For the most part, I've been rather lucky when going out to aldeas (villages) around our municipality. Either there's a 4 wheel drive NGO vehicle available for rough terrain, it's close enough that we can walk, or my counterpart rides her motorcycle, and I stay put in the office or go to the health center.
So when we got into the truck this morning to ride out to an aldea, I thought little of it... when the truck stopped on the side of what looked like a cliff (which later turned out to be our foot path down the mountain) I was a bit surprised.
Of course, the first question I was asked when I stepped out of the truck was, "Why aren't you wearing hiking boots?" Umm, well... no one told me we were hiking down a mountain today... "Oh, well... don't fall." Thanks, I'll try not to.
Anyway, I didn't realize just how far down we were headed (think top of a mountain to the base of the valley below), otherwise I would have taken more photos (and worn my hiking boots). It was quite pretty, quite steep, and I slid quite a bit... I was at the end of the pack so if I fell, at least I wouldn't go down alone :) Why didn't we take another road? The only available road has been out of commission for quite some time due to rockslides, mudslides, and general wear and tear of a heavily inclined dirt road. The team I work with is rather adventurous when it comes to basically off-roading, but this was even too much for them.
This region is called the "Zona Baja" (lower region) and is comprised of about 15 communities within the municipality. The last time I went to this region we encountered the same terrain to a lesser degree, but my camera battery was dead. I thought I'd share this time. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos until we were close to the bottom, I was concentrating on not sliding down the mountain.
This definitely wasn't my most arduous hiking experience, but just imagine being 9 mths pregnant and the only way to the hospital is by taking a foot path up the mountain or the "road"! The Ministry of Health has created temporary housing close to the hospital for women in the aldeas who are 8+ mths pregnant, but still... trying to get up this mountain was difficult enough for 6 healthy Hondurans and me!
So, here's a few shots to get to this one pueblo for a community meeting...
The path leading through someone's coffee fields in the middle of the forest. There apparently is an entire system of foot paths throughout these mountains, and we got a bit lost when we came to a fork in the path. Luckily, we came upon a farmer who told us we were traveling the wrong way and proceeded to take us the rest of the way down the mountain, thanks!
And, this is the way back up... at the far left are the remnants of a rockslide that
completely blocked an already treacherous path by vehicle or foot. This photo doesn't do the climb justice.
At the top, looking down on the community center
(one of the little specks of white)
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