Barbados Day 3

Day 3

SS Stavronikita 

Today is my last day in Barbados.  I decided to go scuba diving for the day.  Scuba diving is phenomenal in Barbados.  One of the most famous diving sites is where the SS Stavronikita sank.  I decided to dive here.  My dive

Fish I saw while scuba diving

instructor was named Pablito.  Pablito was extremely nice and gave me the safety course before we went scuba diving.  Then after the course, we went diving.  It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen down there.  There was a multitude of different types of fish I have never seen before.  Also, we got to explore inside a sunken ship.  Fish were swimming in and around the ship, which was really fascinating.  The water was a bit murky near the ship because of the piled up algae and rust on the railings and top deck of the ship.  There were also turtles.  I got to touch one.  The coral was vibrant green, red, and orange.  The fish were different shades of blue, yellow, and black.  I also ended up seeing a manta ray.  The ride back to shore was very saddening.  I was extremely distraught that I had to leave and my adventures to Venezuela, Honduras, and Barbados were all over.  This trip was so much fun and some parts were life-changing.  If you ever have a chance to go to one of these countries, you should because they have so much culture, diversity, and exotic things to reveal.  

Barbados Day 2

Day 2

Cou Cou and Flying Fish

Cricket in my neighborhood

Conkies

Today I woke up to the sound of people laughing and yelling.  When I ended up looking out my window, I saw they were playing cricket.  Cricket is a national pastime.  My house is in a Bajan village, so I assumed it was the people that lived in the village that were playing.  After I got dressed, I went outside and asked if I could play.  They were not super eager to have to explain how to play cricket, but they were nice and let me play.  Cricket is similar to baseball in the way that you hit a ball with a bat.  But in cricket after you hit the ball, you run in between the two home bases instead of running to 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and home base in baseball.  Also, you can hit the ball wherever you want, including backwards.  So when it was my turn to play, I ended up being horrible and only got one point for my team.  I am bad at baseball, so this makes sense.  At about halfway through the game, one of the Bajans invited us over for lunch.  It was a delicious meal.  There was mauby to drink.  Mauby is local tree bark that is boiled, then sweetened, and lastly strained.  To eat, there was conkies, cou cou and flying fish, and Bajan candied sweet potatoes.  Conkies are stuffed banana leaves.  The stuffing includes coconut, corn flour, and pumpkin.  Cou Cou and Flying Fish is Barbados’s national dish.  It is steamed or fried flying fish with okra and corn meal seasoned with salt and pepper and a special Bajan spicy sauce.  Lastly, the Bajan candied sweet potatoes are mashed sweet potatoes covered with pineapple and a dusting of brown sugar.  This was a most delicious feast and I would certainly love to eat it again.  

Barbados Day 1

Chalky Mountain Pottery

Day 1

Jug I bought

Finally, as I walked out the airport I hear English, my native language.  Don’t get me wrong, Spanish is a great language and all, but it felt good knowing that the person you are talking to understands you 100% and can speak fluently back.  I got into a taxi and the driver took me to the Bajan building I rented on the beach.  It is neon green, and vibrant pink and red.  I decided to start the day off easy, so I went to see the Chalky Mountain Potters.  The Chalky Mountain Potters are a group of indigenous Bajans.  They hand make pottery in varying designs and extraordinary detail.  They also sell their work for cheap.  I met a man named John.  He explained the process of how they make the pottery to me.  First he mixes native Bajan clay with water and lets it sit in the sun for five days.  Next, he kneads the clay to get the air out.  After this, he puts the clay on his potter’s wheel and molds the clay into whatever shape he likes.  Then, the clay is fired and glazed.  Lastly, it is painted and fired again.  I end up finding a cool monkey jug that I like and buying it.  Today was a very cool experience.  

Barbados Intr

Old Sugar Plantation

Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island located in the Caribbean, known for its sugar.  Barbados was created 70 million years ago.  It was colonized by Britain, resulting in the majority of the population being Anglican.  Also, unlike the other countries I have visited, Barbados’s national language is English, also from being colonized by Britain.  The name barbados means bearded fig trees, which used to be plentiful on the island.  The average temperature is 75-90 degrees fahrenheit.  Barbados has a free educational system and has a 97% literacy rate, which is incredible.  One cool fact about Barbados is that they do not have daylight savings time.  

Honduras Day 3

White Water Rafting down Rio Cangrejal

Mayan Ruins

Day 3

My final day in Honduras.  My flight leaves late at night so I still had time to do some more incredible things.  Before I came, I heard that the forests in Honduras are a must-see.  I headed off to Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve.  I picked a tour where I hiked through the forests and I got to see Mayan ruins that Christopher Columbus had stumbled upon.   The tour started off by hiking through the forested hills.  It is one of the best preserved ecosystems in the world.  There was a huge variety of sounds ranging from birds chirping to frogs and crickets croaking.  We got to look down from the top of a hill and it was a spectacular sight.  We walked a little bit longer and then we came up on the Mayan ruins.  They resembled pyramids, except they were not smooth and had stairs running up the sides.  There were also statues of mayan gods.  On the sides of tables, there were intricate designs of people talking to one another.  There were moss and lichen stuck to the ruins and was lined all the way to the top.  After this tour I did another one called Rio Cangrejal.  It was a river that you go white water rafting down.  It was extremely fun.  There were rocks diffused throughout the river causing fear of being hit.  Also there were unexpected drops and high-speed turns.  After the fun ride, I packed my stuff and went to the airport.  Honduras was fascinating with their sights and culture.  

Honduras Day 2

Our Doll Exploding

Año Viejo Doll

Day 2

 
New Year’s Eve.  Año Viejo.  I got up and walked down to the market area and I noticed everyone was in a rush.  I asked one of the stall managers and he told me that everyone was having a huge celebration tonight for New Year’s.  He was extremely nice and he introduced me to his friend Juan, and he took me down to his community.  He let me help with preparing the meal consisting of mainly tamales, fried bananas, beans, and rice.  He said he has a surprise for me so I followed him.  I noticed everyone had fireworks so I assumed they were doing fireworks for New Years and I was partially correct.  Hondurans put a slight spin on it and stuff all their fireworks in a lifesize doll.  It looked like an old man and Juan explained that the teens who created him made him an old man because it represented the year about to end.  It also represents all the bad memories of the year and they were going to blow them up.  Around 10 PM, we began to eat.  One of the Hondurans said a prayer in Spanish before we ate, then we began.  The food was extremely tasty.  The food smelled of allspice and chili powder.  It had a wonderful aroma.  After eating for about an hour, we began to gather everyone outside.  Finally it was 11:58.  The community surprised me and gave me the honor of lighting the doll on fire.  I was so thankful for the honor and was shocked they would give such a high honor to someone they just met.  When 12 struck, I lit it and sprinted back to the crowd because there were probably as many fireworks in that doll as there is in a whole fireworks stand.  The sounds and lights were amazing.  Ours went for about two minutes of constant light and sounds.  We also heard other communities’ doll being blown up.  After ours was done, I went back to my hotel and went to sleep.  

Honduras Day 1

Honduras Airport Landing

Day 1

Once again, as I walked out the airport in Tegucigalpa, I hear Spanish.  But to backtrack for a second, the landing in Tegucigalpa gave me a bit of shock.  As we neared the airport we had to weave in and out of the mountains and had to make a huge last-second turn right before landing.  But to get back on track, first, I converted some US dollars into Honduran Lempiras.  Today is December 30.  I stayed at La Delphina Bed and Breakfast.  The drive from the airport was lined with bright green trees.  Also, while I was in the taxi, I saw a group of kids playing soccer in the streets.  Soccer is the national sport of Honduras, as it is with many Spanish speaking countries.  On the way to my hotel, the taxi driver mentioned to me a life-changing attraction where you can swim with whale sharks.  I kept this in mind for later.  My hotel is right on the beach.  Once I got to my room, I have a beautiful view of the ocean from my balcony.  As I mentioned earlier, my taxi driver mentioned that I could swim with whale sharks.  So, I became extremely excited and got another taxi to drive me over.  The place is actually a resort built on the beach.  So I strolled

Swimming with Whale Sharks

into the front door and ask the concierge about it.  She lead me to the worker that does the tours.  He introduces himself as Hernando.  On the boat ride out, Hernando explained to me about how whale sharks are actually friendly and they are stereotyped as mean because of their size.  When we got to the spot, we both dove in and he lead me underwater.  I followed him and I saw the most phenomenal thing ever.  I saw a shark the size of a whale, hence the name, whale shark.  I swam beside it and observed it eat and it was truly amazing.  After a little bit, Hernando told me that my time was up and we needed to go back, so reluctantly I swam back up to the boat.  When we got back to the resort, I thanked Hernando for all he taught me and for taking me, and I go back to my hotel.  I was so exhausted from swimming that as soon as I got into bed I was fast asleep.