were deciding where to stay in San Pedro Sula the choices were overwhelming. There are so many major chains here now that it’s hard to choose. Until you look at the price tag. I’m not sure why but San Pedro Sula hotels are sporting prices that rival hotels in manhattan. The only affordable one was the hotel that we’ve stayed in for every trip I’ve ever had to Honduras, which is pretty much my entire life. It’s old but affordable. Walking in brought back a rush of memories. I can still remember being six and swimming in the pool and being 21 sitting in the restaurant for breakfast. The rooms have barely changed either - for better or worse. We dropped off our things and changed quickly then headed to Tonio’s house for dinner.
Eating at my uncles house is pretty much the same as eating with any of my other relatives. There’s way more food then you could ever finish and you eat yourself half sick because it’s so good and there’s so much of it. Everyone sits around talking a lot and using their hands to talk. Eventually you head home only because sleep is about to take over. The only difference with being at Tonio’s house is that half the conversation is in Spanish and the other half is in English. My cousin Nestor had a heck of a time switching back and forth between the two so rapidly. It was such a wonderful evening and absolutely made this trip worth it.
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