A hike in the rain

 It rained quite hard early this morning but, by 9 am the sky was clearing and the forecast promised to be sunny with 0% chance of precipitation for the rest of the day.  Armed with that info, we washed sheets and towels and hung them on the line.  Over a banana-peach-blueberry protein smoothy we discussed today's agenda.  In desperate need of an activity (I can only take one day of sitting around before I'm ready to cut myself or others) Andrew suggested that we wander up the road to Carambola Gardens. 

The Gardens are just a little better than 2 km up the main road.  Not far and very easy to find, but the journey was a bit treacherous based on a three factors:  

1.  It is the main road, which means traffic is fairly heavy. 

2.  There are no shoulders or sidewalks along said road, so you have to walk either on the very edge of the road itself, or on the slanted edge of the trash & (I'm certain) snake-infested ditch.  Knowing that, you may imagine me firmly on the edge of the road.  

3.  Drivers in Honduras are not known for their safety records.  They are also not known to move closer to the center of the road to accommodate pedestrians.  You walk at your own risk and keep your arms close to your sides! 

Despite grim odds, we arrived safely in at the Gardens within about 30 minutes.  We were greeted by Bill, who took our $20 entrance fee (for 2), and led us to the garden with a map.  He spent more time explaining the very simple map than I would have thought necessary, but I confess I am not inclined to directions as a general rule.  His parting words to us were, "I compel you to breathe deeply as you walk.  The air here is very rich in oxygen, thanks to our wonderful plants."  His attention the map made more sense to me after that.  

The gardens are truly beautiful, with all kinds of plants that are harvested by the volunteers - cinnamon, ginger, coffee, chocolate, and fruit.  For an extra $7 each, you can have a guide explain the medicinal uses of some of the plants.  That initially sounded interesting, but Andrew quickly reminded me that I could barely stand still while Bill reviewed the map.  We politely declined and forged ahead, sans guide.  

Cocoa pods growing on a chocolate tree. 

Termite house

Big, pretty flower

Coffee beans

The trail around the garden areas.  All built by volunteers.

Ants!  About a million of them.  

On Bill's advice, we decided to move out of the garden area and follow the Jungle Trail.  From there, we had been told we would encounter the Mountain Trail that would take us to a look-out point.  Onward & upward!  

The trail meandered in a lovely way through the dense foliage.  There were little bridges over streams.  It was really beautiful.  I kept a close eye out for snakes.

Soon enough we moved on to the Mountain Trail, and things got a little more challenging.  The trail was quite steep and, due to the heavy rain, was soggy in places.  The sog combined with the heavy moss growing in all that shade made for slick spots.  We knew that might be more of a problem on the way back!  While you are imagining this, please don't forget that it is about 85F/29F and close to 100% humidity, and we are hiking up a 40 degree incline.  Yes, we were very, very sweaty within a few minutes.  Oh well, we needed some exercise and being wet was about to become the theme for today.

Up...

...up, up.

After about 30 minutes of fairly steep climbing, we emerged to this:  

Ahhh!

 We plunked down on the handily-provided benches to enjoy the breeze and the sights (and to catch our breath).  

We could see Anthony's Key Resort - one of the larger dive resorts on the island.  They have their own dolphins inside this corral!

Within a few minutes of arriving at the top it began to rain.  Hard.  As in, jungle rain.  You'll be happy to know that we managed to gracefully slide our way back down the trail without too much injury. 

By the time we had successfully descended, it had stopped raining so we opted to trod another kilometer up "the road" to Blue Bahia Grill for lunch. 

Best table in the house!

My lunch - baleadas (eggs, beans, cheese in a tortilla)

Andrew's lunch - the mother of all cheeseburgers topped with shrimp.  Needless to say, he was very, very happy.

By the time we finished eating, it was pouring again.  We set off along the beach in the direction of home.  Within a minute we were positively dripping wet.  The kind of wet where you have to use your hands to wipe the water away from your eyes every few seconds so you can see.  And that is how we trudged the whole 3 kilometers back to the house.  As luck would have it, the rain stopped about 20 seconds before we hit our section of the beach.  Continuing on in that vein, Al & Sandra had saved our sheets from our clothes line, and moved them to the sheltered line under their deck.  Hooray!

We wrung out our clothes and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening reading on the screened porch.  We made dinner at home - fish tacos and coconut rice.  We played with the dogs.  After dark, we watched the big bats fly around outside in search of the hummingbird feeder we had already brought inside.  I was grateful for the screen.