Life in Chachahuate
This past weekend our roommates were planning to spend a couple of days at the Cayos Cochinos, specifically Cayo Chachahuate. I had been there before for work, but stayed overnight at the foundation’s station and only spent a few hours talking to people. Max hadn’t been there yet and we both jumped at the idea of going with them. This would be our first opportunity to stay overnight at one of the communities we work with and share more than just a couple of hours with the people in it.
There are different options to get to the cayos and for work I go on a boat owned by the foundation, but this was going to be a personal trip with a group of friends and we needed to find another option. Our roommate Jeremy had a contact to rent a sailboat for about $35 a person, but Max and I could not afford such a steep price on our Peace Corps salary (our roommates have better paying jobs in town), plus we really wanted to support one of the community groups that are now doing trips to the Cayos for tourists. And so I called Rene Arzu who met with the fisherman in Nueva Armenia (the town closest to the Cayos on the mainland) and arranged for our transportation. They would take us to the cayos on Sunday, and stay there until Monday to take us back for about $20 a person. Still a little steep for us, but more reasonable… we’ll just postpone buying a desk for our room until next month.
And so we headed, eight of us, to Nueva Armenia early on Sunday morning to sail to Chachahuate. The ride in the back of a pick-up over the un-paved road was both fun and exciting, although Max wished he had a little more cushion in the posterior region. We got to Nueva Armenia around 7am on Sunday and the town was alive. Kids were wandering the streets, women washing clothes in their “pilas”, men standing in front of “pulperias” buying “frescos” or “pan”. For a second or two the town stopped to stare at the group of gringos, but soon they went back to their daily duties. Rene Arzu greeted us near the place of departure and reminded us of the terms of the trip: 375 lempiras a person… returning tomorrow… talk to Papi Nini when you get to Chachahuate for accommodations… payment is up-front. We all agreed, paid our transportation fee, loaded the boat, and headed off in a 20-foot long blue wooden boat with two benches and an outboard motor. Once we embarked, our captain Don Luis, and his helper tried to negotiate us into returning at 10am on Monday morning. We politely indicated that the agreement was 1pm and that having lunch there would benefit the group of women cooking for us. They agreed, but not happily. The ride, which in a normal speed boat would take about 35 minutes, took us about 50 but we were all excited with the beautiful view of the Cayos ahead and the mountain range of the north coast of Honduras behind us.
Once in Chachahuate, we were greeted by the kids who wanted to see who these tourists were. They quickly recognized our friend Mike who has been there a couple of times and always takes time to play with them. They also remembered I was the “amiga” who had been there recently to bring the rakes they now use to keep the island clean. Quickly two girls grabbed my hands, and walked us to the lady that would be our host for the weekend.
To stay in Chachahuate, you stay in someone’s hut. The family who inhabits the one-roomed dwelling consisting of wood walls with thatched roofs made of palm fronds moves to someone else’s hut to rent theirs for the duration of your stay. For Lps. 50 a night (about $2.50) you get your own hut. They initially offered two huts for the eight of us, meaning we would have to sleep two each on the full-sized foam mattresses available. In the end they were able to provide two more huts and we ended up staying two in each hut. The one Max and I stayed in actually had two rooms… the one room typical in these huts was divided by a cardboard wall into a bedroom and a kitchen/dining/living area. From our hut we could see the ocean on both sides.
The kids that greeted us followed us to our houses, since they wanted to know where we would be living. I asked a little girl if they get a lot of tourists there, and she said yes. She also said she usually didn’t like them, because they are ugly, but she liked us because we are pretty. They all watched as Max and I put on sun block and asked if we can put some on then. We smeared the remaining sun block off our hands into theirs. They commented how now they were “cara-blanca” (white-faced) too, referring to the white look people get from putting on too much sun block. Max and I then went and talked to the Mom of one of the girls, because she wanted her mom to know she would be with us at the beach. The mother gladly gave her consent, and the girl along with a few other children played with us all day. They held our hands, hugged us, climbed on top of us… one little girl kept licking my hand and arm and telling me how salty I tasted. The morning went by fast and soon enough the women were calling us for lunch: fried fish caught by the men that morning, rice, and fried plantain. All the meals that followed included the same elements plus beans and tortillas sometimes. So good!!!
Sunday afternoon was spent snorkeling and chatting with the locals. The reef there is so amazing, hundreds of colored fish of all sizes and shapes, same with the plants and the coral. I panicked for a few moments when I found myself in the middle of a school of jelly fish. They stung a couple of times but the sensation was very mellow and went away in a couple of minutes. The reefs surrounding the Cayos Cochinos are said to me some of the most pristine in the Caribbean, with over 70% still healthy.
Later in the afternoon, we helped a couple of kids do their homework, took a nap, and chatted with the locals some more. Shower was a bucket of water over you, and since there was no electricity on the island, light was out with sunlight, although they connected a lamp to a car battery to provide us some light. After dinner we played the drums with our boat captain, Luis, and listened to some of their life stories. Slowly the kids and the women retreated to their houses and finally, at 9pm, it was time to shut the light off. We all went to our respective cabins where we slept with the windows opened to allow the ocean breeze to cool down the hot night.
The next morning, as soon as the sun rose, people were up and about their activities. In a community of fishermen, people can not afford the luxury of sleeping in. Max got out of bed and saw the kids getting ready to go to school, all wearing their cute blue and white uniforms getting on the school boat and going to Cayo Mayor to attend school for the day. After a delicious breakfast of eggs, beans, and fresh home-made flour tortillas Max and I decided to go snorkeling. The sunlight was a lot brighter than it had been the afternoon before and visibility was great. We saw all sorts of fish and coral and headed back when it started getting wavy and I started getting a little sea sick.
We all packed before lunch, ate, and headed back to Nueva Armenia. The boat ride was as slow as our ride there, but it was much hotter than before (mid-day instead of early morning). We must have all looked funny with towels over our heads and shoulders to protect us a bit from the sunlight.
The town of Nueva Armenia is separated from the ocean by a small, very shallow river. Once we reached the river our captain and his helper had to get off the boat and push it since the engine could not be used in such shallow waters. All of the sudden we noticed our boat was drifting with all of us inside it, and Luis was swimming towards shore… without us!!! His friend explained that some kids had freed his cattle and he had to go collect them before he could take us all the way to town. So we just waited…
Back in Armenia we collected our stuff, said our goodbyes and jumped into the pick-up that would take us back home. I managed to get a seat inside this time, but Max was out in the pick-up’s bed. It rained on our way back and he and the others got wet, but it was a much welcomed fresh water shower.
There are different options to get to the cayos and for work I go on a boat owned by the foundation, but this was going to be a personal trip with a group of friends and we needed to find another option. Our roommate Jeremy had a contact to rent a sailboat for about $35 a person, but Max and I could not afford such a steep price on our Peace Corps salary (our roommates have better paying jobs in town), plus we really wanted to support one of the community groups that are now doing trips to the Cayos for tourists. And so I called Rene Arzu who met with the fisherman in Nueva Armenia (the town closest to the Cayos on the mainland) and arranged for our transportation. They would take us to the cayos on Sunday, and stay there until Monday to take us back for about $20 a person. Still a little steep for us, but more reasonable… we’ll just postpone buying a desk for our room until next month.
And so we headed, eight of us, to Nueva Armenia early on Sunday morning to sail to Chachahuate. The ride in the back of a pick-up over the un-paved road was both fun and exciting, although Max wished he had a little more cushion in the posterior region. We got to Nueva Armenia around 7am on Sunday and the town was alive. Kids were wandering the streets, women washing clothes in their “pilas”, men standing in front of “pulperias” buying “frescos” or “pan”. For a second or two the town stopped to stare at the group of gringos, but soon they went back to their daily duties. Rene Arzu greeted us near the place of departure and reminded us of the terms of the trip: 375 lempiras a person… returning tomorrow… talk to Papi Nini when you get to Chachahuate for accommodations… payment is up-front. We all agreed, paid our transportation fee, loaded the boat, and headed off in a 20-foot long blue wooden boat with two benches and an outboard motor. Once we embarked, our captain Don Luis, and his helper tried to negotiate us into returning at 10am on Monday morning. We politely indicated that the agreement was 1pm and that having lunch there would benefit the group of women cooking for us. They agreed, but not happily. The ride, which in a normal speed boat would take about 35 minutes, took us about 50 but we were all excited with the beautiful view of the Cayos ahead and the mountain range of the north coast of Honduras behind us.
Once in Chachahuate, we were greeted by the kids who wanted to see who these tourists were. They quickly recognized our friend Mike who has been there a couple of times and always takes time to play with them. They also remembered I was the “amiga” who had been there recently to bring the rakes they now use to keep the island clean. Quickly two girls grabbed my hands, and walked us to the lady that would be our host for the weekend.
To stay in Chachahuate, you stay in someone’s hut. The family who inhabits the one-roomed dwelling consisting of wood walls with thatched roofs made of palm fronds moves to someone else’s hut to rent theirs for the duration of your stay. For Lps. 50 a night (about $2.50) you get your own hut. They initially offered two huts for the eight of us, meaning we would have to sleep two each on the full-sized foam mattresses available. In the end they were able to provide two more huts and we ended up staying two in each hut. The one Max and I stayed in actually had two rooms… the one room typical in these huts was divided by a cardboard wall into a bedroom and a kitchen/dining/living area. From our hut we could see the ocean on both sides.
The kids that greeted us followed us to our houses, since they wanted to know where we would be living. I asked a little girl if they get a lot of tourists there, and she said yes. She also said she usually didn’t like them, because they are ugly, but she liked us because we are pretty. They all watched as Max and I put on sun block and asked if we can put some on then. We smeared the remaining sun block off our hands into theirs. They commented how now they were “cara-blanca” (white-faced) too, referring to the white look people get from putting on too much sun block. Max and I then went and talked to the Mom of one of the girls, because she wanted her mom to know she would be with us at the beach. The mother gladly gave her consent, and the girl along with a few other children played with us all day. They held our hands, hugged us, climbed on top of us… one little girl kept licking my hand and arm and telling me how salty I tasted. The morning went by fast and soon enough the women were calling us for lunch: fried fish caught by the men that morning, rice, and fried plantain. All the meals that followed included the same elements plus beans and tortillas sometimes. So good!!!
Sunday afternoon was spent snorkeling and chatting with the locals. The reef there is so amazing, hundreds of colored fish of all sizes and shapes, same with the plants and the coral. I panicked for a few moments when I found myself in the middle of a school of jelly fish. They stung a couple of times but the sensation was very mellow and went away in a couple of minutes. The reefs surrounding the Cayos Cochinos are said to me some of the most pristine in the Caribbean, with over 70% still healthy.
Later in the afternoon, we helped a couple of kids do their homework, took a nap, and chatted with the locals some more. Shower was a bucket of water over you, and since there was no electricity on the island, light was out with sunlight, although they connected a lamp to a car battery to provide us some light. After dinner we played the drums with our boat captain, Luis, and listened to some of their life stories. Slowly the kids and the women retreated to their houses and finally, at 9pm, it was time to shut the light off. We all went to our respective cabins where we slept with the windows opened to allow the ocean breeze to cool down the hot night.
The next morning, as soon as the sun rose, people were up and about their activities. In a community of fishermen, people can not afford the luxury of sleeping in. Max got out of bed and saw the kids getting ready to go to school, all wearing their cute blue and white uniforms getting on the school boat and going to Cayo Mayor to attend school for the day. After a delicious breakfast of eggs, beans, and fresh home-made flour tortillas Max and I decided to go snorkeling. The sunlight was a lot brighter than it had been the afternoon before and visibility was great. We saw all sorts of fish and coral and headed back when it started getting wavy and I started getting a little sea sick.
We all packed before lunch, ate, and headed back to Nueva Armenia. The boat ride was as slow as our ride there, but it was much hotter than before (mid-day instead of early morning). We must have all looked funny with towels over our heads and shoulders to protect us a bit from the sunlight.
The town of Nueva Armenia is separated from the ocean by a small, very shallow river. Once we reached the river our captain and his helper had to get off the boat and push it since the engine could not be used in such shallow waters. All of the sudden we noticed our boat was drifting with all of us inside it, and Luis was swimming towards shore… without us!!! His friend explained that some kids had freed his cattle and he had to go collect them before he could take us all the way to town. So we just waited…
Back in Armenia we collected our stuff, said our goodbyes and jumped into the pick-up that would take us back home. I managed to get a seat inside this time, but Max was out in the pick-up’s bed. It rained on our way back and he and the others got wet, but it was a much welcomed fresh water shower.
posted by Lynnette @ 12:23 AM
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