- The Adventure Begins
- Getting There is Half the Fun
- Triunfo de la Cruz
- Triunfo de la Cruz II
- Lancetilla Botanical Gardens
- Christmas in Triunfo de la Cruz
- Fishing
- Copan Ruinas
- The Mayan Ruins at Copan
- Final Thoughts
- Wenyao's Photos
(Winter 2003 Albums » Honduras)
Triunfo de la Cruz, Garifuna Village
Dec 18-26
The Garifuna people live along the Central American coast from Belize to Nicaragua and Triunfo de la Cruz is the largest Garifuna village in Honduras.
The Garifuna came to Honduras in 1787 from St Vincent island and were the result of racial intermingling between black slaves (shipwrecked on the way from Africa) and the local Indians. Fishing is one of their primary activities so most villages sit along the coastline.
The villagers told us that the Honduran government isn't interested in the plight of the Garifuna people. It's difficult to get funding for projects in the Garifuna villages - Triunfo was only hooked up to the power grid 5 years ago! But they their ways of being heard - round up 3 busloads of villagers, camp outside the mayor's office in Tela and bang on drums all day and night until someone acquiesces to their requests.
The people lead simple lives, fishing and rearing chickens and enjoying 35 channels of satellite TV. That's more than I have!
The continual rain made it difficult to do much trip planning. We spent quite some time in the village and at Miguel's house, watching TV and videos in English, Spanish and French, playing with his 5 kids and throwing chickens out of the house, something everyone should try!
At the time this line was written, those chickens were probably being turned into soup. Poor yummy chickens.
Food, Glorious Food!
Seafood is a dietary staple here and the men go out to fish every day at 5am, weather permitting. That means really fresh fish every day unless it's been pouring the whole week.
A common dish is the plato tipico which you can order any time of the day, consisting of scrambled eggs, refried beans, cream cheese and avocado. Most meals are accompanied by tortillas (made with wheat, corn or rice flour) and tajaditas (fried bananas).
A Closer Look at Triunfo
Roads in Triunfo are packed dirt roads, which obviously don't mix well with the monsoon season. By the time we reached the village, the mud roads had been chewed up by the trucks and busses that go in and out of Triunfo. Some of the resulting ruts were a foot deep and filled with water, so getting around on foot was quite a challenge.
Off-Topic: Enter the Gringos
"Gringo" in its simplest form is the Spanish word for stranger. In most Spanish-speaking countries today, there's a disparaging element to the term and it's usually used on someone of English or American origin.
Most nights we slept in the adjacent village of La Ensenada, at a little hotel run by an Italian guy. The night of the 24th we stayed in Triunfo itself at the Caribbean Coral Inn, which is run by a graduate of the Cornell School of Hotel Administration no less! Again, he's a gringo with extensive experience in the hotel industry. In Tela, the best restaurant is run by a Mexican. All the potentially profitable and well-run establishments are owned by foreigners. Perhaps this has something to do with the locals living by "Honduran time" - things just don't get done as quickly as they do in most other places.
Next: Triunfo de la Cruz II »