We took off this morning and drove most of the way across the country of Honduras. We agreed that since our work was done, or as much as we could get done on this trip anyway, we wanted to see the Mayan ruins at Copan.

The drive took us almost to Guatemala and over mountains that passed 1000 meters, but we finally got here. Took about 6 hours, a couple more police stops (where they actually made us all get out of the car this time) and a protest on a bridge that stopped traffic for about 20 minutes, and we finally got here.

We did make one quick stop along the way, too, to grab some breakfast at a roadside stand. Very traditional meat, eggs and cheese on a tortilla. And boy was it good.

It was an interesting progression across the country. The eastern end of Honduras is very green and lush with palm trees, jungle-like. As we moved west, it got slowly browner and dryer as we moved into the hills. It began to remind me more of Mexico or even southern California (at least the undeveloped areas) than the other side. The people, too, seemed to have a bit more of a Mayan influence, physically, than the eastern Hondurans. It’s beautiful country side though and I would like to spend more time here.

There weren’t any English speaking guides around, but Matias was good enough to help me out. Pretty breathtaking place. It’s not the biggest of the Mayan ruins in Central America, but it is an exceptionally nice one. Our guide Eduardo was great and very informative. You’d almost think he was there when the place was occupied. But, he must have been much younger than me, because he wasn’t out of breath at all leading us up and down the ruins, when the rest of us were breathing hard. That’s the only solution I can come up with anyway…. Copan existed with 16 kings over 400 years of continuous rule. Many of the structures represented one kind in particular, 18 Rabbit King, the 11th in the line. Like most of the Mayan world, no clue what caused it to disappear. Even these trips, though, give you an insight into the culture that has existed in these very lands for 1500 years, or more. That is nothing to ignore.

There will be more posts from Honduras in the weeks and months to come. This has been a great beginning to a new project that will open the eyes of many divers around the world. As its still developing, I don’t really want to talk about it yet. I believe I’ll be coming back here in June and from there I’ll be able to move things forward. I will say, though, that this trip definitely qualifies as an Adventure with a Purpose.

Until then, tomorrow Matias and I begin a 24 hour odyssey to get home, landing around 8 am on Sunday morning. Wish us luck..

We had a pretty serious rain storm blow through last night. Everyone says the “rainy season” is over but you couldn’t tell that last night. That probably explains why everything is so green all around. There are banana and plantain trees (there is a difference although I couldn’t point it out to you) and fields of sugar cane, too. Street vendors sell fruit of about every description, too.

In and around the work we’re doing here in Honduras, today was the first time we’ve taken the time to get out and do a little sight seeing. We went to visit the community of Sambo Creek. This is a small sea-side fishing village populated by the Garafuna people. Rather than being Hunduraneans or the La Miskitia, the Garafuna came from Africa through St. Vincent. They left St. Vincent in the mid-1800s and resettled on the coast of Honduras.

Like a lot of Honduras, the streets were a wreck—mostly dirt—and the facilities were marginal. Stray dogs wandered everywhere mixed into the cars, trucks, bikes and pedestrians. But the people were friendly and the food was good. As we were finishing up our lunch (I had some ceviche pescadora that reminds me I want to make some at home) a young girl came walking up with a basket balanced on her head. She was selling coconut bread. Elmer bought two bags, one for home and the other for the injured miskito divers he was treating in the chamber.

As we drove through Sambo Creek, I looked up in time to see a DAN flag hanging from a pole. It turned out to be a small dive shop. So, we stopped to say hello and I took a picture of the manager with Drs. Nochetto and Mejia. Just one of those surreal moments where you see a sign of home where you least expect it. Even more interesting, and a point that Matias made, was that at one time that flag was in our office in North Carolina. No clue how it made its way here, but it did.

We’ve been able to finish up everything we need to do, or at finishing it up right now. So, we’ve made arrangements to spend tomorrow touring a Mayan ruin in Copan before heading home on Saturday. Total travel time for that trip, from the time we head to the airport and then the time we get home will be over 24 hours. Loads of fun….

This has been an eye-opening and incredible trip so far. The main purpose, as I’ve mentioned before, is working with the local hyperbaric chamber and that is going extremely well. I can’t really go into a lot of detail on that yet, but it’s going to be a great story.

Agriculture still seems to be the major industry here, both legal and illegal. There just isn’t much tourism even though La Ceiba is right on the warm waters of the Caribbean and is about 15 degrees North of the equator. There are some hotels, but where there might be a decent hotel, not far away it looks like a war zone. Without some significant outside investment I don’t see that changing soon. Most people, if they come through this area at all, end up going to the airport and bouncing over to Roatan, Utilla or Guanaja, three top dive destinations.

But what is really striking here is the amount of American fast food here. There are Pizza Huts on every street corner, along with KFC, Church’s Chicken, and Popeyes, along with Wendy’s and Quiznos that we’ve seen so far. Never would have expected all that here. I wonder, too, if that is the cause of some of the obesity we’re seeing on the streets as well. Most of the population appears to be relatively fit, but we’ve noticed some people (mostly men) who appear to be flat out fat. Oh the American curse strikes again.

A good thing here is I’ve not noticed many people smoking and in a lot of the places I’ve gone it is posted everywhere Fumar Prohibido. No Smoking. I like that. Not sure what the unemployment rate is here, but I see an awful lot of young men hanging around in the park outside of our hotel during the day. One more final note and then I’ll reach a point. Aside from the ocean, you have jungle and adventure travel here. There is whitewater kayaking, hiking and snorkeling.

It’s an easy flight to Honduras as well. So, with the proper investment, an available workforce and a penchant for having American things around anyway, it seems like Honduras would be a prime location for adventure travel investment. If it were done sensitively and in step with the local beliefs and cultures, it could be a winner for everyone concerned. Let’s not talk about the infrastructure, but there are headaches going anywhere in the third world. Just thinking out loud this evening..

I work in the diving world, representing Divers Alert Network (DAN). So, the primary reason I am here in Honduras is to work with and support the physician that operates the hyperbaric chamber in La Ceiba. His name is Elmer Mejia. And I have to say, he is one of the good guys.

Dr. Mejia set up his chamber clinic just a few short months ago, but has already become part of the community. He is available to treat sport divers, but his primary clientele for his hyperbaric chamber are harvesting divers from La Moskitia. These divers dive to collect lobster and conch, but more about that later. For now, though, I will say he is operating one of the busiest chambers (already) in the Caribbean and is saving lives. There is no question about that.

But what amazes me is the thriving/booming family practice the man has created in a few short months as well. Dr. Mejia picked Dr. Nochetto and I up around 11 am and informed us that he had already seen 17 patients and was going to be treating a diver this afternoon. We passed up a dirt road and discovered a very comfortable clinic built out of small house in a slight hill. It was quiet when we arrived, but didn’t stay that way for long. While Dr. Mejia led us around and showed us his chamber, his staff prepared for a four hour treatment on the divers. After that got going, locals began streaming in the door, one and two at a time. They came to see the doctor.

Dr. Mejia’s clinic is in what he described as the poorest part of La Ceiba. He positioned it where he did for two reasons. He is within a few minutes of the airport in case an injured diver comes in that way. But, as he noted, he practices family medicine and he wanted to be where the people needed him. By the way, he said as many as three out of every 10 of his patients can’t afford to pay him for his services. But he treats them anyway. You might think he makes up for it by charging his paying patient’s more. That’s not the case, either. He does his best to keep the price low for everyone.

In a time when the cost and availability of medicine in the US is bringing people to blows and dividing neighbors, its pretty amazing to see a doctor who simply cares for his patients and their health. He just makes it work..