“Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.”
~Dorothy Thompson~
And so I was there, with nothing more than 600 ft (200 mts) of empty space, all I could feel was the wind on my face, the smell of the trees, the silence of the cliff and adrenaline rushing through all my body, 30 seconds seemed like an eternity and the memory of that precise moment so vivid and eternal, that I could still feel the mountains while I was sliding through the zip line. A moment of presence of stillness, of gratefulness reigned my soul and I could say that very first moment was THANKS FOR MY LIFE.
For my birthday celebration this year I decided I wanted to do ziplining in La Campa/ Lempira, this is considered the highest Zip line Canopy in Central America, but I wanted to get there the right way. Doing all the bus riding, walking, hiking and everything. And so my partner in adventures and madness and I, embarked ourselves into this exciting experience. Although it was just a 3 day trip, it was completely worth it every second.
We parted from Tegucigalpa really early in the morning (6:30 am), we took a bus to Siguatepeque (Transportes Cristina really cheap around $7/each and clean, fully recommended), as we arrived two hours later to Siguatepeque I had a friend who picked us up for a cup of coffee and after a nice talk and black hot coffee we took off to the detour road to La Esperanza and we took the first bus ($2.60/each). Forty minutes later the amazing weather of La Esperanza was waiting for us. La Esperanza is a flat mountain valley at 1700 meters above sea level, considered the highest city of Honduras. We were so hungry, so we decided to stop by for some amazing baleadas, this were not just regular baleadas, this were MEGABALEADAS, I’m still proud of myself for having two. We walked back to the bus station, but first I wanted to go to the market, admire and pick up some of the fruits and vegetables, observe people trading, Lencas with their colorful outfits, and after having such a pleasant moment admiring that masterpiece, we arrived to the bus station and we took a bus to Gracias, Lempira ($3.90/each), and one hour and a half later, we were there. Gracias, with as many of you might know it means “thanks”, is a small town once the regional capital of the Audiencia de los Confines in 1544. Very famous for its Colony architecture and history. And so the tuk-tuk was waiting for us ($0.89/each) and we arrived to the town center to our hotel, where we settled. We walked around the park, the cobbled paved streets, admiring the colors and contrast of the town and finally we found an amazing place to have dinner “Jardin Café”, we had a delicious Vegetarian Chile Relleno and some beer from “Cadejo” Brewery Company.
Long story short, the next day (My birthday) we arrived to the bus station in Gracias, buses to La Campa depart every two hours because of the road and the many stops. Two hours later of a bumpy road we were there, a really beautiful and peaceful small town between mountains. You have to arrive to the Town Hall for information and transportation for ziplining. A pickup car takes you to the first site and there you are… At the top of the mountains, with nothing else but a harness in your waist, after getting a very general introduction from the tour guides, you pay the fee ($20) and you are all set. The canopy consists of 6 ziplines, the first two are the best! The last one ends up behind the church back to town center of La Campa. The experience it’s just amazing, words cannot describe the peace you feel while breathing through the mountains, time becomes relative and an eternal moment is everything you have. And you are done, at the end you just want to do it again!
After we were done, luckily to us, there were other two guys doing the zipline and they offered a ride back to Gracias, after sharing the same excitement of experiencing such amazing feeling among the mountains, we decided to have lunch at El Kandil, where they make the most amazing artisan pizza ever, I had the most delicious “Choros” (Mushrooms) Pizza it is definitely a MUST TRY!. We went back to our Hotel “La Posada de Don Juan” and we got ready for a nice dinner at the central park, we had PUPUSAS! Most amazing birthday celebration and experience with my favorite person in the world. We made the same on the way back for transportation, not spending more than $200 total for the whole trip for both of us (including food, accommodation, transport and ziplining), I just can say there are no excuses to do what you love. (Link to video)
Give yourself the chance to experience the world, begin for the world outside your comfort zone, be outside the box, be present, be thankful, be here, be NOW!
With love & joy
~Rosella~
ROSELLA MARTINEZ 