Lately I have been working in the office a lot on accounting. So today it was great to get out and see a couple of local communities. If this is unclear please re-read the first sentence.
At 7:30 I met my co-workers at the office and we set off in a pickup truck. I was given a seat inside the pickup, as riding in the back in Honduras is an acquired skill not helped by the fact that I am 6’2″ and my center of gravity is in my clavicle. Then we went to pick up our military escort. Here people illegally cut down trees – and the army is responsible for policing this. Still, its kind of weird for me to see them – they are always in uniform and carrying rifles.
First we went to a community to inspect an area marked to be cut down. In order for a forest to legally be cut down, there must be an approved plan wherein those cutting also agree to certain rules (i.e. a certain distance from sources of water, trees of a certain diameter, leaving trees which produce seeds so that the forest can grow again). Although these rules are established, many times they are not exactly followed. So my organization went to inspect the area and see which trees were marked with blue paint.
After running around the forest for a couple hours, we got back in the pickup and went to visit another local community. Here the people were upset because the trees had also been marked to be cut down – but this was community land. So we checked out the area and figured out a plan to stop those responsible.
Since we had a little extra time, we went into a local cave to check it out. It was hilarious – the cave was probably only 4 feet tall and there were hundreds or maybe thousands of bats flying around us. None hit me – which is kind of amazing – but it still kind of freaked us out.
Some pictures:
1 – the source of the water
2 – sorry tree – your new name is chair
3 – the military working Blue Steel
4 – view of the surrounding pine forest
5 – bats – keep in mind you could only see when the flash went off
6 – more bats
Love your comments and pictures–your sense of humor should
see you through; interested in your ‘illegal immigrant’ comments’–as a
resident of the state where we have the SB1070 law–can’t see where it makes much difference. Passed thru emergency room of the hospital two days ago—filled with Mexicans–probably without
medical insurance waiting to be taken care of. What IS the
solution? I hear your new house is “elegant”–post a couple of pix of it–inside and out. Love ya Gram