Adventures in La Tigra

Yesterday, on Saturday morning of our descanso weekend, Pete, Bryan, and I set off for La Tigra National Park. We left the hotel in Tegus early and arrived at 7:30 for an 8:00 bus that never came. Fortunately, a group of Honduran teenagers came to our rescue and told us that another bus would come at 10:00. So we started our journey just 2 and a half hours late. No big deal. We arrived in the quaint town of San Juancito around 11:30 and stopped at a little comedor for lunch. The hike up to the hostel is long, steep, arduous, and generally godawful. So we decided to spend the 220 lempiras to have the owner come down and get us and take us up. Unfortunately, his truck wouldn’t start. So we had no choice but to scale this mountain. It was easily one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in terms of physical exertion. Pete gallantly offered to carry my backpack for me, but it was a point of pride for me. An hour and a half later, we arrived sweat-soaked but with a grand feeling of accomplishment. We stopped in time to unload, appreciate the view from our room, and take a victory picture (see above) before we set off for a hike in the park. We took a path up to a waterfall, and it was absolutely picturesque. It’s much colder in La Tigra than the Ranch, and it was completely freezing. So naturally, Pete decided to get in the water at the base of the falls. I knew Bryan would do it too if I got in, so I did. Then the boys dunked themselves completely, and not to be outdone, I followed suit. We headed back down, teeth chattering, and ran into our friends from the bus. Waiting for us at the hostel was a delicious dinner of Indian curry with garbanzo beans, rice, and some kind of fried potato deliciousness prepared by our delightful German proprietors. After hiking for at least 10 miles (most of that uphill), it wasn’t hard to fall asleep. This morning, we had fresh squeezed mango juice, coffee, toast, and a lovely spread of toppings from tomatoes to cream cheese to homemade orange and berry jams. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard as when Bryan mistook the cut up butter slabs for pieces of cheese just as he took his first bite. Heading down was much easier than up, as one might expect, and we were back in Tegus by 1:30. I have to say, we made a great team, and I had a wonderful time. Can’t wait to take Quinn, Krista, and Corey there in April!