The
vestiges of a Mayan settlement, towns reminiscent of the Spanish Colony,
beaches with fine white sand and swaying palm trees, a diver’s paradise amidst
the second largest coral reef in the world. You can find all that in the little
five-star country where I live. Let me give you a short guided tour of Honduras, Central America.
Let’s take
care of the basics first: Christopher Columbus discovered Honduras on his fourth trip America in
1502. The name Honduras
means an old Spanish form of saying “deep” or “The deeps.” It comes from an
expression of the great explorer himself. The ship sailed out of troubled
waters near our coast and he mused: “Thank God for freeing us of these deep
waters.” Or in proper Spanish: “Gracias a Dios que hemos salido de estas honduras.”
The country
is by tradition an agricultural heaven that exports coffee, bananas, tobacco,
and more recently watermelons and other non-traditional products such as fish,
shrimp. In recent years we’ve become a major player in the textile industry
that blossomed during the mid 90’s. Why do I bring up the textile? I owe the
plug. It is my day job after all.
For the
official, government-sanctioned (read boring, official) details, you can
follow this link.
For the
real deal, stick with me. : - )
San Pedro Sula is the Honduran version of New
York City. It is not without reason that that the city
is dubbed: “The Honduran Industrial Capital.” Yep, all major businesses,
factories, commerce are gathered in the edge of the Sula Valley.
By the way,
the whole country is one big mountain range, so don’t expect to see anything
flat here.
For night
life, we have plenty of bars, discos. Heck, there is even a drive through can
where you can get your beer. Sports are big here, too. There are two
official-size soccer stadiums with games almost every week. By the way, when a
Honduran says “sport”, he 99% of the time we mean “soccer.” There are other
sports, we know, but they don’t take a large piece of our heart as football
does.
Now, when
we talk beach, we have some paradise landscapes that could redefine the
postcard business. Really, I mean it.
Take the
city of Tela, for instance, just an hour by land
from San Pedro Sula.
There is a hotel complex with houses dating from the banana plantation right by
the beach. It’s the perfect place for a weekend getaway. On your way from your
cabaña, you can pay a Garifuna to braid your hair in the Bo Derek-famous style.
Just don’t become a cliché by running down the beach when they’re done.
Speaking of Garifunas, they make the best coconut based bread in the world (or
maybe it’s the only, not sure.).
A few years
ago, I took my Korean boss on a day trip to Copan Ruins. We walked about the
archaeological park, looked at the stelaes, you know, we completed the tour.
Afterwards I asked him what he thought, he said the place was nice but he could
not see pass the polished rocks. I guess he didn’t grasp the historical
significance of it. Anyway, Mayans and their calendar are popular due to the
over-exposed 2012 calendar. Last year I had the opportunity to consult with a
real Mayan expert named Ricardo Agurcia. He told me the “end of the world”
stuff was nonsense. Basically, and I’m paraphrasing here, is the end of a cycle.
Pretty similar to what happens on the day after December 31st, you
throw away the last year calendar a hang a new one on its place. Tip of advice: when you get to Copan, get a tour guide
to tell you what the rocks actually mean.
Well,
regardless of the part of the country that you decide to visit, you will always
find a couple of things to be truth: kind and gentle people willing to bend
over backwards to please the visitor. The other thing is that even though we
have a currency named after a national hero “Lempira,” most places will be glad
to take your dollars
Oh, before
I forget, there’s something interesting about Lempira. He was a native rebel
leader opposing the Spanish invasion. He gained such popularity that the
Spanish ordered him eliminated. Two guards waving a white flag enticed Lempira
out while a sniper hid behind a horse. The sniper promptly took the native out.
**Honduras celebrates it independence from Spain on September 15. This is my small contribution to show country's pride.
Deeds of a Master Archer first promo weekend
