Punta Izopo

Fri, Dec 19

Punta Izopo National Park is home to a variety of wildlife like monkeys, alligators and toucans. Ricky, the "best boat capitano" in the area took us down the Rio Platano which snakes through the park.

I really wanted to see a toucan, but it was chilly that day and the animals were probably hiding somewhere shivering. After we gave up on the Rio Platano and hiked deeper into the park, we spotted a group of vultures attacking a dead cow on the beach. Not a very successful outing, no thanks to the rains that have been falling continually while we've been here.

Ricky Lion, the best boat captain
One of the few birds we saw that cold, gloomy morning
Heading into Punta Izopo
Satellite dishes in the jungle?

Spot the busy woodpecker: AVI (490kB)

Horseback Riding

Mon, Dec 22

Yee Chuan hatches a diabolical scheme

This particular activity was quite...interesting. Mario managed to get 5 horses but 1 was deemed too young to be ridden. So I got to share Jianyun's horse on a makeshift "piece-of-sponge" saddle. I really need to put on some weight. These things always happen to people who don't weigh much.

Now that's really not so bad on its own, but our horse didn't like being left behind. Any time one of the other horses surged ahead, it would try to catch up. WHY???


Wenyao discovers something interesting

I had a rather interesting time alternating between desperately trying not to fall off the rear end of the horse, and frantically trying to stay away from the metal loops protruding from the saddle.

Don't laugh. Yes, I'm talking to you.

Punta Sal vs "The Turista"

Tue, Dec 23

Today was supposed to be a good relax-on-the-beach day, with an hour-long boat ride taking us west along the coast to the national park of Punta Sal where white sandy beaches and a beautiful coral reef await us. But I got firsthand experience of the "tourista" (intestinal problems) - I threw up 3 times the night before and was so worried about being the only one unable to go to Punta Sal. Then Wenyao showed up at my door looking sickly and Jianyun was having some problems too so there was no way we would be suntanning at Punta Sal today. Instead it was a very subdued group of 4 that moped around Miguel's living room while he headed to Tela to get medicine. Argh! And it was one of the very few days of sunshine and blue skies that we had.

Final score: Turista 1, Punta Sal 0

Another Boat Ride

Thu, Dec 25

It's not dead, just sleeping

Most of the village must have been passed out or terribly hungover from the night before. Miguel didn't come to get us till noon. Mario was one of those who stayed up all night to dance and drink.

We went out to Rio Platano again to see if we would have better luck with the wildlife this time. We saw a few monkeys and more birds than the first time, and we even encountered a crocodile sleeping on a log! It looked like it was dead, and I only half-believed Miguel when he insisted it was just asleep. But the croc proved him right by jumping into the water just as we got near enough for Miguel to snag him from the boat.


Next: Lancetilla Botanical Gardens »