"A Friend For Life"

This weekend, we decided to once again travel to Isla De Tigre; on the southernmost part of Honduras for a couple of days of R&R. I have to say that it was by far one of the best decisions I've made during my time here, despite the fact that it involved 7 hours of travel in both directions, and a small child practically vomiting on our feet on the excursion home while his mother slept soundly.

In any case, we arrived on the island pretty early on Friday. I decided to sun myself on the beach for a couple of hours (big surprise) and ended up talking with a local by the name of Noel. Later on in the day, he ended up giving us a ride over to Playa Negra to swim and enjoy more sun (which I did not need at this point). In any case, what was really special about this whole situation was that Noel insisted on buying us mangoes from the locals on the way down. He also waited with us during our 2 hours on the beach, and afterward led us to the home of one of his distant family members, proudly boasting that he had a place for us to shower. We ended up in a backyard washing the sand off our bodies with a bucket (which I essentially do consider a "shower" at this point in my time here). Where else would you get this type of service and attention? Only on Isle de Tigre!

In any case, our time on the island was beautiful, but a bit heartbreaking. As I said in an earlier post, the island itself holds such natural beauty that I could imagine remaining there for the rest of my life and being perfectly content. The sunsets are beyond marvelous. The mountains surrounding create a perfect setting for photo opportunities. As mentioned earlier though; these resources are being under utilized due to a lack of financial resources. The poverty on the island seems to be a degree worse than the poverty on the mainland.

We ended up staying our second night on the island in the house next door. There is a sweet couple living there who were renting out one room for 300 lempira a night, right next door the restaurant where we have eaten all of our meals during our past two trips. (As a side note, the owner of the hotel brought us out this delicious cornbread type of treat "on the house" last night as we downed our 4 cups of coffee. I think they must think all Americans are caffeine addicts after dealing with the likes of us for 3 days!) In any case; back to the owners of our humble abode for last night. Their names were MariaJesus and Adolpho, and we ended up sitting outside with them for several hours talking about the history of the island and their family who had departed to make a better life for themselves in the States, and also in Spain. I was surprised to learn that the island population is just 1300 people, and that most have fled to Tegus to seek work. What a shame that such a beautiful place is becoming deserted for the mere fact that there is no work to be found. I wish I could share the natural beauty of this destination with you all.

Today when we left, I was talking to one of the boat drivers and telling him how much I liked his "Playa Burro" shirt, complete with a moose swigging a hefty sized beer mug. He started to take it off of his body, saying he wanted to give it to me as a gift. I thought of the expression of "giving someone the shirt off their back" and have to admit that I did have some tears in my eyes as we coasted away from the island. When we got off at the dock in Coyolito to board the bus, one of the men who helped us out said "you have friends for life here. We know you now. Come back home again." I left with a number in my phone for the hotel, with a promise to go back again. I think I have fallen just as in love with Isla de Tigre as I have Juticalpa! I feel a longing to go back already!!!!