Trujillo Love

On my first taste of solo riding I was blessed with the acquaintance of many wonderful people.  Although there was a large international welcoming crew, Canada stood out above the rest.  Larry and Linda are the owners of Tranquility Bay and they went out of their way to accommodate a weary northwesterner.  The employee dorm at T-Bay was a great room by my standards and it led to me meeting a whole group of fun people here in Trujillo. 

Their son Danny was first to take me out to a local bar called Banana Beach where I met a whole slew of people.  Rand, the owner, is a tough looking guy with a smart business plan.  He has been constructing Banana Beach for ten years now and only opened two years ago.  I picked his brain and he’s thought hard about his moves.  Rand owned a bar in Texas most his life and it shows in his thought process down here in Trujillo.  He has the bar, some rooms for rent, and a beautiful beach.  The pool is currently under construction.  A couple three-story condo buildings are not far off.  All night Rand sat at his bar with a cigar between his teeth and a grin on his face, his eyes peering in thought.

Jenna, Rand’s daughter, works the bar since graduating from University of Texas.  She’s got a lot of travel experience and obviously knows how to have a good time; growing up under Rand, I can imagine that was inevitable.  There is also Jeargen, the German manager/head chef.  Jeargen always looks like he’s too hot down here, but he’s obviously having the time of his life.  He’s great for a deep conversation while hanging out at the bar.  Together, Rand, Jenna, and Jeargen run a very fun ship.

That night I also met Mark and Martin, a Canadian couple from the interior.  The two are all smiles all the time and they definitely light up the room with laughter.  Hanging out with Martin was Sofia, a Brit who lives here in an awesome apartment just up the hill from downtown Trujillo.  We started the party at her place in the afternoon on Saturday.

There was also Jesse and Charlie.  Jesse is another Canadian about my age whom I met randomly when I drove past him and saw his skin color.  I pulled over and we talked for about fifteen minutes before parting ways.  Turns out, we all knew the same people and we’ve been hanging out a lot since then.  Charlie is his buddy.  Charlie is from Chicago born to an Italian dad and Honduran mom.  He fits in pretty well around here. 

Henry was an old-timer that I kept running into throughout the weekend.  He’s a former trucker so instantly we had something to talk about.  He was born in Honduras, raised half his life in a Mennonite village in Belize, and then the other half in Canada.  As it turns out, he’s ridden a Harley down here to Trujillo twice not to mention his countless drives down in a variety of other vehicles.  If I turn out half as cool as Henry, I’ll be ok.

Karli and Santi were an incredible couple.  Karli is from Canada and Santi from Argentina.  They met in Sweden and lived happily ever after.  We first met at Tranquility Bay over dinner but got to know each other much better Saturday night once the music got going.  Santi will be a great host of information when I get to Argentina. 

Brian and Margi are a Canadian couple from Surrey, B.C. just an hour from Bellingham, WA.  I got to know Brian after he bought the whole bar a round of Jager at Banana Beach; he’s a tug boat driver, not many people can say that.  The two just bought property down here in Trujillo and have been hanging out at Banana Beach seeing what Honduras has to offer.  From what I saw, they will be enjoying themselves down here a lot.  Saturday night they were living it up with everyone else just like they were locals. 

Carlos and Dennis are brothers who work here at Tranquility Bay.  Carlos is the resort manager and he has an answer for every question.  He helped me a lot in getting the windsurfers ready to use.  He’s also just a really cool Honduran who enjoys what he does.  Dennis is the groundskeeper here and the local windsurfing prodigy.  He’s working on his jibes as well.  At 21 years old, he’s got a head start on me; I wish we had a better chance to go out and put each other to the test.  Even so, I had a good time shooting the shit with him waiting for wind.

Danny has a pretty good life down here working with his parents at Tranquility Bay.  He gets to kite in the afternoons and manages day-to-day business when he’s not on the water.  He’s also an avid pilot and flies the family plane around the Caribbean picking up guests and supplies wherever he goes.  He and his American girlfriend Sam are lost in paradise and I can’t blame them.  They’re not missing anything down here.  First thing I asked Danny when I met him if he was in Vancouver when Canada won hockey gold; he was and so was I.  We’ve already partied together.  We’ll have to meet up again in the northwest down the road. 

Larry is a former AirCan pilot hence the family plane and Danny’s piloting skills.  He’s another example of a smart guy from up north coming down to Central America and building whatever life he wants.  His wife Linda is a former nurse.  She keeps the business running around here and spends a lot of time working with animals and running the kitchen.  Together Larry and Linda make a great set of hosts and they are always easy to reach and wanting to talk.  It wouldn’t be Tranquility Bay without them. 

Over the past four days these people have been my extended family as I coped with a lack of wind and the first sense of solidarity in almost three months.  They kept the adventure moving and the days have flown by.  Tomorrow I will head back into La Ceiba in the afternoon so I can be ready to head south with Al when he arrives on Tuesday morning.  Before heading out, though, Brian and Margi have offered to take me snorkeling with a big group of mostly these people.  I normally don’t take handouts, but the fun factor involving all these guys has me gratefully accepting this one.  Just like every spot I come to love, Trujillo will be hard to leave.  But I’ve got 20,000 more kilometers to cover in six months… can’t stop now.