Talor: So, once again, got up early to catch the pipante (boat) back to Rais Ta. Had just enough time for pancakes with beans and a swig of coffee before we had to run to the other hospedaje where the boat was leaving from. Rushed to get there by 6:45 for a 7:00 departure, but of course, it didn´t leave until an hour later. No matter, we got a ride back without breaking the bank. Three and a half hours later, we were dropped off on the beach at Rio Platano, and were told to walk about 10 minutes til we saw the pailas (pickup trucks). They would normally come out to the beach to pickup passengers going to other villages, but it being Sunday, we needed to go to them. We had no idea where we were going so we just walked along the beach hoping to see something that resembled a settlement.
We saw a group of people walking in our direction. They looked to be coming from church so we asked them about the pailas. They said there were none, we needed to go back to the beach and hire a pipante to take us to Rais Ta, or we could walk and get there in 3 hours. Ummm... walking 3 hours with our backpacks and frontpacks on the beach with the sun beating down on us was not an option so we followed them back to the beach. One of the women actually waited with us while someone else went to tell the guy with a pipante that we needed a ride. Waited about 45 minutes under the shade of a large tree and chatted a bit with the woman who was being very kind. Finally, the guy with the pipante came and wanted to charge us 600 lempiras to take us on a half-hour ride... ridiculous! Especially since we just paid 800 lps for a 3 1/2 hour ride. We talked him down to 300 lps and I grudgingly got in the pipante.
It seems like they really try to stick it to the tourists here. Their argument seems to be that everything, especially gas, is very expensive because it has to be brought in. This is all true, but not as much as they are saying. I think they have found tourism to be a good source of income for them and assume all tourists are rich and can pay alot of money. Rather than try to be reasonable and encourage and grow tourism, everyone seems to be out to make as much money as they can off of anyone who needs a ride, a room or a meal. Even the grocery stores way overcharge for everything. Our experience in Honduras up til then had been really good, and we didn´t have to constantly negotiate everything or pay a "tourist" price, so this was a surprise.
Anyway, all I could think was how nice it was going to be once we were back at the Ecolodge and under the care of Dona Elma. Finally got there, let out a big sigh of relief then showered for about an hour scrubbing ourselves down. Dona Elma fed us well... huge portions of fish, rice, beans, maduro (sweet plaintains) and cabbage salad with cheese and a yummy drink made from tamarind. All was well in the world again. Now all we had to deal with was getting a flight out of the Moskitia...
It being Sunday, we weren´t sure if we would be able to. Went in search of Estella, the person we needed to make the arrangements with, but she wasn´t there so we gave up and decided to try early Monday morning. Had dinner, then read by candlight before passing out.
Monday morning, got up early and went to see Estella again, and actually got to speak to her. She said there might be a flight later we can get on, but she would have to check. She would let us know by radioing the Ecolodge within the hour. We had hope. Went back and had coffee and waited and waited... had breakfast and waited and waited... 2 hours later, no word. Elma tried radioing them, but no answer. We gave up on a flight for the day and talked to Jorge about maybe taking a day trip to Plaplaya, another village about a half-hour boat trip away. Plaplaya is Garifuna rather than Miskito, and apparently, it is one that is truly Garifuna, unspoiled by tourism. Thought we would go and walk around and maybe have lunch... give Elma a break from cooking for us. Jorge said he would find out for us. Then we decided to walk over to see Estella and try to confirm a flight for Tuesday morning. It was close to noon and as we approached the airstrip, a plane came in... huh, what timing. And, it would be back at 2:30 and can take us to La Ceiba! So we cancelled our plans for Plaplaya, had lunch, packed up, paid our bill, and gave Elma a great big hug and said good-bye... but was it really good-bye?
Got to the airstrip and waited an hour before they told us there would be no more planes coming. The next flight out would be Tuesday morning 7:30. The guy who told us explained why, but I was too pissed to understand. We walked back absolutely fuming, and it was a little late to even do Plaplaya since there would only be about 2 daylight hours left, plus having to pay another night`s lodging and meals, we would have just enough for the flight the next day... crap!
Back at the Ecolodge, they welcomed us back. O well, at least we were stuck at the Ecolodge and not at Las Marias.
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