Kayaking on the Rio Zacate

Continuing to live the adventurous life that I do, on Saturday I joined in with a kayaking trip on the Rio Zacate with Sam, Gregory, and a really wonderful couple from Durango, Colorado.

Much different than the Cacao Lagoon (where I went kayaking twice previously), the river had a slow-moving current which made paddling (and keeping straight) much easier.

We started on the open river and then took a turn into a lagoon area which was narrow, shaded, and filled with wildlife. Within our first few seconds kayaking on the channel, we saw a family of howler monkeys, vampire bats camouflaged on a tree, and a beautiful blue heron.

We stopped mid-way to check out a local farm, which grew just about everything - cinnamon, cilantro, papayas, pineapples, rice, and coconuts! It's like straight out of island-vacation advertisements except its real life. My real life!

Post-farm, we kayaked out to the ocean and had a nice picnic on the beach. It was a sandy beach with lots of little pebbles that you could hear fall with each crash of the waves.

Aside from the kayaking, the drive their and back was very interesting. We had to pass through an industrialized farm run by Standard Fruit (i.e. Dole). It's such a contrast between what I'm used to seeing, which are small, local, organic farms.

These farms were ugly, big spans of pineapple fields and heavy duty John Deere machinery spraying pesticides. All of the workers are local and are paid minimal wages (a couple dollars a day) and the rest of the financial profit is sent out of the country. Doesn't want to make you buy fruit from these big brand companies, does it?

We drove through a little village as well before we hit the main road to La Ceiba. Pretty typical for the agricultural areas of Honduras.

Overall, a really fantastic trip! Thanks Sam for allowing me to tag along! I didn't get tan, but that's ok. It's probably better for my skin anyway! After kayaking most of the day, I had a post trip beer and a stellar nap. Super happy and super rested!

Check in tomorrow for AA Tuesday and photos from up the valley!

Mosquito Bites: 2
Weird heat rash on my back: 1