I ate a termite (on purpose!)

5/7
Went to use internet in the morning with Lola, and then went to buy pasteles de pollo to have for lunch in Pico Bonito. Lola, Heide, and I took a taxi to Ceiba and met up with Natasha, Anna, and Ruth at the bus terminal, where we were picked up by the tour group.
We stopped at Banana Republic (the Jungle River tour company’s housing in Ceiba, not the store!) in Ceiba to pick up two other girls who are from London and rode up to Pico Bonito with Natasha and me. When we got to the Jungle River Lodge, right on the Río Canjegral, they showed us our room and we got ready to go. The lodge is right above the river, and right in front below the lodge, there are a bunch of pools in the huge rocks that line the river, so you can lounge in them right next to the river – it’s a gorgeous place!
All the other girls were going rafting, but I chose to do hiking instead, and the guy just came up to our group and asked who was hiking, and said, let’s go! So it was just me and a guide – I lucked out! Luis, my guide, only speaks Spanish (besides a few tour-related words in English), so it was great getting to speak only in Spanish for a few hours! One of the other guys drove us down to where we started the hike (Los Lobos finca), and then we were on our way. It’s 40 lempira a person to access Pico Bonito from Los Lobos, and once we paid the guy that lives there, we walked through the cacao trees to the river. Luis said Honduras grows a lot of cacao, dries it, and then sends it to the chocolate manufacturers. We walked through the river (the rocks next to it reminded me a lot of the rivers at home) to the other side, where we really started the jungle hike. He warned me when we started the jungle part to watch my step, and where I put my hands, as there can be snakes, tarantulas, scorpions, and bugs that are best avoided! One of the first trees that he pointed out has a big trunk with thinner bits at the bottom (it looks kind of like thin, broad roots above the ground), which he said can be used for communication in the jungle – he hit it with a rock and it made a loud, low noise that would be able to be heard from a long way away. We also saw a little animal on a tree trunk, though I’m not sure what exactly it was – something brown and furry! It looked like about the size of a really big hamster. We also saw some leaves that can be used to make roofs and a couple of frogs, one which was really tiny – about the size of my fingernail. Luis also showed me a snail that they eat in that region and that is used in Garífuna dishes (in addition to the much larger conch).We walked for around 25 minutes up to a waterfall where there was a pool that you can swim in. I got in, and man, was it freezing at first! Luis walked up to a point above the pool and jumped in from there – I chose to pass on that, but next time maybe I’ll give it a shot! I was a bit nervous to jump after having read recently about a GMB volunteer who badly injured her spine and spinal cord while swimming in Panama, but the water’s deep enough and there aren’t many rocks to hit on the way down. We sat on the rocks under the waterfall for a while – it was so amazing to sit under a waterfall looking out at the jungle!! On our way to the next waterfall, we saw a little crab (I was surprised to see one so far from water!) that was exploding with babies. He commented that it was like a typical Honduran with lots of babies. I told him about how my students had asked if I had any kids, and when I said, no, people in the US don’t usually have kids til they’re around 26, 27 or more, they were like, “WHAT?! Girls here have them at 12, 15, 16..” (the median age for a first-time mom here is around 17). Then we climbed some more to a HUGE waterfall (he said on the next hike that it’s 80 meters) that looked like something from a travel brochure or one of those backgrounds that comes with your computer. There are some really big rocks around the base of it, so we hung out there for quite a while, just lying in the sun, talking, and enjoying our surroundings! It was so cool to lie there and look up to see a waterfall, birds, and intensely bright green trees against the bright blue sky and puffy white clouds, and to hear nothing but tropical birds (and the occasional insect). As we were walking to the next spot, we saw a leaf called “oreja de elefante,” a huge, thick leaf - he said when it rains sometimes women will pick one and use it as an umbrella. From the waterfall, we walked up to a point where you could see really far – we could see Ceiba and all the way to the coast, and Luis said on clearer days you can see all the way to Cayos Cochinos and the bay islands. On the walk back, we saw lots of types of trees and he told me about various trees and plants. One that he showed me is called el “indio desnudo,” or also “el arból del turista” – the tourist tree, because its skin peels off. We also came across a tree with termites, and he stuck his hand in so it got a bunch on it. I said I’d heard they taste like mint, and he said yes, like mint and carrot – he ate one, and then I tried one, and he’s right! It was just a tiny one, and I squished it a little so it wasn’t still moving when it was in my mouth – it actually wasn’t bad. Afterwards, he rubbed them all over his hands and said that it is a natural mosquito repellant, so if you don’t have any repellant, you can go find some termites and rub them all over yourself! It actually smelled pretty good, though the thought is not very appealing. He said there are only two venomous snakes in Honduras – the barba amarilla and the coral, but that we had to watch out for the barba amarilla (“yellow beard”) because its skin is the same color as the leaves on the ground. On our way back, Luis also showed me a plant which you can eat, and said that pregnant women like to eat it with salt on it. It tasted like cucumber-vinegar salad – not bad! We walked through a finca which has chickens, bananas, plantains, fish ponds, and herbs – there is one family that is allowed to live on this side of Pico Bonito. The rest of this side is off-limits for hunting, cutting trees, and building, but on the other side, people are allowed to build houses and live there. We also saw a coffee plant there. He showed me a bunch of different plants and crushed them up in his hands so I could smell them – there were so many good-smelling ones. He picked one flower and kept it til we got to the river, and then showed me how if you rub it between your hands and add water, it makes a natural kind of soap that foams up. When we crossed the river back to the hotel, he took my things and walked across the more difficult part to walk while I swam back through a deeper spot.
When we got back, there was fresh fruit to eat - watermelon, cantaloupe, banana, and pineapple – so delicious. The girls had gotten back from rafting a while earlier, and we had caipiriñas (delicious mix of ice, lime, sugar, and cachaza [aka aguardiente, a liquor made from fermented sugarcane]) while we waited for dinner. The lodge is an open-air deck with a roof, and was all lit up with candles at night – it was really nice. We had chicken, potatoes, rice/beans, and veggies for dinner – very good!
After dinner, Heide and I walked down to the pools to lie on the rocks and look at the stars – it was cloudy, so we couldn’t see as many as you’d be able to without the clouds, but there were still quite a few since it was so dark – and a clear crescent moon.

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