Honduras: Flesh eating fish, insects and parasites in a Caribbean paradise
Last week I was in Haiti, the 26th most dangerous country in the world — today I arrive in Honduras, the 35th most dangerous according to global peace index. But these two countries don’t just share danger they were also both pre-colonial powerhouses whose cultures were almost entirely wiped out by the European invasion of the 1500s. As this week’s book The City of the Monkey God, by Douglas Preston explains, the Spanish “conquistadors”, would most likely not even have known the extent of the destruction they wrought as the germs they brought to the Americas travelled way ahead of them decimating cultures and leaving the people too weak to fight. The result is that ancient deserted cities still remain hidden in the rapidly disappearing Honduran forests. The book is about the search for perhaps the most mythic of these ancient kingdoms and the unintended effects of opening up a window to the past — such as a nasty dose of Leishmaniasis (don’t google it, you don’t want to know). It’s a bestselling page-turner which gives a rounded view of history and the ethics of archaeology. I was left convinced that if ever I visited Honduras I would be unlikely to go further than the heavenly island of Roatán!
I had originally planned on learning more about Roatán by watching the brain-out drama-romance of A place in the Caribbean. I’m sure it would have been fun, but I was tempted instead by Appointment in Honduras, a 1950s Glenn Ford film in which an American anti-hero heads through some embarrassingly badly designed sets (a boat, a jungle etc) to deliver money to a deposed political leader. It is similar to the City of the Monkey God as along the way they encounter flesh eating fish, insects, illness and armed insurgents, but nothing can stop our American hero and he manages to both win the girl and hand over the cash — no doubt leading to peace in our times!
One of the many joys of armchair travelling is that at no point in my journey did I have to deal with tropical diseases or a high murder rate. I did, however, perhaps for the first time, fail to find a truly inspiring musical soundtrack! All I can recommend with any honesty is the song Honduras by the incredible Peruvian group Dengue Dengue Dengue! I am presently listening to a playlist of tourist-catnip Honduran folk, so if you have any other tips, I would REALLY like them.
The playlist was a good-enough accompaniment to the wonderful Honduran recipes I made thanks to my new discovery, Vegan Globe Gobblers. From reading their blog and others, it seems that Honduran food is kind of like a blend of central American treats, from Mexico to El Salvador. I ended up making Beleadas — homemade tortilla, filled with homemade refried beans, guac and plantain. So simple, so delicious, I will return.
Regular readers of this blog will be able to immediately guess what drink I chose to celebrate the wonders of Honduras… a bottle of Pirate’s Grog spiced rum. It’s a blend of rums from the Caribbean, demerara sugar from Guyana, and a special spice from Roatán. The blend was created deep in the village of “Hottest Sparrow” — deep in the jungle. Of all the rums this may be the sweetest and most sippable I’ve had yet. Its chocolate notes make it perfect for adding to a Honduran vegan hot chocolate the perfect drink to overcome the down-side of armchair travelling — that I experienced Birmingham drizzle rather than Honduran sun”.
And with that I leave the Americas behind and heat for metropolitan Hong Kong!
