Cangrejal river rafting accident

Cangrejal river rafting
Photo and complete article: La Prensa, Honduras

In a tragic accident on Sunday afternoon, a 52-year-old North American tourist drowned while river rafting on the Rio Cangrejal with a tour company. The man's name was Eric Simons and the newspaper reported that he was from Colorado, Illinois, but that has since been corrected by reader to be Boulder, Colorado.

I imagine that the river is high and rough since we have had a lot of rain lately. I've read that the rapids range from level I to level IV, depending upon the location in the river and the time of year. Also, from reading lots of travelogues, I know that rough and wild is exactly the type of river rafting trip that many people are looking for.

Yesterday's noon news reported that he fell out of the raft and that the guide tried to rescue him but the man panicked and almost drowned the guide as well. His body was recovered some two kilometers down the river.

There are two reasons that I bring up this accident:

News of any tourists accidents is always bad news for tourism. People will remember this one man who drowned long after they have forgotten the tens (or hundreds?) of thousands of people who had a wonderful experience on the Rio Cangrejal. Police authorities "launched a call to tour operators to avoid more human loss in the rainy season," whatever that means.

Based on the names reported, I believe that this was the very same guide that I used in my long ago river rafting trip and the owner of the tour company, who also joined our rafting group, was on the trip as well. They have been operating for many years in La Ceiba.

If you have been reading this blogicito for very long, then you know that if I thought (in my not so humble opinion) that the guides took unreasonable risks or that if the equipment was substandard or that proper precautions were not taken, I would tell you.

My opinion is actually quite the opposite. Although I'm a good swimmer, not being a particularly brave or adventuresome person (except with words), I didn't even plan to go down the river. I paid my fee for the trip but I was going to follow along with the driver and take photos, which I was perfectly happy and content to do. The guides begged and encouraged me to take the raft instead because they wanted me to have fun. I finally relented.

I don't remember all the details, but we were required to wear a helmet and life vest, and we spent the first 15-30 minutes learning safety measures, including what to do if we fell out of the raft or if it overturned. It wasn't just talking; we had to practice floating feet first down the river. The guides spoke excellent English and there were no communication problems.

During one part of the trip, we stopped and climbed up a mountain through the jungle to swim in a secluded pool formed from the rocks. It wasn't easy climbing (for me) and at one point, I slipped and scraped my leg. It was no big deal − more injury to my pride than anything − but the guides insisted upon stopping, pulling out their first aid kit and doctoring up my shin. After that, one of the guides stayed close, grabbing my arm whenever my feet slipped on the muddy earth.

I felt perfectly secure with the guides. I never doubted my safety with them. I thought they were extremely well trained and knowledgeable. I believe that they gear their trips based on the experience and wishes of the customer.

Cultural differences

The other reason I brought this up was to talk about cultural differences. During the news report, in an interview with the forensic doctor, he stated the man's age three times and twice went into a long discussion of how this was a sport for young people 20-22-25 years old, not for old people. My mouth fell open listening to this.

I was shocked to hear the doctor proclaim that a 52-year-old shouldn't be river rafting and I imagine that those of you who run a marathon at 60 years old or are in your 50's and 60's and are in better shape than many others who are in their 20's are amazed to hear that, too.

I didn't know Eric Simons and have no information about his physical condition or what kind of rafting trip he asked for. It was a tragic accident, but I think it was just that, an accident, and that only the forces of the river are to blame, not the tour operators or guides or Mr. Simons himself.

My condolences go to Eric Simons' family.

"Whole grain" tortillas

Textured tortillas

I really like to make tortillas substituting a cup or so of whole wheat flour for white. The whole wheat adds a nice flavor change. I haven't been able to find whole wheat flour for a long time, but I've since been informed that Paiz is carrying it. I guess that I just gave up looking for it and didn't notice when they started selling it. That happens sometimes. I just forget about the things that I used to miss.

I recently found this packaged "peeled" wheat at one of the import stores that seems to have a big selection of Middle Eastern food now. I bought it not having any idea of what I would do with it just because I really miss having whole grains. I had never heard of peeled wheat.

Last Friday when I was making tortillas for my Tex-Mex guests, I wondered if I could make whole wheat flour by grinding these wheat berries. I ground them up in the coffee grinder leaving some of the pieces a little chunky.

I've since decided that "peeled" wheat must be what white wheat flour is made from because the resulting flour looked more white than whole wheat, but the partially ground wheat berries added a nice flavor and texture to the tortillas. Thinking about it, it makes perfect sense: whole wheat=it's all there; peeled wheat=it's not all there. Duh! ;-)

I used my same tortilla recipe, just substituting one cup of ground peeled wheat berries for one of the cups of white flour. The tortillas received a lot of compliments, both from the gringos and Hondurans. El Jefe liked them a lot.

If you are interested in trying to make tortillas, don't let the length of that article scare you off. I wrote it in the Julia Child style, i.e., five pages for French bread. When I'm making something I haven't made or maybe even haven't seen made before, I find it very helpful to have detailed instructions and step-by-step photos, so that is what I did.

By the way, I recently showed a Hondureña how I form the tortillas using two sheets of plastic. Her eyes got big and she said, "What a good idea! I form them on a plate but it is much easier this way!" Na-na-na-nah!

How is the weather in La Ceiba right now?

Fashion Gringa's footwear

It is sock weather! Socks and flip-flops. That says something about my fashion sense, doesn't it? (Don't worry, Fashion Fabi, I don't wear them out of the house.) One day, I even wore my sweat pants.

For the past two weeks, we've been in a frente frio (cold front), with lots of rain and chilly weather. 'Chilly' is relative, but when you are used to 86°F (30° and sunny skies, this weather seems downright cold to me. We love it at night and have been sleeping better and longer under the soft down comforter (no gecko eggs this time) and with no bright sun shining in the windows to wake us up in the morning.

My thermometer is showing temperatures in the 75°F (24°C) range with 97-99% humidity inside the house most days and low 70's (21ish) at night. The sun peeks out occasionally but it has been interspersed with rain most days. We alternate between opening the windows for fresh air and rushing around to close them from the rain, sometimes three or four times a day.

A few years ago, I would have been thinking the same thing you are thinking right now, "How ridiculous to say 75°F is chilly weather!" I don't know if it the effect of the extremely high humidity or that I have adjusted to the hot weather, but I can honestly say that I have felt cold.

Generally, in La Ceiba we experience one or two weeks of chilly, very rainy weather in late December or January, so this lengthy cold front seems earlier than usual. Just curious, I checked my articles for this time last year and I was saying the same thing in 2006 − that we had an unusual November cold front, so maybe the climate is changing. I also noticed that on October 19th, 2006, I was complaining about how hot the weather was. Heheheh.

Click on "weather" under the "Topics" heading in the sidebar to read all of my weather articles, where I sound like Goldilocks saying, "It's too hot. It's too cold. It's just right." Heheheh, again. For general, slightly more factual information about La Ceiba weather, see "How is the weather in La Ceiba?"

The rain can get tiresome, especially when you have six dogs, but overall, we've really been enjoying the change of seasons!