Tag Archives: El Potrillo

2012: Back to Honduras – Part 4 – The Long Ending!

One thing that we look forward to each year is interacting with the families we come in contact with each day.  Each morning we visit the local store to purchase our needs for the day, and we always purchase containers of rice, beans, sardines, and snacks for families that need a little break.  This year, our great friend Sid Neuhoff gave our “food fund” a great send-off and because of Sid, many added families were helped.  We look for Sid to visit Honduras with us one year!

This year, we did not come in contact with as many different families as we have in past years.  Our work this year was concentrated on one family in particular.  If you want to find a family in need, you don’t have to look very far.  David Hartley has a special “knack” for finding those that need it the most.

One evening, on the way back from the jobsite, David yells, “STOP RIGHT HERE!”  

After their home was demolished from flooding, the family assembled a structure to keep them out of the elements. One day, they will hopefully have something more substantial.

Inside, David found three children, with the oldest being four years old.  Mom and Dad were still working in the fields.  In this economy, you work whenever work is available.  We left what we had that evening, and stopped by again the next evening with more!

Hopefully we will be able to help this family even more on our next visit.  Their original home was washed away in October 2011, during the severe rains that resulted in catastrophic flooding of southern Honduras.  Many families were affected by flooding and have yet to recover.  If we all help a little bit, we can make a lot of difference.

As stated earlier, each year the circle of friends gets larger and we would like to visit everyone we know as well as our past projects each year, which can’t always happen.  This year, our friends from the Rotary Club of Choluteca joined us for dinner one evening at El Potrillo.  The staff at El Potrillo was excellent, as was the breakfasts and dinners we had there.

The Staff of El Potrillo. This is an excellent place to dine and a great place to stay while in Honduras.

We also enjoyed dinner several evenings with Teresa and her great staff at the Barcelona Hotel in San Marcos de Colon.  Their fried chicken is known all over southern Honduras!

Staff of the Barcelona Hotel in San Marcos de Colon, Honduras.

Ann and Sharon were able to visit Jayacayan, the site of last year’s project.  Jeremy and I were able to attend the Choluteca Rotary Club meeting Friday evening.  Our Tennessee District Governor, Dick Bowers, was also there as was the others representing Lawrenceburg Rotary Club, who coordinated this year’s effort.  

Meeting of the Choluteca Rotary Club.

By sneaking out of the Rotary meeting early, I was able to catch up with David Hartley and Keith Clodfelter who were having dinner with the Osotro family, that we have known for years.

The Osotro Family. Esther, MaMa, Carolina, Jose, and Michelle.

Each year, we look forward to taking a day off to explore.  Friday started off with a visit to downtown Choluteca and its many streetside vendors.

The streets of Choluteca Honduras

Ever wonder what happened to all of the Datsun B-210’s?  They are now taxi cabs in Choluteca.

At the straw market, you can find just about anything you would want, especially fresh fruit.

After a few hours in Choluteca, we headed to Coyolito, where we would catch a boat over to the island of Amapala, also known as “Isla de Tigre.” 

Supplies delivered to Coyolito for the ride over to Amapala.

We visited this island on last year’s trip and felt the need to see it again.  I have always said Amapala would be a great cruise ship port and I just learned that representatives from NCL, Carnival, and Princess Cruise Lines were on the island exploring that possibility the day before we were there!

We boarded the boat at Coyolito with Romario and who we will call Captain Smiley.  He never stopped smiling the entire day!

Coyolito, where you catch a water taxi to Amapala Island, shown in the distance.

The boat ride to the fishing village and restaurant is about 45 minutes.  I am not sure what the exact charge per person normally is, but we paid $100 US for all eight of us for the boat for the entire day. 

The fishing village and restaurant as seen from the Gulf of Fonseca.

I cannot remember, nor could pronouce the name of the beachside restaurant, but here it is.

Beachside Restaurant on Amapala Island, Honduras

The food was awesome!  Not only cooked to order, but caught to order.  Very possibly the best shrimp I have ever had.

Cleaning the day's catch on Amapala Island. From the boat to the skillet!

Huge portions too!

Fish and Shrimp combo, freshly caught and cooked while you wait.

Early Saturday morning, we left Choluteca for Tegucigalpa, anticipating extra traffic on Saturday morning.  The traffic was even worse than anticipated.  There was still time to enjoy a Big Mac inside the Tegucigalpa airport before our flight to Miami.

Mc Donalds inside Tegucigalpa airport

A long, great day seeing the sunrise in Choluteca, and the sunset in Miami.

It is truly amazing how many of the same places and same scenes can create different, yet wonderful memories year after year.  We will be returning to southern Honduras again next February, and who knows…maybe before.  If you would like to join us, or just participate financially, lending a helping hand in Honduras is a truly rewarding experience.

Trey Lewis is VP Sales & Marketing for Ole South Properties Inc, Tennessee’s largest independent home builder,  615.896.0019  direct 615.593.6340 or email TLewis@olesouth.com.  Specializing in new homes in the Greater Nashville area to include Nashville, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Clarksville, Gallatin, and Spring Hill, Tennessee.

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2012 – Back to Honduras – Part 2 – Getting there, Getting around.

Humanitarian Aid is a major factor in the Honduran economy, and Middle Tennessee has a great presence there.  Churches, Rotary Clubs, Medical Brigades, and Educators all have an active presence.  Every time we have been, the plane is full of volunteers headed to Honduras.

Almost everyone on the Nashville – Miami flight was headed for a Honduras mission of some kind.  My dentist was on the same flight too!  He was traveling with his church to visit Mission Lazarus, a working ranch that houses many needy children and provides educational, spiritual, and medical support throughout southern Honduras.  CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Landing in Tegucigalpa is always an experience, no matter how many times you have been.  It used to be rated the most dangerous airport in the world.  Now it is #2.  The runway was extended.

After exiting the plane, going through immigration is a breeze.

Just outside the terminal building is Frederico at Friendship Car Rental.  Every year, we rent small diesel trucks for our journey at approximately $70/day.

These Nissan and Toyota diesel trucks are really neat!  It is a shame they are not available in the US or I would have one!

Tegucigalpa has everything you would expect to see in a capital city.  Even a Kentucky Fried Chicken, where we usually grab a meal before the ride to Choluteca.  We didn’t this year.  Chuck Payne wasn’t with us!

To reach Choluteca, we follow the Tegucigalpa Highway to the port city San Lorenzo and then take the Pan-American Highway to Choluteca, and onward to San Marcos de Colon, our final destination.

In October 2011, Honduras was devastated by heavy rains and flooding.  CLICK HERE for the story.  Landslides were frequent along the way, adding a lot of extra drive time… and sore spots from the many potholes!

It will be a long time before these highways are restored, and there are many other weak areas that might not withstand another heavy rainy season.  And there are always slide areas that just don’t ever get fixed!

These roads are dangerous enough and fatal accidents are very common.  Here is a memorial built alongside a bluff on the Pan American Highway in memory of the 35 children that died when their bus left the road in 1965.  CLICK HERE for the original article.  This memorial is 100 yards away from the home we built this year.

We arrived at Choluteca to meet Jim Johnston with the Lawrenceburg Rotary Club.  It was there that we learned we would not be staying at the Barcelona Hotel in San Marcos de Colon, as they were full.  A new place had opened up, El Potrillo, near Jayacayan.  They were expecting us.  I already knew where it was…so off we went.

We arrived at El Potrillo and got checked into our rooms, which were actually brand new cabins!  Although more pricey ($30 per person per night) than the Barcelona ($15), the accomodations were fantastic.  Breakfast was included in the rate as well, and it too was fabulous!

El Potrillo is a new weekend playground for residents of Choluteca to escape the heat.  It’s higher elevation features cooler nights (60’s) and days (low 80’s).  They have just completed (12) 3-bedroom cabins, and have a full restaurant and bar, swimming pool, fishing lake, horseback riding, event arena, and karaoke club.  We just used the cabins and the restaurant.  Every meal we had there was fantastic and the cabins were super nice, complete with rocking chair porches!

On Sunday morning, we ventured into San Marcos de Colon for church.  I didn’t understand all the words, but something was different about this service.  There was a box at the front of the church that appeared to be a casket.  Well, it was.  We were attending a funeral.

We then ventured to the Barcelona Hotel, knowing they would let us use their clean restrooms!  And what a surprise… the downstairs of Barcelona was now a full variety store, a mini-Wal-Mart.  It turns out it was actually owned by Wal Mart too.

Every year, the circle of friends gets bigger.  Many great relationships have formed over the years, and new ones created each year!   Stay tuned for Part 3!

Trey Lewis is VP Sales & Marketing for Ole South Properties Inc, Tennessee’s largest independent home builder,  615.896.0019  direct 615.593.6340 or email TLewis@olesouth.com.  Specializing in new homes in the Greater Nashville area to include Nashville, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Clarksville, Gallatin, and Spring Hill, Tennessee.