Rusty - Great Expectations

Great Expectations: Honduras Edition

For my study abroad trip, I chose to do “Kayaking the Sea of Cortez.” However, a week or so into the semester, word came from the professors that due to safety risks in Baja California, the location of the trip had to be changed. Roatan, Honduras was now on the schedule, and I had mixed emotions. The trip sounded similar to the Sea of Cortez trip so I was still excited and it also guaranteed warm weather. Fortunately for us, the change in location was probably for the better and I don’t think I would have gotten the same experience out of the trip as I did in Honduras.The semester leading up to the trip, I was taking 6 classes at Huntingdon, with another at Auburn University Montgomery, along with soccer practices or games every afternoon and weekend. Needless to say, I needed a break. When people talk about their transition from college life to the “real world,” you inevitably run into the conversation about “getting away”or “spending the summer travelling Europe.” Well for those of us without an endless bank account, travelling Europe all summer doesn’t seem probable, so I chose the next best thing. The trip to Mexico was supposed to involve camping out on secluded beaches and kayaking from location to location. In Honduras however, we were staying at an eco-lodge called the Mango Creek Lodge, and based on the pictures in the website, it looked like there was a thin line between lodge and jungle. This seemed like it would meet my desire to “get away,” so I went with it.The trip was what I needed and even more. Ive been kayaking before but it was nothing like what we did in Honduras. Luckily the people at Mango Creek trusted us enough with their gear to put us in the water and just say, “Okay, we’ll see ya later.” And just like that, we were off on our own, with the only thing holding us back being our lack of kayaking endurance on the open water. I’ve also been snorkeling before, and it was much the same as previous times.Oh yeah, except for the sunken ship and abundance of colorful fish. Everything I was lookingforward to was far exceeded by what met me in Honduras. There was never any down time.The first few days, I’m sure most of the staff thought we were crazy for swimming and jumping in the ocean during the “cold” season. It was about 75 degrees and rainy, but for us it was 30 degrees more than what we had left in Montgomery, and we were loving it. I think the showers may have actually been colder than the ocean but it didn’t matter to any of us. We were just happy to be there, and happy to have the opportunity.The week I spent on Roatan, Honduras was close to, if not the best time I’ve ever spent with fellow Huntingdon students in the past four years. The attitudes of nearly everyone involved with the trip were positive from the time we left campus at 3:30 in the morning until we pulled back in a week later. I spent an entire week just doing whatever was offered and eating some of the best food I’ve ever had. Huntingdon and Mango Creek definitely made this trip worth while,and without the efforts and personalities of the staff at Mango Creek, the trip wouldn’t have been the same.