Pulhapanzak and Yojoa

Pulhapanzak
Originally uploaded by zassink

This weekend David, Cody, and myself decided to get out for one last weekend adventure. We had heard all sorts of good things about a local Honduran lake and waterfall. On Saturday we left for Lake Yojoa with plans to check out all the spots around the lake (caves, national park, cloud forest, waterfall, etc.). We spent the morning on Saturday traveling to Parque Nacional Cerro Azul (Blue Mountain National Park). We got there late afternoon and decided to take a little walk to a viewpoint that looks out over the lake. When we got to the viewpoint (hiking from about 750 meters up to 1100 meters) we decided to just go ahead and finish the loop of 7 or so kilometers instead of going back the way we came cause that would just be boring. So we hiked up another 100 meters or so before reaching a bend that went around the mountain and we went down the other side past another waterfall and hiked all over the place. We were hungry, tired, and exhausted by the time we got to the end and were all severely disillusioned to find out dinner would not be ready for another 45 minutes. We survived though....then we spent the better part of Sunday just working on changing hotels, looking for a new one, and then getting settled in. Sunday was basically a wasted day in which we ended up at the D & D Brewery/Bed and Breakfast, which we’d heard lots of good things about. It turned out to be a big dud. Apparently the wife (Honduran) ran off the husband (American/owner) and now the hotel doesn’t really have a good owner. The owner is known for his homemade beer and soda, neither of which they had of course. The food was marginal and expensive, and to top it all off the beds were the most uncomfortable ones in all of Honduras I think.
Then today we decided to hit up Pulhapanzak (Poo-lah-pawn-sock) on our way back to San Pedro and then Copan. The waterfall was a smash hit! It’s 44 meters tall and is extremely impressive. We paid for a guide to take us down behind the waterfall and do some cliff jumping as well off to the side. I had a lot of fun at the waterfall and would highly recommend it to anybody in the area...if you ever come to Honduras.:) The only down side of today was when we hiked behind the waterfall they told us to wear shoes for the safety of our feet. Of course I only took one pair of shoes, which means that I made the whole bus ride back to Copan in soaking wet shoes. Not the most exciting part of the trip (being on the bus for four hours with wet shoes), but well worth it.