Marcala Visit

So we made it out to Marcala (a small town a stone's throw from the El Salvador border) to celebrate Javi's 29th in style. Marcala was beautiful but didn't have much in the way of "entertainment." But of course, that is Honduran style, especially small town Honduran style, so we were prepared for that and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Saturday we went for a 5 hour hike in some mountains overlooking Marcala. The goal of the hike was to make it to a waterfall (which we never found) but the stroll through green hills, coffee fields, banana farms and pine trees made it all worth it. The photo below is Javi overlooking a coffee farm. Supposedly some of the best coffee in Honduras comes from this area, and when the temperature drops in the evening and the clouds roll in to hang over the forest, you can believe it.

This interesting character was another highlight of the hike. We first saw him as we were climbing the dirt road on the way to the elusive waterfall. He was sitting on a log in front of his farm, banana trees swaying in the wind behind him. He was like something out of a lonely planet book and I was overcome by the urge to take his photo. I'm glad we waited however because Javi snapped this one off after he offered us some of his home grown bananas. He told us he was 87 years old and when Javi said he just turned 29, he said he was just starting out in life. Looking inside his house was like stepping back in time 100 years - there was no electricity or running water.

Before we left town, some new friends of ours (an American couple living in Comayagua) made Javi a birthday dinner and baked him a cake. We were extremely grateful, especially for the cake since we still have no way to bake. They were also able to track down some Dr. Pepper and 2% milk (not 98% as you find a lot of out here). It was delicious!!!