A River Runs Through It

The morning came early in Puerto Barrios and we were quickly packed and ready to roll. It was not long before we were finally on the road to our destination; Roatan, Honduras.

In many Latin American countries, it is common for the immigration process to be spread over a couple of buildings, but usually within the same vicinity. However, this is not the case when entering Honduras; the border crossing is spread over a total of 14 kilometres and if you miss one, you will need to turn back and pick up at the one you missed. You may be asking how we know this. Well, we learned this today through our own experience. Thank goodness for good natured Guatemalans and Hondurans who just laughed at "those crazy Canadians with the dogs". We definitely should have stopped for some coffee to wake up this morning!

Once we reached the border crossing and after exchanging our Guatemalan currency with a friendly entrepreneur at the border who once again gave us the daily bank exchange rate, we headed back to the starting line. First off, cancel the temporary import permit for the truck. Okay, that went well, now onto passport exit stamps, no problem there either. Finally, we were back at the border after travelling an extra 28 kilometres.

This time at the border we were asked to fill out the tourist card which we have done on many occasions before. We were also asked to do our finger prints, no problem there either. On to the next checkpoint.

This stop was manned by the Federal police who asked to see our paperwork for both ourselves and for the dogs after his reaction of "Oh...My...God" after seeing that we had not one, but three dogs
including a large Doberman puppy. He asked if we had any further paperwork, which we said no.
We are still not sure if we were missing something or not, but as he did not speak English and a Doberman barking in his face, he kindly asked us to move along; and by the way, "welcome to Honduras! Afterall, who are we to argue with the Federal police - not this chicken.

Again, we discovered the beauty of Central America. Rich green fields, crops a
waiting to be harvested and cattle and horses galore. It is always such a culture shock when you are in
a large city such as San Pedro Sula and you are passed at a stop light by a horse pulling an old farmer and the fruits of his labour in the right hand lane. Love it!

Once we arrived in San Pedro Sula, which has quite the reputation of being a rough city, we inadvertently zigged when we should have zagged and wound up driving through the heart of San Pedro in some of the craziest traffic we have ever seen.

We drove around and asked for some directions from a lovely gas station employee who although she did not speak English, and with my limited Spanish, we actually figured each other out. Thank you kind lady, you certainly are an angel.

We were back on our way and drove through more beautiful countryside. There are more rivers and waterways than you can shake a stick at, and they are all stunning in their own right. This must be the place they named the movie "A River Runs Through It".

Back to the horses though. Around every bend you will see a horse grassing in the ditch on the CA13 Highway which is a main route for vehicles and transport trucks. These horses, even though inches from the roadway, do not even flinch as a car goes by. Being someone with a  background in the hunter/jumper world in Canada and the US, it is amazing how lucky the show jumpers have it. They truly are pampered animals. On the same token, I have seen some beautiful stabling and facilities for performance horses on our journey including the National Guatemala Equestrian Centre in Guatemala City. They have an amazing facility with a permanent three-day event course complete with stadium, in the heart of the city. Today in Honduras, we drove by a couple of private stables which were absolutely stunning. One for Andulusians and another a private stable. Horse are highly revered in this country I am happy to say.

After a nice day of travel, we descended upon our resting stop for the night - our last one before we reach our home on Roatan tomorrow. Thanks to the advice of our friend and real estate agent Edward Du Monceaux on Roatan, we contacted a lovely couple who own Casa Espana Boutique Hotel in downtown La Ceiba.

Given the size of La Ceiba, Carlos offered to meet us so that we could follow home to the hotel. We arrived and walked inside to a beautiful little gem in the city and immediately felt as if we were staying with family. We spent the evening on a gorgeous rooftop terrace and enjoyed a home cooked dinner which we really appreciated after being on the road for just over two weeks. We thank Carlos and his wife for looking after us and making us feel as if we were at home. If anyone is coming through the La Ceiba area, you will have to look them up and enjoy their wonderful hospitality. We highly recommend Casa Espana!

Tomorrow morning we will be heading out on the final leg of our journey which will take us to our home on Roatan, Honduras. It will be including a ferry ride across the bay and delivering our truck to a freight company who will be shipping it to the island. It should be a full day with many new experiences!