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Finding the Unexpected

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Finding the Unexpected By Damien LeRoy | www.damienleroy.com Finding the Unexpected in Honduras Most of us dream of our next kite adventure being to some untouched, far off destination with pristine waters and constant wind where you feel like the only people around for miles are you and your friends. A lot of exotic locations probably come to mind when you try to imagine this dream location, but I’m pretty sure Honduras isn’t one of them. At least not yet. 34 35 Located about 45 miles from the Honduran mainland, the small island of Guanaja might be very similar to that perfect remote location you’ve been dreaming about. Guanaja was Christopher Columbus’s first stop on his last trip to the New World in 1502 and was where he was first exposed to cacao (chocolate). Only three miles wide by seven miles long there are no cars on Guanaja and the only way to travel around the island is by water taxi. The people here have traditionally been fishermen, so Guanaja’s culture is very much linked to the ocean. Most people on Guanaja produce their own food through fishing, raising livestock, or growing personal gardens. Tourism is still in its infancy on Guanaja and if there are 50 tourists on the island at a time it would be considered very busy. Guanaja is part of Honduras, but is really its own little place that feels completely disconnected from the rest of the country and in some ways the rest of the world. Rising out of the beautiful crystal clear Caribbean water to an elevation of 1,500 feet, Guanaja is situated near the end of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second largest barrier reef in the world. The island is covered in rich vegetation and is full of bananas, yukka, parrots, iguanas, wild rabbits, and more. It features some of the best fishing, snorkeling, and diving you’ll find anywhere. It also happens to be consistently windy here during the summer, which is exactly what we were looking for. Of course, there’s no such thing as the perfect place and I was a little concerned about some of the rumors I’d heard about traveling in Honduras. One of the first questions people asked me when I said I was going to Honduras was “Is it safe there?” Honduras is considered one of the most violent countries in the world due to its location on the drug transit route and has the dubious distinction of having the highest per capita homicide rate in the world according to the United Nations. The high murder rate can be a huge turnoff for many 36 visitors, but the island of Guanaja is isolated enough that it isn’t 37 affected by this gang-type violence at all. Most of the crime happens in the the Cayman Islands where The Sweet Spot is also three main cities of Honduras – Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, and La Ceiba. based and first visited Guanaja in January of 2011 Guanaja itself has a crime rate that is lower than most small towns in the US. after hearing about it for a few years. A promising William “Buddy” Thomas is a local legend who has lived on Guanaja for over sign was that he heard that the fishermen in 25 years. He said, “This island is a unique place that is very different from the Guanaja were always complaining about how rest of the country. It’s completely safe and is very much off the beaten path.” windy it is. It turns out the windy season in Guanaja is actually the opposite of the windy time In the past there have been a lot of political problems in Honduras and in Cayman so now he chases the wind back and Central America in general with multiple civil wars and lots of violence. It forth even though the islands are only about 300 was only three years ago that Honduras went through a mostly non-violent miles away from each other. coup which resulted in the former President being arrested and forcibly exiled to Costa Rica. Along with most countries in the region Honduras has Mike talks to a lot of people about traveling to stabilized in recent years, but there are still two very distinct and separate Honduras and said many are reluctant about groups of people in Honduras. On one side are the wealthy people who own coming here at first. “Whenever I talk to people large tracts of land and on the other side are the poor laborers. There is an there is always some initial concern about the ongoing discussion here about how much the government should do to help travel, the language difference, and the potential its citizens, bringing about the traditional arguments of socialism versus for crime, but once they arrive all those concerns capitalism. Protests are common in the larger cities in the country. Guanaja is evaporate into the amazingly beautiful landscape,” isolated, but this is very much a real part of life in Honduras. he said. “It’s the kind of place that as soon as you leave the airport you are stunned by the Guanaja is also not the easiest place to get to for people coming from the spectacular green hills rising out of some of the US. You can only get here by plane or boat and there are no direct flights most beautiful turquoise water you’ve ever seen. from anywhere outside of Honduras. Even though the large airports are Time stands still here and it is very tranquil. Most modern and convenient, only small local airlines people think it is one of the most beautiful places fly to Guanaja. These small airlines can be a bit of they have ever visited. I’ve fallen in love with the an experience for people that are only used to the scenery and the people who have been extremely large jets that are common in the US and other helpful and friendly.” countries. The small airlines are safe, but the little planes add some adventure to people’s travels. Arriving at the Guanaja airport all we found There are three international airports in Honduras were water taxis and other boats where you offering a good number of connecting flights to would normally find the cars, buses, and taxis at Guanaja. By flying in to San Pedro Sula, La Ceiba, an airport. The airport is very small and is not or Roatan (only 14 miles away from Guanaja) you connected with any roads. It is one of the few can easily arrange a flight to the island on Lanhsa airports in the world where you have to board a or Sosa Airlines. boat when you get off the plane. I arrived with Mike and Dani Burianova, Curt Palermo, and Virginia My good friend Mike Minichiello of The Sweet Spot Savoia, friends and clients who were ready for (www.gotothesweetspot.com) had invited me here our Honduras kiteboarding adventure camp. We and organized the trip for our group. Mike lives in grabbed our bags, walked down the row of boats, 38 39 loaded up, and headed off to our destination for the week – the Hotel Guanaja and The Sweet Spot Honduras Kite School. Just a few weeks before our trip Annabel van Westrop, Brandon Bowe, and Jan Lucas had explored Guanaja and had told us a little about what we could expect. Brandon Bowe said, “I didn’t know places could be packed with this much beauty and interesting things to do yet be so simple.” When I asked Annabel van Westerop what she thought about her time here she said, “It really was a little piece of paradise. I just never wanted to leave once I got there. We didn’t have great wind every single day, but we enjoyed ourselves the entire time.” After a short boat ride from the airport we found ourselves at the Hotel Guanaja which is perched on the side of a mountain along the water. As I checked in I realized I could hear the sounds of the wind and waves moving through the rafters of the hotel. No matter where I went at the hotel I could hear the ocean. Just outside of each room there are hammocks overlooking the beautiful blue waters. This is where I would end up spending much of my down time and I found it really hard to leave my hammock to get in bed each night. As I swung in my hammock I could see a number of the smaller islands that surround Guanaja just off in the distance. It is truly a relaxing and beautiful location. The Bay Islands, of which Guanaja is one of, are much more connected with the Cayman Islands than mainland Honduras. In colonial times, England ruled over both groups of islands as one territory. I’ve been to the Cayman Islands a few times and it was really surprising to me to discover this close connection between the Bay Islands and the Cayman Islands. Most Bay Islanders speak English with a very similar accent to the English spoken in the Cayman Islands. The Caymanian accent is really distinctive and unique, so it was almost shocking to hear the same accent in an area where I had assumed I would mainly be hearing Spanish. Also, there is a strong family connection between the two groups of islands with many similar family names shared between them. Almost everybody I met in Guanaja had a family member or friend that lives in Cayman.
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