Damn it Feels Good to Be Back in Latin America

As I looked out of my window on the final approach into San Pedro Sula, Honduras, all I saw was a sea of green. A canopy of trees covered the rolling hills that stretched to the mountains on the horizon. Here and there, small silver reflections of roofs dotted the landscape. The lower we got, the foggier the windows became from the impending heat and humidity. After landing, I passed through customs, grabbed some lempiras from an ATM and jumped into a cab with an American working in Tegucigalpa.

As we careened and raced down the dusty, sign-less road towards San Pedro’s bus terminal, I couldn’t help but notice a wide grin slowly forming across my face.

Leaving San Pedro.

I was back baby. Back in the land of dusty roads, chicken buses, crazy drivers, heat and humidity, unpredictable water and electricity, toilet paper in wastebaskets, mosquitoes, bugs and jungles. It had been over a year since I left South America but in that moment all the familiar sights, smells and sounds rushed back.

Backpacking in a third world country is almost always a rough and tumble affair, and can sometimes be scary, hectic and even downright ugly. But what is always present is a sense of adventure and discovery. My 12 days in Honduras took me from Mayan ruins, to an all-night rave, diving, white water rafting and off-road motobiking. I would run through the full gamut of emotions: from sheer bliss, to frustration, to pure misery. And along the way, I’d have some great times, meet even better people and leave with many fond memories of Honduras.

On the road to Copan Ruinas.

There’s a beginning to every journey and mine started in Copan Ruinas.