An Interesting Drive to the Coast (2/26/11-3/1)

Danger Ahead ?


to Trujillo and La Ceiba.
click to enlarge

The road that I had planned to take to get from Valle del Angeles to Trujillo on the Caribbean coast has a spotty reputation and I didn't have a lot of confidence in it to begin with. It arcs further towards the northeast where illegal logging and other bad stuff has happened. I was talking with a local before leaving Angeles and he said there had been some "isolated incidents", but nothing recently. I decided to go for it.



path up to the park headquarters

Driving the slow, potholed main road east I come up to a national police checkpoint and I'm waved over. No big deal, they are courteous and professional. I ask one cop if that same road is safe and his response is that there could possibly be "a problema" and doesn't recommend it. For the first time on this trip, I made a change of plans based on a perceived threat. While Honduras has been safe so far, this is the only country where I've had a bit of a bad vibe. People here rarely wave back to me, they simply stare with their dark eyes. The reality of political instability and serious poverty in Honduras is palpable. I hate to bow to a rumor, but I'm more on my guard here, and safer has to win.


my long night in the car

At Limones I turn north onto a decent dirt road and travel through cattle country and tiny settlements until I reach La Union, a poor, little dot on the map. I had read that you can camp at the park headquarters of the La Muralla Nat. Park up above town and that was my only back-up plan. A nice one-lane path up into the pine forest that turns into coffee fincas and rainforest in a short 8 miles. I find the park headquarters...abandoned. At least, there's no evidence of anyone here now or recently. It's getting dark and going down to La Union isn't an option. There's nothing there, anyway. I'm kinda stuck, so I decide to simply sleep in my car, pointed outward, not even popping the tent, just in case the wrong people show up. It's eerily quiet as the jungle darkness settles in. Only when I look straight up do I see any light at all from the stars. Around me it's only lightning bugs, some so bright I could swear it's someone approaching with a flashlight. My mind plays tricks all night and daylight can't come fast enough. The good news in all of this is that it's a free night of "camping".

Big Yellow takes another Raft Trip


north of La Union

I say goodbye to La Union as early as the daylight will allow and head north on a really bad dirt road cut by gullies in all directions, it's agonizingly slow, but beautiful. 3 hours to reach the paved highway that will take me east to Trujillo. This is a great stretch of road and I fly through what are now very green tropics. From rainforest to pine forest to full-metal tropics in less than 4 hours. It was 60 degrees when I left my spooky campsite and it's now in the high 80's, and the air is heavy. I think I'll use the a/c for awhile, thank you very much.

the raft on the other side

My excellent drive comes to an abrupt halt at the Rio Aguan, where the bridge is gone, but in the process of being replaced. In the meantime, some enterprising dudes have put together a raft powered by an outboard motor attached to a small boat that is jammed under the raft. They load two vehicles at a time from one side, back away from the shore, let the current push the raft downstream a bit and then the pilot guns the motor and makes a run for the opposite shore. Hitting the right spot often takes more than one try, but they always get there eventually.


the pilot ready to gun it to
the other side

After 45 minutes of watching all the fun it's my turn. On my side we back down onto the raft in order to drive forward off on the other side. After me they load on three motorcycles and we take off. The normal charge for this as near as I could tell is between 100-150 lempiras (19 to a dollar). For me it's 200. I ask why and they say it's because my vehicle is bigger. Now, we all know that that is code for "gringo tax". Not the first time and it won't be the last. I take it all in stride, however, as I've gotten used to the way things get done down here; I may be going native?




view from my room in Trujillo

Another 30 minutes to reach Trujillo, a sleepy town that is known as the location where Columbus first set foot on the continent, on his fourth and final voyage. This end of the coast has some nice beaches and clean water, but this is also the hottest sun I've felt on the trip; it's really intense. One of the best hotels here is the Christopher Columbus Hotel, and after my night in the car I'm going for a/c, nice bed and hot shower. There seems to be a lot of US military here and a good number of aid workers. On one side of the hotel is the beach and on the other is an airport runway, built by that hero of every card-carrying Republican, Olie North.

The Dustiest Road in C.A.


a moment of clarity

After securing a room and a flight out to Roatan, Bay Islands, I head over to La Ceiba to find a cheaper place to stay where I can also safely leave the car. The owners of the C. Columbus said I might try a newer hotel called the Caribe something. It turns out there is another road I can take back towards the west that avoids the costly raft trip. Too bad they don't put up some signs alerting you to this fact going in the other direction.

This dirt road goes on for about 20 miles and the game is to get ahead of everyone else so that they're eating your dust and not the other way around. The dust gets really thick because in between all the little towns (lots of topes...what is this, Mexico?) we hit speeds of 40mph. And with trucks and buses flying in both directions it really gets interesting. Nothing to do but close the windows, crank the a/c and punch the gas.


Big Yellow gets a well-deserved
rest. Sleep well, old girl.

there's a church behind those wires

Into La Ceiba I find the hotel right on the main street. This turns out to be a perfect place for me: $37/night, wifi in the room, tv with English stations, a/c, hot water, right next to a large supermarket and American-style mall, and secure, covered parking. And they won't charge me to leave the car there for 5 days. It's called the Hotel la Posada Caribe.

The town, however, has nothing going for it that I can see. Very noisy, messy, hectic, and the beaches are dirty and unswimmable. The only reason to be here is to get to either the islands or river rafting in the area. If you click on the picture of the church, you can see the inordinate amount of wire hanging on the power pole. You might say the only thing holding all that up is faith. Doh!