Amalia, who works with Helping Honduras Kids, has been like a grandma to me here. Making us meals and looking in on us, it wouldn´t be the same without her. To add to her kindness, she set up a trip to the Cuero Y Salado Wildlife Refuge. To get there, we had to take a little train that was built from the chassis of a little truck. The railroad ties looked like they were put together with a soldering iron, but we never got out of first gear so any kind of crash would have been a slow-motion comedy at best.
The refuge borders the beach and is filled with mangrove trees. The way to see it is by boat. We had a tour guide take us through the waters pointing out the various animals. Home to a variety of animals, the trees teem with life, emitting constant noises of bird calls, bellowing frogs, and the infamous howling monkeys.
The Howler Monkeys create a bone chilling sound that makes you feel like you are in a prehistoric land and humans are no longer at the top of the food chain. Pirates used to use the waters in the refuge as a hide away. When they first arrived, they were afraid to go ashore because they didn´t know what made the thunderous howling noises. Once you see the monkeys though, you are amazed that such a small thing can belt out that noise.
They also have crocodiles in the swamp, one of which we got up close and personal with. The guide was able to spot his two beady eyes from 50 feet away. When we got up close, the two little beady eyes were only the tip of the iceberg. What had appeared as a little croc turned out to be a 7-8 foot ´beaut´! When he finally got sick of us, he splashed down in the water sending the 3 women in the boat into a fit, ¨Vamanos, Vamanos!¨
No comments:
Post a Comment