Lietuviskas aprasymas zemiau
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Day 28: First Garifuna Tunes
March 7, 2006
With all due respect to the Maya World, after the marathon of the Maya ruins we were so ready for something different… and the change as soon as we reached the Garifuna villages on the northern coast of Honduras. First, the northern part of Honduras, which stretches along the sandy Caribbean coast, is on the whole much more attractive than the mainland. Second, all the mysterious Garifuna villages are located on the northern coast. And finally, on the Caribbean coast there is La Ceiba, the gateway to the Islas de la Bahia (Bay Islands) where we'll hopefully learn to dive - an old dream is about to finally come true!
Probably the most unusual people of northern Honduras are the Garifuna, a mixture of Africans and Carib Indians, brought to the Islas de la Bahia in the 18th century, from where they later spread to the mainland and established little fishing villages along the Caribbean coast. They still speak their own different language and have their own religion, music, dance, food and lifestyle patterns. Life is slow and dreamy is the Garifuna world. You may love it or hate it, but you will definitely agree that it's different - and that's exactly what we've been looking for!
Some of the Garifuna villages eventually developed into bigger towns, like Puerto Cortes, Tela, La Ceiba and Trujillo. Tela was our first encounter with the Garifuna. The first and most general impression: the Garifuna people are very friendly and love to talk. Second, there are a lot of fellow travelers in Tela. Third, the seafood in the Garifuna villages is exceptionally good, and their music and dancing is something you would be stupid to miss. Tela itself is not too exiting, but if you can afford a USD 25 splurge in the Maya Vista Hotel on top of the hill, you will spend one of the most luxurious evenings of your trip: just swing in a hammock on the patio or sit back in the cozy little restaurant sipping a margarita (get your butt there early, the tiny restaurant seems to be the most popular place in town at dinner time), and enjoy the splendid sights of the town and the Caribbean Sea.
Maya Vista was also the place where we met Michelle from Canada, Gianluca
from Italy and Loki, the black little kitty of Central American origin (in
fact, those guys spotted us first :)). Turned out they were also traversing
the Americas, just like us! There were several "slight" differences,
though - the Canadian-Italian team was virtually living on the road: they
made it from Canada to Honduras in 3 years!! (and we thought 22 days in Mexico
was a lot… :)) They also had a van twice bigger than ours, Ford Econoline,
in which they could sleep, cook, use any electrical devices, hide Loki, if
necessary, and most importantly have their entire "house" with them
at all times.
Turned out that at the time-being all of us had the same goal: to somehow get to Roatan (one of the islands of Islas de la Bahia) together with our vehicles. Michelle and Gianluca had some disturbing news for us - they had already called the port of La Ceiba and found out there were no official car ferries to the islands. Another option, a transfer on a cargo boat would cost around USD 300-600 per vehicle - a price which is ridiculously high for the short distance between La Caiba and Roatan, and is absolutely incompatible with our budgets.... We spent the rest of the night sharing our travel experiences and working on a plan how all of us together could get a better deal for the car transfer to Roatan.
Cick on the pictures to enlarge
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Yet another model of Central American taxi
Gal bus sunkoka patiketi, bet sis raudonas objektas po medziu yra taxi :) |
Objects in the distance may be dirtier than they appear...
Tela graziausiai atrodo nuo kalno virsunes... |
New reports, new reports.... How about a new Margarita first!!
Jums tik naujienu, naujienu... O kur mano margarita??! |
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One of those happy - hippie days
Veidrodeli, pasakyk.... |
I feel pretty, oh so pretty... :)
.... kas pasaulyje graziausias?... |
Nuvesk pelyte virs paveiksliuko, spustelk jos kaire ausele, ir paveiksliukas padides
28-oji diena: Pirmieji Garifuna ritmai
2006 m. kovo 7
Pradesim nuo to, kad arba Copan'e durniu nera, arba apsistojom strategiskai prastoj vietoj, nes visa nakti issimiegojom be nuotykiu :) Jau vakar nusprendeme, kad su Majais ir ju griuvesiais kuriam laikui baigta - ir taip jau truputi perdozavom (pirmieji padauginimo simptomai - visi griuvesiai supanaseja, ir smegenims pradeda sunkokai sektis prie matytu vaizdu priskirti teisingus pavadinimus). Laikas permainoms.
Naujienu ilgai ieskoti nereikia. Per nepilna pusdieni privaziuojam Karibu
jura - siaurine Honduro pakrante. Siaurinis Honduras - tarytum visiskai kita
salis: zalesne, grazesne, tvarkingesne, ramesne, zmones draugiskesni, net
ir sautuvu cia, atrodo, pastebejom maziau; o zinojimas, kad esame jau visai
arti Islas de la Bahia salu ir Roatano (viena is 3 salu), kuriame pagaliau
issipildys sena svajone - mokysimes nardyti (scuba), suteikia siaurinei pakrantei
dar daugiau zavesio :)) Taciau didziausia naujove cia niekada nebuvusiems
- palei visa Karibu pakrante isikure Garifuna kaimeliai.
Pasirodo, musu proproseneliai europieciai Centrineje Amerikoje paliko nebloga
betvarke: isnaikine arba paverge didziaja dali vietiniu indenu, veliau patys
su jais susimaise; o kad nepasirodytu per paprasta, 18-tame amziuje darbams
plantacijose I Roatano sala dar atgabeno juodaodziu is Afrikos, kurie, savo
ruoztu, susimaise su vietiniais karibu indenais ir per pora simtmeciu pasklido
po visa siaurine Honduro pakrante. Sie linksmi ir labai draugiski juodukai,
nei kiek nepanasus I tipiskus honduriecius, ir yra tai, ka siandien vadiname
"Garifuna".
Garifuna zmones nepanasus I jokia kita Centrines Amerikos tauta - jie turi savo kalba, religija, tradicijas, muzika, tautinius sokius, unikalius patiekalus… Ko gero, ispudingiausia - Garifuna muzika ir sokiai. Sito neaprasysi - reikia isgirsti ir pamatyti. O juros gerybiu sriuba, kurios PRIVALOMA paragauti tradicinese Garifuna uzkandinese ant Karibu juros kranto, gali rungtis su garsiausiu pasaulio sefu sedevrais.
Dauguma Garifuna gyvenvieciu taip ir liko mazi, apsepe zveju kaimeliai, taciau vienas kitas, kaip kad graziais papludimiais garsejanti Tela, pagrindinis uostas La Ceiba ir Kolono regiono sostine Trujillo, isaugo I nemazus miestus. Pirmaji is ju, Tela, vakarop ir privaziavom.
Nors ir labai isgirta turizmo knygose, graziausia Tela mums vis tik pasirode
is toli :) Tiksliau, is virsaus - nuo aukstos kalvos, ant kurios isitaises
geriausias miesto viesbutis "Maya Vista" Uz toki vaizda (visas miestas,
pakrante ir Karibu jura - kaip is paukscio skrydzio) nepagailejom net $25.
Be to, reikia ki kada nors pagyventi geriausiame miesto viesbutyje! :)
Ta pati vakara Maya Vista'oje susitikome Michelle is Kanados, Gianluca is Italijos, ir ju maza juoda kaciuka Loki is kazkurios Centrines Amerikos salies :) Besikalbant suzinom, kad jie irgi vaziuoja per Amerikas su savo masina! Butu visai kaip mes, jei ne keli "nezymus" skirtumai: visu pirma, ju masina yra didziulis Ford Econoline, kuriame uztenka lovos ir miegamajam, ir virtuvei, todel Michelle ir Gianluca praktiskai keliauja kartu su savo namais :) Antra, mes vaziuojame truputi greiciau - Kanados-Italijos komanda atstuma nuo Kanados iki Honduro iveike per 3 metus :) Paaiskinimas paprastas - jie neturi kelionei paskirto biudzeto, todel uzsidirba keliaudami. Kai susitikom, buvo neseniai atvaziave is Meksikos, kurioj 2 metus pradirbo gidais Maju archeologiniuose parkuose. Sutaupytu pinigu uzteko kelionei iki Honduro, taciau cia vel reikes padirbeti. Anot musu naujuju pazistamu, taip keliauti nelengva, bet imanoma - kelias uzsienio kalbas mokantiems zmonems darbo "turistinese zonose" paprastai atsiranda, taciau atlyginimai "vietinio" dydzio, todel ir kelione nuo Kanados iki Honduro gali issitesti iki 3 metu. Kitaip tariant, skirtingas keliavimo budas :)
Besisnekuciuodami issiaiskinam, kad Michelle, Gianluca ir Loki taip pat noretu persikelti I Roatana su masina. Jie jau spejo pasiskambinti I La Ceiba keltu terminala, ir, deja, pranesa mums gana prasta naujiena: oficialiu keltu masinoms I salas is viso nera, o vienintele alternatyva - krovininis laivas, kuris sutiktu perkelti masina - kainuotu $300-$600, priklausomai nuo masinos dydzio. Savaime suprantama, kad apie tokia kaina negali buti net kalbos! Visu pirma, tiek daug isleisti sitoje vietoje neplanavome; o visu antra - uz toki trumpa atstuma kaip La Ceiba- Roatan tiek nemoketumem is principo, net jeigu turetumem per daug pinigu - dar niekad neteko regeti sitokios absurdiskos masinos perkelimo kainos!! Ka gi, visada lieka treciasis variantas - keltis I Roatana be masinos…
Palikti masinas kelioms savaitems Hondure nelabai norim nei mes, nei musu draugai. Todel nutariame, kad, pries ka nors nuspresdami, rytoj visi kartu vaziuosim I La Ceiba uosta - o gal rasim daugiau krovininiu laivu, arba dviems masinoms issideresim geresne kaina… Galu gale, 5 galvos geriau, negu 2 :)
