Honduras with the Fam

I have family in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and El Progreso

Last year when I came to Honduras with Jessie, we spent the majority of the time in San Pedro Sula. In all honestly it is a much prettier part of the country than the capital Tegucigalpa (pronounced Te-goo-see-galpa). However this time around Laura and I spent most of our time in Tegucigalpa and really got to explore all it had to offer. It’s a pretty big city situated in a valley surrounded by mountains (which makes the Tegucigalpa airport one of the most dangerous in the world to land in due to its short runway). Knowing how freaked out Jess was last year, I decided to keep this lil tidbit a secret from Laura.

The reason most people (including my entire family even Suyapa who lives there!) find the city so ugly is that there is very little greenery to the city whatsoever. It is all buildings, traffic and pollution. However travel 30 minutes up a beautiful mountain covered in lush vegetation and you arrive to a cute little artisan village called Valle de Angeles. The town depends 100% on tourism and is filled with cute little marketplaces - you know how much I LOVE artisan markets!

The following day, Suyapa a took us to explore downtown Tegucigalpa. She really wanted us to get to know the old centro so we could feel the true Tegus (the city's nickname). While there were a few pretty churches, plazas and more artisan shops, the downtown area did not have much to offer. It was still a nice activity to get us out of the house (by the end of the week we had memorized the TV schedule - American programming was quite a treat for us!) .

On another outing (Suyapa's attempt to entertain us) we went up to visit a giant statue of Christ. While Tegucigalpa's Cristo is no competition to that in Rio it was still really cool to go up to see it. The statue is situated on a hill overlooking the city. From here you can really get a grasp of just how big (and congested) the city is.

After spending 10 days in Tegus we finally headed to visit more family. We first stopped in El Progreso to have lunch with my tia Eda. Next we went to San Pedro Sula to eat dinner with my Tio Roberto's family. There is always a theme in visiting with my Honduran family and that is eating. I swear to you we have done nothing but eat amazing home cooked meals since we got here. My cousin Karol just had a baby girl, Camila, a month ago so it was quite exciting to visit with her! After dinner Laura and I went out with my cousin Roberto and a bunch of his friends.

my cousin Karol, new-born Camila and me

my cousin Roberto and me

out celebrating San Pedro Sula nightlife

All and all it was really great spending time with my family. I am really happy I am getting to know this side of the family. They of course asked when I would be returning next. As I will soon be employed and still have SO many places I want to travel to, I am not sure when that will be. But with Facebook and Skype we are all easily connected!