Circuses and mud baths...

Well, I know you've been waiting for the rainforest photo shoot. Turns out that instead, my stomach had other plans at La Tigra and I spent most of the weekend getting rid of some food poisoning instead of posing next to the monkeys.

After we breezed through the last bit of school (which was full of chaotic details), we took Abbie on a vacation through Honduras. She spent the whole month volunteering at various schools--one bi-lingual Christian school in the outskirts of town, one deaf school ("I was two languages away," she said), and also getting a firsthand look at the work of the Micah House. We all earned a bit of vacation time--and while Tegus has a certain amount of beauty, she needed to see some of the Honduran gems before she left.

We began with Tela, the beach town of the city folk (about 7 hours from here). There, we stayed the night at a lovely spot on the beachfront, Cesar's. Then, we drove over to Sambo Creek, a Garifuna town just west of La Ceiba. We stayed at a charming place called Villa Helen's and began a real vacation, including seeing the Moscow Circus perfom, snorkeling with them the next day (for real!), and zip-lining through the jungle and ending in a hot spring with fresh pineapple being served to us on a platter. Plus, we had a mud bath. I know, right? Even Colin dipped in. After the beach, we drove another 7 hours to visit the Mayan Ruinas in Copan. This great little town served up some amazing food, and we were taken back in time as we roomed for several hours through the ruins. The trip ended on a winding road that brought about some car sickness, but hey! What a vacation! Here are a few of the photos.

This is our tabloid shot--Cesar's had a pool on top of the hotel. Oh yeah!

This was one of Abbie's best sunset pics (Mike, we had you in mind as she showed us all the pictures)

Nothing more romantic than a few cows making their way across the beach...

This was at the Moscow Circus! We were the only gringos enjoying the show--which was SPECTACULAR! Everything from giraffes, tigers jumping through fire, clowns entertaining the crowds (we were laughing out loud), and even a tightrope walker!

This chic was something else! She could juggle everything with her feet! The guys handing her the items behind her really enjoyed their job, too.

We showed up for our snorkeling adventure the following day and guess who came with us? These were a few of the circus performers: first row-dancer and tightrope walker (zebra speedo), second row-cello juggler, tightrope walker (she weighed no more than 80 lbs) and performer, back row-performer and our snorkeling guide.

It's hard to get Colin out of the water when we snorkel--he LOVES it! Abbie and Colin actually got to see a spotted sting ray within a few feet of them.

Cayos Caychinos--the island and keys where we snorkeled....

Our new island friend, Gisela. She and I had a good little Spanish chat on the beach. As I was leaving, she asked, "Are you leaving for always?"

This is where we stopped for lunch of the fresh catch of the day with rice and beans....mmm...And a banana soda (it tastes similar to cream soda--so good!)

Such a beautiful place--and coral was washing up on the beach! (along with plastic bottles, but we won't go into that right now.

This tree is pretty famous. It's the only tree living on the volcanic rock--there is no soil of any kind, however, the volcanic material is full of nutrients, keeping this arbol alive for over 100 years.

The end of our lovely day on the islands (this was taken by our circus friends)

This was at the top of the zip line before we canopied through the rain forest

Such fun! We went on one zipline that was 1 km long (20 lines in all)

We had a blast together--and Abbie was continually hit on by the guides. 

After ziplining through the rainforest, we took a mud bath and rinsed off in the hot springs. Pretty tropical...

  

The Roberts' clan

Colin in front of the SUPER hot springs...you can't sit in these waters.

After the beach, we drove down into the mountains to visit the largest Mayan Ruins in Central America--so the Hondurans boast. It was mighty impressive.

Behind us is the homes of the Mayans and their graveyards. They buried their dead underneath their homes to remain close to them even in death.

This was the playing field of one of the most deadly ball games of the Mayans. However, it was the winner who would lose their head, not the loser. To give your life to the gods was the honor. 

The Mayans came from Mongolia. The minute we learned that, so much of their art and sculpture made sense! You can see the Asian influence.

We had such fun with Abbie--she made our end of the year absolutely wonderful. 

I have my very own restaurant in Copan. :) They have good coffee and eggs (especially when you add the Don Julio sauce!).

This young mother sat beside us during dinner, waiting for us to help her feed her son. Her son was such a cutie--and she was able to take home lots of food. .