Lago de Yojoa

On Saturday I had an 11 hour journey from Utila to Lago de Yojoa - a ferry, a taxi, two buses, and a 10 minute walk. (Am I the only one somewhat amused by all of the types of transport I have to use in any given day? I keep mentioning it, but are all of you out there like, "why does she keep telling us that?") I woke up for that journey at 5:45am and had only gotten about three hours of sleep because it was too hot to sleep. By the time 9:30pm rolled around I was completely exhausted and crashed for the next 12 hours. It was glorious. Especially because it's cooler here and it was MUCH easier to sleep.

I had high hopes for exploring the lake and surrounding area on Sunday, but after a looooong leisurely breakfast, well, that used up just about all the energy I had! Instead, I read, surfed the internet, sent out accommodation requests to couchsurfers and hotels, and did a bit of Nicaragua planning. There may have been a beer or two in there as well, consumed during conversations with other travelers (I am staying at a place called D&D Brewery, after all!). But that's about it for the entire day.

So Monday came, today, and I knew I had to get out there and do something, maybe even take a picture or two. I figured seeing the lake I came to see would be a good start, but I mistakenly thought I was much closer to it than I am (Santa Cruz de la Laguna close) and, as it turns out, it's about a 35 minute walk/hike away. No worries, after the laziness of yesterday, I needed the exercise.

I consulted a map, double-checked it with one of the staff, and was off. Along the way I snapped a pic or two and greeted people who were fishing from the riverbank. It was a warm day, but I was still grateful for the long pants and longish sleeves I was wearing because it helped protect me from the brambles and other pokey, grabby things. 

Now, I don't know where exactly I lost the trail (or even if I was truly on it to begin with), but I figured I'd power through it - swampy, shoe-sucking muddy reeds and all - because as long as I walked along the river I'd eventually come to the lake. And that's true. I would have. Eventually. But before that could happen, I realized that I was in about knee-depth water (definitely no path in sight by this time!) and I was still pretty far from my destination. Lucky for me, a group of four hondureños had been pacing me in their rowboat for about the last five minutes or so. They must've had pity on the crazy girl trudging along and called to me in Spanish to get into the boat. I gladly accepted because I needed the help for sure!

When we got to the lake, they asked me where I was going and all four cracked up when I replied "no se" (I don't know). I really didn't know, I just knew I wanted to take pretty pictures of the lake! Eventually we got to the lakefront and all piled out of the boat. They joked and laughed and skipped rocks while I took pictures, and they climbed back in and told me "let's go!" Awesome, looks like I was gonna get a ride back, too, yay! They took me much further past where they picked me up which was so nice.

I indicated where they could drop me off and asked if I could pay them. (By the way, SO proud of myself for that sentence: ¿puedo te pago? I just finished the Duolingo lesson on clitic pronouns and it was a BEAST. I didn't understand them when I first learned them in high school and I struggled with them this time, too. But damn if I didn't get it right when I needed to!) Anyway, in typical Honduran fashion, they refused to take the money I offered, but I insisted. I wished them a good day and said goodbye (and that's when one of the guys got cheeky and made kissy noises at me haha).

And that was my big adventure for the day. Now I'm back to doing what I did yesterday. :-)