Per our Honduran tradition all of us were asleep early and up early as well, even though this was our one day to sleep in late. We sat outside for breakfast which was eggs, toast, hashbrowns, and bacon. We also got pancakes. One of my memories from my first trip here was sitting outside the cafe and watching my grandfather (mom’s Dad) eat pancakes on our first morning here. The look of satisfaction and deliciousness on his face as he chewed the first bite is one I will never forget. He looked down and smiled at me then said that the panqueques were so good that he wanted to order them everyday. So on my first morning here I ordered eggs and bacon and, of course, panqueques. They were just as good as I remembered and I’m sure just as good as my grandfather had 25 years ago. I gave one of the pancakes to my brother and sure enough he made the same face and declared them delicious.
After breakfast we were back on the road. I always forget how much of our time in Honduras is spent in the back of a van. Today my uncle was taking us to a lake where they farm tilapia as well as served them fresh from the lake. Our first stop, however, was to the gas station. I thought that we were getting more petrol but we pulled up to the minimart instead so that Dad could buy another case of water. He came back with Toño and threw a small black bag into the backseat along with the water. Mom opened it to reveal two bags of Gorditos!! Gorditos are basically puffed cheez-doodles but 100x better then any other puffed cheese snack I’ve ever had anywhere in the world. I found them first by accident in the hotel gift shop when I was six and fell in love with them so much that it was the only thing I wanted to eat. When we were back here in 2008 I had the hardest time finding them because frito-lay had completely taken over the snack market and Gorditos could only be found in one supermarket. It seems the last ten years has been good to them because now they are everywhere! When I asked Nestor about it over dinner he said that they were the most popular chip in Honduras - everyone wants to eat them all the time. So being reunited with my favorite snack food of all time brought me right back again to being 6 in the back of a van filled with my family, bumping along a dirt road. (My aunt soon took them from me and polished off the bag but at least I got a couple and am saving the second bag just in case I don’t see them again).
Our journey after eating ice cream bars and a few Gorditos actually brought us down a barely paved road. Just like my first trip here all I could do was bump along in the van and hope that I wouldn’t hit my head. Toño was bringing us to view one of the naturally occurring waterfalls on the way. It was located in a small park where you can camp and go swimming in one of the natural pools. We walked down to the base of the waterfall and watched for a few moments the roaring water falling over the edge and splitting the jungle in half. It is a beautiful site to see but also very hot and sweaty. We took lots of photos of course plus some of the family all together before making the climb back up to the main area then all climbing back into the van.
The road from the waterfall to the tilapia farm was pretty smooth and very pretty. I did what I always do and took a nap while everyone else was having a conversation. I woke up and found that we had made it to our destination - the tilapia farm and restaurant on the lake. The restaurant looked totally different. The original set of tables and hammocks uber a tin roof was still there but next to it was a huge playground and on the other side was a restaurant that was enclosed with screens so the flys couldn’t get in. We sat down and unfortunately the table wasn’t large enough for all of us and our only two translators decided to sit together and the table next to us. Thankfully after sufficiently confusing the waiter my dad came back over to order for us. Everyone except Mom got the garlic grilled tilapia filets(she got fried) and Toño got the whole fish. After an incident with my late Honduran grandmother chasing me around the table with a fish eye on a fork, I refuse to have fish heads anywhere near me. This fish though was the best freakin fish I have ever had in my life. They also had my favorite pickled jalapeño, onion, carrot mixture which made it even more amazing. Mom had been eyeing the carrots in the jar so I gave her one and I thought she was going to die of the spice.
Well fed we took a few moments to take in the scenery of the lake nestled amongst the mountains before getting back in the van once more. The way home was long since it was rush hour there was a ton of traffic. We picked up Nestor and Mini then came back to the hotel. Originally we were going to go out to dinner but when we met up again in the lobby we decided to just eat in the hotel cafe.
It felt just like last time. All the kids at one table and all the adults at the other. We quickly began to realize how much we all had in common, us. Nestor and I both inherited the flat feet from our paternal great grandmother as well as her hatred of shoes. We all had dad’s who always stole the food from our plate growing up and we all love to plan our next meal while eating our current one. It was really amazing to see how many random quirks we had in common with each other. We were originally supposed to eat light but the Cafe Skandia at Gran Hotel Sula serves my second favorite thing to eat in Honduras - a life changingly delicious banana split. I had to get it and enjoyed every moment eating it.
Once we were done stuffing our faces we headed out to the lobby to say goodbye and take a family photo. Mini asked me why my Spanish had gotten so bad in the last ten years and I told her that I tried to learn too many languages so I forgot a lot of Spanish. When I mentioned sign language being one of them she lit up and asked me to teach her some signs. I was pretty pitiful at remembering how to say things but taught her a few of the basics. She seemed so happy.
We took another family photo of all of us in the lobby then said our farewells. We have a long and early journey ahead of us tomorrow to the Mayan ruins, the home of my ancestors, and I’m sure we’ll all be feeling our late night rager until 9pm.
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