Travel – Page 7 – Laurie Apgar Chandler

Just beyond my door

Honduras is waking up around me. In the distance is the soft coo of a dove, but most of the voices from the verdant garden are louder, raucous, as full of life as the vibrant flowers that bloom just beyond my door. I was awake this morning while the world still slept, journaling. Bedtime had come early last evening after the day traveling and evening visiting and sampling the microbrews with new friends here at D&D in Los Naranjos.

Yesterday morning we set our alarms for 3 am or 1 am here. My flights were both on time, efficiently depositing me (and a plane full of mission teams in their matching colored shirts) at the San Pedro Sula airport in record time. Roman was there to meet me, holding a neatly printed “Laurie Chandler” sign, a shout of welcome in the steamy bustle.

Must say farewell for now because Walter the guide and I are going birding and hiking in Cerro Azul Meambar National Park in a little while. First, though, some local coffee, fruit, and granola!

The slow road home

Coming home last Sunday, I took the scenic route. Somehow my GPS knew that I had some time for exploring. (For an instrument so obsessed with the word “recalculating,” it is still pretty smart.) This is the Martin Bridge, a covered bridge built in 1890 on a Vermont farm. It is the last privately-constructed covered bridge in existence in the state and was designed to be especially tall to accommodate wagons piled high with loose hay. Feeling the need to stretch my legs, I wandered the property, found an old dump, and saw lots of red-winged blackbirds. The prize, though, was a bobolink. It looked vaguely familiar, but I had to consult the bird book at home to learn its name.