John
and I made our annual trip to check on our property outside of Trujillo,
Honduras, at the eastern end of the north shore highway. Beyond is the
Moskitia jungle. While John labored in the tropical sun doing his part to
reforest the tropics by overseeing the planting of mahogany and Honduran
cedar trees, I lounged in the shady end of the pool reading a book set in
Trujillo, O. Henry's "Cabbages and Kings." Incredibly, the personalities and
politics have changed little in the one hundred years since O. Henry tried
to evade an embezzlement charge in the US by hiding out in Trujillo, which
is still "…set like a little pearl on an emerald band." We were the only
guests at Casa Cristina ($300 a week,
cristina@hondutel.hn ) where we had an efficiency apartment that clings
to the hillside with a paradisiacal view of the mountains and the Caribbean
so vast it seemed I could see the curvature of the earth.
Buccaneers and Brigands
Trujillo has had its "moments
in the sun." On August 14, 1402, during his fourth voyage, Columbus landed
for the first time on the American mainland near Trujillo. It is also where
the first Catholic mass was said on the mainland. A fort built in the 1500s,
and currently being restored, did not prevent the town from being sacked by
Dutch, French, and English pirates on several occasions. And, a fascinating
piece of history, familiar to all Central Americans occurred there in the
mid-1800s. William Walker, an American filibuster who tried to seize parts
of Mexico and Central America, and even for a short time headed the
government of Nicaragua, was captured in Trujillo where the sites of his
execution and burial are commemorated.
The Floating City
Trujillo is so far east,
recovery from the double whammy of Hurricane
"Mitch" and 9-11 is progressing slower than in other parts of Honduras. But,
hope springs eternal in the land O. Henry dubbed Anchuria, "the land where
anything goes." Worthy of a chapter in his novel, "a scheme has showed
itself" and has local romantics waiting for a new renaissance with the
proposed building of the "The Floating City,"
www.freedomship.com , in Trujillo
Bay which promoters say will be a city of 20,000 that will continuously
circle the world. Accommodations in this "city," four times the size of an
aircraft carrier, will average one million dollars.
Denouement
In
keeping with an O. Henry story our trip ended with a wonderful surprise. The
Barcelo hotel chain has "awakened the beautiful tropics from their
centuries' sleep" with the opening of Palma Real, on a 1200-foot long beach
east of La Ceiba. The world-class all-inclusive resort is the very first on
the Honduran mainland. Palma Real ($68 pp all inclusive,
www.barcelo.com ), while still
expanding, has several pools, restaurants, daytime activities, a casino, and
Vegas-style shows in the evening including a folkloric show celebrating the
dances of the different cultures of Honduras. The disco is the place to
learn the "hot" new dances, Mayonesa and Astieje, that have replaced the
Macarena.
Hog Wild
At Palma Real we took
advantage of one of their day tours ($55 pp) to visit a place I had long
wanted to see - Cayos Cochinos (Hog Islands) Biological Reserve. We bounded
over the Spanish Main, stopped at a fisherman's cay ringed by blue-green
waters where the morning catch was being cleaned on the beach and pelicans
waited for their share of leftovers. A ten-minute walk took us around the
entire cay. Then it was off to snorkel in the calm waters between the two
large islands. Snorkeling gives me a feeling of omnipotence as I look down
on the world of the iridescence parrotfish, blueheads, butterfly fish and
velvety blue tangs.
An irritating dream
O. Henry was right when he
wrote Honduras is a land "Where time is redundant." The redundancy of
swimming, walking the beach, and hanging out in the hammock was idyllic.
After only a few days in Honduras, "Those old days of life in the States
seemed like an irritating dream." Three weeks passed all too quickly and it
was time to go home to prepare for our next adventure. But, before leaving
Honduras we made our annual stop at Imapro in El Progresso just a half an
hour east of the airport. Each time we just plan to look at the great hand
carved articles, but we always end up buying something… usually one of the
carved wooden boxes.
TM
John
and I made our annual trip to check on our property outside of Trujillo,
Honduras, at the eastern end of the north shore highway. Beyond is the
Moskitia jungle. While John labored in the tropical sun doing his part to
reforest the tropics by overseeing the planting of mahogany and Honduran
cedar trees, I lounged in the shady end of the pool reading a book set in
Trujillo, O. Henry's "Cabbages and Kings." Incredibly, the personalities and
politics have changed little in the one hundred years since O. Henry tried
to evade an embezzlement charge in the US by hiding out in Trujillo, which
is still "…set like a little pearl on an emerald band." We were the only
guests at Casa Cristina ($300 a week, 
Trujillo has had its "moments
in the sun." On August 14, 1402, during his fourth voyage, Columbus landed
for the first time on the American mainland near Trujillo. It is also where
the first Catholic mass was said on the mainland. A fort built in the 1500s,
and currently being restored, did not prevent the town from being sacked by
Dutch, French, and English pirates on several occasions. And, a fascinating
piece of history, familiar to all Central Americans occurred there in the
mid-1800s. William Walker, an American filibuster who tried to seize parts
of Mexico and Central America, and even for a short time headed the
government of Nicaragua, was captured in Trujillo where the sites of his
execution and burial are commemorated.
Trujillo is so far east,
recovery from the double whammy of Hurricane
In
keeping with an O. Henry story our trip ended with a wonderful surprise. The
Barcelo hotel chain has "awakened the beautiful tropics from their
centuries' sleep" with the opening of Palma Real, on a 1200-foot long beach
east of La Ceiba. The world-class all-inclusive resort is the very first on
the Honduran mainland. Palma Real ($68 pp all inclusive,
At Palma Real we took
advantage of one of their day tours ($55 pp) to visit a place I had long
wanted to see - Cayos Cochinos (Hog Islands) Biological Reserve. We bounded
over the Spanish Main, stopped at a fisherman's cay ringed by blue-green
waters where the morning catch was being cleaned on the beach and pelicans
waited for their share of leftovers. A ten-minute walk took us around the
entire cay. Then it was off to snorkel in the calm waters between the two
large islands. Snorkeling gives me a feeling of omnipotence as I look down
on the world of the iridescence parrotfish, blueheads, butterfly fish and
velvety blue tangs.
O. Henry was right when he
wrote Honduras is a land "Where time is redundant." The redundancy of
swimming, walking the beach, and hanging out in the hammock was idyllic.
After only a few days in Honduras, "Those old days of life in the States
seemed like an irritating dream." Three weeks passed all too quickly and it
was time to go home to prepare for our next adventure. But, before leaving
Honduras we made our annual stop at Imapro in El Progresso just a half an
hour east of the airport. Each time we just plan to look at the great hand
carved articles, but we always end up buying something… usually one of the
carved wooden boxes.