The Dirty South

Twenty-eight hours on buses, 150 mosquito bites, zero turtles, six good friends, three Sobe Adrenalins, and six delicious baleadas later, I just arrived back to my site completely exhausted - but that is what’s to be expected after a weekend down in the Dirty South!

What was supposed to be a weekend working with freshly hatched seat turtles, turned into a lazy day on the beach when the last nest hatched the night we arrived - leaving us with no baby turtles to help get safely to sea.

As bummed as I was to wake up early Saturday morning to find out that we would not be able to spend our day playing with baby sea turtles, finally being down in the Dirty South, (as all the volunteers who live down there refer to it) I was ready for a day on the beach regardless! After gathering the troops - meaning the seven of us who had met to help with turtle-watch - and making our way to Cedeño - we walked along the beach to Cruz’s favorite hang-out spot. When we arrived in Cedeño and started walking to the beach, I was eagerly waiting to catch my first glimpse of the ocean. When that moment finally came, I was in heaven.

First glimpse of the Honduran Pacific Ocean!!!!

Having grown up on the water, being land-locked for so long has been a bit hard. But on Saturday, I was finally able to put my feet into the Honduran Pacific Ocean. I had heard the water down there was very warm and not refreshing when trying to cool off from the blistering-hot sun, but I was very lucky this weekend because 1- it was hot, but I could stand it and 2- the Pacific was actually refreshingly cool. This was because a few weeks ago the South was hit by practically hurricane-force winds and rain, and has yet to fully recover. I was happy I could gain some relief from the heat in the water, but that happiness was short-lived because after about three minutes in the water, I realized I was being stung all over by jelly fish.

Diving underwater to come up with blisters already forming around your wrist by a jelly fish you had accidentally broken in half with your crawl stroke, was not what I had in mind for an afternoon of swimming. But, it did flash me back to when I was in second grade on a family vacation to Florida. We arrived their right after a tropical storm and went to the beach with high hopes of lounging and swimming all day. The lounging could still be accomplished, but to mine, my mom’s, and my two sister’s surprise, we were not allowed to swim due to the jelly fish that the storm blew in. So, 17 years later, I was reduced to the same fate of sitting on the beach and staring longingly at the beautiful ocean.

Lounging on the beach with Nicaragua in the background!

I, however, did not let these jelly fish ruin my day at the beach. I soaked up some much-needed sun on my white legs, spent quality time with my friends, and lounged in hammocks. I was even able to let myself relax to the nostalgia of the boats cruising by with their 15 -25 horse Yamaha motors heading out to go fishing… it took me straight back to Port Alexander when my eyes were closed.

Hauling the outboard up the beach... not exactly the same, but the same general idea!

What truly amazed me about spending the day on the beach was that it was Cruz’s office. He is a business volunteer down there in the Dirty South, and he spends his “office hours” on that very beach. That boy ran into a bit of luck when you compare that to some of the volunteers who are sitting up at the top of mountains shivering their days away in clothes that just never seem to fully dry, in houses that are uninsulated.

The 14-hour bus ride to and from Choluteca is a bit daunting, but now that I know I can survive the heat to some extent, I know that I will be making more trips down there during the year and a half more I have here in Honduras. I will no longer let the temperature of a place discourage me from visiting somewhere- sorry Brian for missing your birthday party just because I was too frightened of the 90-100+ temperatures!

The mosquito bites...this lighting doesn't even do it justice.