Guest blog travelogue by Ann from Texas

What an exciting day! My first guest blogger! Ann from Texas (I should say Houston Ann, since we also have an Austin Ann) sent me this wonderful travelogue complete with pictures of her recent trip to Honduras.

After I begged sweetly, Ann gave me permission to post her travelogue on my blog. Thanks, Ann. I'm sure everyone will enjoy your experience.


La Gringa,
Hi! I first saw your web page a few weeks ago and fell in love! I had heard so many different stories about Honduras that left me wondering what the country was really like. You probably heard some of the same things such as: Honduras is a big jungle, completely uncivilized with monkeys swinging from the trees. I was so happy to finally find a web page that shows the “reality” of typical life and issues in Honduras.

My son Nicholas and I arrived in San Pedro Sula, Honduras on December 19th. My first big adventure was actually going through the glass salida (exit) door of the airport. It was a little confusing to me at first. I saw a sea of faces right outside the door. I wasn’t sure if that was really the exit, or if it was people waiting to board a flight. My son and I were the first ones to walk through the door. I felt like I LOOKED like a foreigner. (My hair is blonde and my baby (seven months old) is half Hondureño with very light skin.

I felt a little shy walking through the exit with so many eyes staring at us! We eventually found our relatives and the adventure continued. I saw so many familiar sites such as Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Payless Shoe Store and many other “American” stores. I also saw many “unfamiliar” sites too!

I was impressed with the size of this locust, but was informed that they can grow to be much larger.

Yes, those are boulders in the road!











What a pretty view.













Our first big trip was to the Copan Ruins. I found out that non-citizens must pay a significantly higher priced entrance fee into the Ruins than citizens. The experience was worth it. I was able to take so many great pictures. These are just a few:


The entrance of the Ruins has several wild parrots that hang out around the entrance gate.

There are so many beautiful tropical plants and trees everywhere. There are also several wild rat/rabbit looking animals around the entrance of the Ruins. Sorry, I can’t remember the Spanish word for those animals. I don’t know the English word for them either!!!

The Copan Ruins were so beautiful for me to see. I was impressed with how well preserved the structures and the tunnel carvings are.









Bat carving in Copan Ruins    Copan head carving

Copan temple entrance carving

After we toured the Ruins and the museum, we went to the heart of the city of Copan. Although the city was a very short distance from the Ruins, we couldn’t resist taking a “taxi’ to the city. The taxi looked like a moped with a camper built on!

Inside the city we stopped and ate carnitas (small pieces of meat) grilled right before our eyes. The basket of food included beans, a salad, and mini tortillas. The cost: LESS THAN A BUCK!

Ann cooking carnitas in the streets of Copan. Ha ha









The beautiful young lady that did the real cooking.










These pictures are from the streets in Copan.











The streets are cobblestone.











Copan is a very old Honduran town. It felt like I stepped back in time.















Little boy playing with a cardboard box.











Poor little skinny dog. Don’t ask me why I took this picture!!

Un Viejo (An old man)

We also traveled to La Ceiba, Progresso, Tela, and Tocoa. The weather during our trip to Tocoa was nice. But it rained very heavy during our trip back from Tocoa. We actually had to pull over because the road became flooded very quickly. We waited a few hours to let the water go down.

The flooding left the roads littered with so much heavy debris. I was really impressed with how the citizens pulled together to clear the roads of debris and helped each other cross the flooded area safely.

My flight was scheduled to leave the next morning from San Pedro Sula. I wasn’t sure if I was going to miss my flight. And of course I was supposed to be back at work in Houston the next morning! Fortunately we left early the next morning and arrived at the airport in San Pedro Sula, safely.

My vacation to Honduras was definitely the BEST adventure of my life. I want to go back again very soon!

Take care,
Ann from Texas


Thanks again, Ann, and if anyone else has a trip to Honduras and no blog on which to write about it, I would be more than happy to post it here!