Across the Bay (The CoastWatcher: Caribbean West)
News from the Honduras Bay Islands and North Coast
22 September 2001
By Pierre Renaldo, The Coastwatcher©

What I can see from my balcony is a sight I never tire of watching. I especially like to be here as the night sky brightens into first light, enough to see the horizons. This morning the coastal mountains on the mainland are clearly visible, purple in the distance, fringed by the brilliant red of first light. There begins a metamorphosis of color changes that are most fascinating.

The sky is filled with brushstrokes of color created by the greatest artist of all, ranging from gold and crimson, to deep blue, aquamarine, turquoise, plum, and pink, smoky gray and robins egg.

As the rays of the sun reach the upper atmosphere a layer of moisture is brought earthward mixed with the cool nighttime air as it descends.

And then it happens. A great half circle rainbow materializes from nowhere. It spans the island from the Ironshore to West Bay. There has been no rain for a week but there is a magnificent rainbow with a kaleidoscope of brilliance.

The sea is dancing its morning ballet as the wind driven waves collided with the craggy cliff face, exploding skyward into miniature clouds that drift inland. The foliage, deep green, glistening, lush, with the scattering of white topping; the spider lilies are in full bloom.

I can see the mountains clearly across the Bay of Honduras. Pico Bonito towering, pyramid-like, with its mantle of mist; there is Trujillo off to the east. Our lone resident pelican drifts across the panorama in search of his morning meal. A flight of white egrets makes its way to daytime roost. Our day on Roatan has awakened.

It is all like being in a dream.

The Drums of August

It begins in the middle of August every year. Drum practice. Everywhere I go I hear drums, but not the kind of drums you might expect where you hail from. The children are particularly delighted when Mid- September approaches and their big day arrives. The time for them to march in a parade and beat the daylights out of anything that is or can substituted for, a drum.

There will be umpteen thousand parades in Honduras on the 13th, 14th and 15th. Independence Day for all of Central America. It is a big celebration on the mainland. La Ceiba is adorned with blue and white streamers, flags and banners. The big day is on a Saturday this year, so the weekend will be festive, carnival-like, and the sound of drums will prevail above all other noise.

I remember the first time I witnessed an Independence Day celebration in Honduras. We happened to be in San Pedro Sula, standing at curbside, Park Centro, on Friday evening of the holiday weekend. Drummers, by the thousands passed in review, one corps after another until I was sure that there could not possibly be another. But they just kept coming. Every kid in Honduras, somehow got hold of a drum and was marching down the middle of the street making his/her presence known, their moments of celebritae`.

We went into the lounge of the Gran Hotel Sula, trying to escape din and commotion on the streets, but to no avail. When these kids beat drums they mean business. We only managed to turn the volume down slightly, but at least it was air-conditioned. My head throbbed for several days afterward.

Sunday morning as I traveled back out to the Ironshore I passed a guy sleeping in his bol-duzzer. Both sleeping man and bol-duzzer were parked at one of the new bridge sites that haven't seen a lick of work or workers in nearly two months. Sure enough on Monday morning there was another guy standing next to the bol-duzzer with the same guy who was sleeping on it the day before. I theeeeenk there is something in the wind. Maybe there will be some activity now that the political campaigns are getting into full swing.

My novel "Red Dog Chronicles" will be released and in print this month, available in book stores and at the publisher's site www.1stbooks.com

That's it for today.

Remember to address comments and questions to me at: elouis@globalnet.hn

That's it for this week. Stay tuned for more exciting news.

Ciao
Pierre

By Pierre Renaldo, Mountain Coastal S.A,. General Contractors, Construction Management and Construction Consultants.