Fuerte de San Fernando – Laurie Apgar Chandler

Hello from the Atlanta airport, where the restaurant waiter seems astounded that all I want to eat is salad and bread (not that I didn’t enjoy the Honduran food). By the early hours of the Fourth of July, I’ll be back in my own bed. My photos from the village are on my camera (not my phone), so I’ll be posting the news from our time there soon.

Yesterday our mission team headed to Omoa, to visit an old Spanish fort in what was once the busiest port in Central America and to relax and swim on a Caribbean beach.

This is absolutely the best picture I have ever had of myself with dear friends Tula and Reinaldo. In the background is the 18th century fort of San Fernando de Omoa, built to protect huge shipments of gold and silver from English and French pirates.

Our guide Julio spoke English quite well and unfurled the history of the fort with humor. Here we see the shield of the king of Spain .

The fort was finished in 1775, after 16 years of labor by 650 African-American slaves. Their heritage is reflected in the black population of parts of Honduras. Our guide Julio sang for us, demonstrating the acoustic properties of the chapel, described the tortuous punishments for wayward soldiers, and left us alone to enjoy the fruit bats that now inhabit some rooms of the fort. Of course, I loved that!