Artesanias Madounu

Artesanias Madounu, originally uploaded by Honduras Sprout.

This photo is taken in a Garifuna community near Tela. Here a shop has been set up where jewelry is made out of coconut shells.

Big Green Grasshopper

Big Green Grasshopper, originally uploaded by Honduras Sprout.

This midwestern city girl hadn't seen a grasshopper like this until I moved to Honduras. I wasn't even sure what it was at first.

Mangoes For Miles

Mangos for sale, originally uploaded by Honduras Sprout.

One of my favorite fruits is in season as I mentioned in a previous post. This means that some people that have a supply of mangoes from someplace will set up a road side stand. This image was taken on the road to Tegucigalpa just outside Comayagua. The vendors seem to go on for as far as the eye can see. Not sure how they might feel about their competition or maybe they are all in cahoots anyway.

Grave Marker

Grave Marker, originally uploaded by Honduras Sprout.

In the "Gringo Graveyard" there is about 7 grave sites all in a single row marked with metal crosses. The top diamond plate has the birth year engraved and the below diamond plate has the year of death. The names were worked in with metal lettering. Some of the letters were missing making the names unknown.

I wasn't sure just how to go about taking photos of the grave sites. I'm not sure what is considered disrespectful to the dead. We know, at least, that they are not forgotten and still remembered for what they brought to San Juancito. Rest in peace.

Saltboxes in Honduras

Saltbox back, originally uploaded by Honduras Sprout.

The homes surrounding the US Consulate are colonial saltbox style clapboard homes. The picture above shows the back side of the house. At the front of the house you can see a stone marker probably saying something about the home and it's history. I didn't get a chance to read it as I was holding things up by stopping our trek up the mountain to take photos. I thought I might be a little nervous living in one of these homes with them being built along the slope of the mountain with long posts driven down into the ground to hold the home up. Something must have been done right in the construction to keep the house up for nearly 100 years now.

The larger two story house "next door" to the consulate was in such a state of disrepair. It is currently undergoing renovations. Either to preserve or to inhabit the home. If you can see the interior walls have been redone. Interesting the way the exterior is ripped wide open for all to see inside.

The photo taken from further up the road I also posted yesterday, but I just wanted to show again the steep incline these homes were built on. Yikes!

If no one minds, I'll probably have at least one or two more days of photos from our trip. I'll try to keep it at one photo though. Tomorrow we'll be visiting a graveyard.

US Embassey San Juancito Honduras

US Embassey San Juancito Honduras, originally uploaded by Honduras Sprout.

The owner of the resort we stayed at explained that this building is a US Consulate started in the first part of the 1900's. She even went on to say that this is the first US Embassy in all of Central America. Here is some more interesting information about the mining town up in the mountains of Honduras.

Looking at this house you can see that it is clearly American architecture. You can imagine the two flag poles in front, one waving the US flag. We wanted to get a closer view, but the property is still US owned. Some locals are hired to live on the land next to the building and they oversee it's care. Mainly to cut the grass and make sure no unwelcome guests find their way in.

Below are a few more images. One up close and the other up the road a short distance.

Gold Mine Property

Gold mine property, originally uploaded by Honduras Sprout.

This is on some property on the mountain of San Juancito. There were Americans in the early 1900's set up there in Honduras. They mined for gold and processed it on this property. Not sure what these buildings are, but they looked interesting.

More photos of the Americans and the mark they made in San Juancito to come, so stay tuned.