Southwest Caye and Punta Sal, Honduras
A mix has made the Caribbean. Wind, waves, plants and people have met here to form a world like none other.
When we come to the Caribbean, we have a stereotypic notion of the islands, full of bananas and coconut trees. In fact, not one coconut or banana tree was here when the Europeans arrived; they were introduced. It is amazing how we have changed the physiognomy of our planet by exchanging animals and plants from all over. Now it’s hard to know what is native and what is exotic.
Here in eastern Central America the prevailing trade winds blow straight from the Sahara Desert. Crossing the Atlantic, they pick up a tremendous amount of moisture, and keep everything here lush and exuberant. Trade winds stirred the seas as we navigated from the mainland to the islands.
We spent an afternoon and night at Utila, enjoying the flavor and atmosphere of this westernmost of the Honduran Bay Islands. Where better can one enjoy the spicy blend of Indian, African, and European culture? Here in the Caribbean Islands one can see the rich ethnic blend of people from different corners of the planet. A generously proportioned woman swaying to a calypso beat as she works her homemade broom, breadfruit trees and fried bananas, snapper cooked in coconut oil, the smell of the handmade tortillas: these are some of the features imprinted in our brains. They’ll make us want to come back to the Caribbean.
We spent a leisurely morning at Southwest Caye. Here we swam with gorgeous fish and strolled under palms. None of us wanted to leave, as if each wanted to catch one last breath of moist salty air, hoping to carry it home.
In the afternoon we visited Punta Sal by kayak and Zodiac: what a way to end a trip in the tropics! We saw trogons and oropendolas nesting, heard the scream of howler monkeys, and waved to locals paddling by in dugout canoes.
A mix has made the Caribbean. Wind, waves, plants and people have met here to form a world like none other.
When we come to the Caribbean, we have a stereotypic notion of the islands, full of bananas and coconut trees. In fact, not one coconut or banana tree was here when the Europeans arrived; they were introduced. It is amazing how we have changed the physiognomy of our planet by exchanging animals and plants from all over. Now it’s hard to know what is native and what is exotic.
Here in eastern Central America the prevailing trade winds blow straight from the Sahara Desert. Crossing the Atlantic, they pick up a tremendous amount of moisture, and keep everything here lush and exuberant. Trade winds stirred the seas as we navigated from the mainland to the islands.
We spent an afternoon and night at Utila, enjoying the flavor and atmosphere of this westernmost of the Honduran Bay Islands. Where better can one enjoy the spicy blend of Indian, African, and European culture? Here in the Caribbean Islands one can see the rich ethnic blend of people from different corners of the planet. A generously proportioned woman swaying to a calypso beat as she works her homemade broom, breadfruit trees and fried bananas, snapper cooked in coconut oil, the smell of the handmade tortillas: these are some of the features imprinted in our brains. They’ll make us want to come back to the Caribbean.
We spent a leisurely morning at Southwest Caye. Here we swam with gorgeous fish and strolled under palms. None of us wanted to leave, as if each wanted to catch one last breath of moist salty air, hoping to carry it home.
In the afternoon we visited Punta Sal by kayak and Zodiac: what a way to end a trip in the tropics! We saw trogons and oropendolas nesting, heard the scream of howler monkeys, and waved to locals paddling by in dugout canoes.
