A quick follow-up on the execution we witnessed: From what I gather this could be related to two things, 1) rival drug cartel violence or 2) political (Honduras had a military coup recently that resulted in a new leader, whom many of the poor Hondurans are not happy with and are conducting propaganda against). It appears to be an extremely rare event for Honduras.
In the border region between northern Honduras and Guatemala we saw some absolutely fantastic landscapes, and I found a valley that I'd buy in a heartbeat to built a ranch on if I had the money.
We spent a day in Rio Dulce, a small town at the edge of Lake Itzabal where the river Rio Dulce flows out of the lake towards the Caribbean.Taking a boat tour through the river to Livingston (at the coast) supposedly offers spectacular wildlife views, but we decided $30 was too much for the roundtrip fare. We did have a really, really cool hotel though, right in the middle of the jungle (see pics & below):
Leaving Rio Dulce we headed East towards Semuc Champey, a place with some beautiful (even though small) waterfalls where the river has carved out something of a tunnel, providing some great pools in the rocky areas above and fantastic sceneries. The drive certainly showed why the route was NOT recommended – first we drove along Lake Itzabal, enjoying gorgeous views, before the road turned into a rather rough path, passing the occasional village. Road signs were completely absent, as were any signs indicating the names of the places we came through. Every turn we came up to we had to guess which way to go, and ask the next possible person if we were on the right track. We arrived late at night (9pm – late for a mountain area where they have no electricity).
We spent the next day enjoying Semuc Champey and stayed another night – in another hotel – also w/ no electricity. They do provide electricity (via a generator) for a few hours a day if enough guests are there.
After that we headed up to Flores, a little island in Lake Peten Itza in Northern Guatemala. It's a beautiful little island, however, tourism has take it's toll – prices are quite step and any traditional feel has been replaced by souvenir shops and hotels. Lots of Mayan Pyramids around here. We're heading out to see one now, and then we're probably off to Belize. Pictures of this to follow.
http://picasaweb.google.com/joegrass76/03gRioDulce#
http://picasaweb.google.com/joegrass76/03hSemucChampey#
Joe, those two photo albums are FANTASTIC. My envy level is now at 9 (out of 10). Does Kate post her people pictures somewhere? Great stuff. Let's throw some money together and buy some land in that valley. Miss you, man.
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