Leaf Cutter Ants

There are 200 species of ants, but the leaf cutters are by far the most notable. They are the only other species that cultivates vegetation for food. They take the leaves to their nest where a variety of smaller and smaller ants chew them up to make the bed for the fungus to feed to their larvae. In addition, they "are THE dominant herbivores in the neotropics" cutting about 15% of the annual leaf production. What does all of this mean? Well, their fun to watch.

These are some ants from the Lancetilla Botanical Garden in Tela. After cutting the leaves, a parade led the ants down the path, through the grass, across the poisonous tree and back to their nest.

The Gurifuna Villages

Tela, on the north coast of Honduras is a sleepy beach town that one day hopes for greatness as a tourist destination. It's a long way off, but until then, there are wonderful mangrove forests and rain forests to explore, not to mention the miles of beaches and the truly unique Garifuna villages.


The Garifunas first came to the mainland in 1797 when they were exiled from the Caribbean by the British. As best as I can tell, the "Black Caribs" are a group of American Indians from South America mixed with escaped or shipwrecked African slaves on the Caribbean Island of Saint Vicente. Through the years and their coexistence on remote islands, they have mixed their culture, music and language to make a truly unique and proud culture. Their language was described to me as a mix of French, Spanish and Swahili. There are 50 some villages along the coast in Belize and Honduras. Some are more modern with concrete buildings, running water and electricity. Others, like the village of Miami, are still straw shacks, wedged on the sand bar between the Caribbean Sea and a fresh water lagoon. There is no shortage of wildlife for them to live off of, and the small stream of tourists (what seems like less than ten on any given day) they seem to be doing alright. Schools have even been started in the villages and taught in the local language. It’s by no means glamorous, but defiantly a good alternative to the cities and crime of places like Tegucigalpa.

Tela

Thanksgiving was appropriately cold so swimming was out, but hiking, beach combing and kayaking with crocodiles was in. You'll have to come back tomorrow, though for the whole story as I have an engagement party to go to, (don't worry, it's not mine).

Teaching the teachers

One of the big bilingual schools in Tegus has a teacher conference every year and bilingual schools from all over the counrty show up and Honduras teachers get to see just how bad these conferences can be. As far as they go, though, this one wasn't so bad. Friday and Satuday we took over the Marriot Hotel, and except for the Lenca artwork and the view out the windows, we could have been anywhere in middle America.

Middle. Not central.

The Marriot was the monsterous 10 story, no window, over-air conditioned $140 per night for a single room type hotel. What is it doing in Tegus?

Surprisingly, there are several of these hotels. I stayed at one for my birthday last weekend. The Honduran Maya Hotel which is only $120 a night but we get it half price through the university and with three people it's not the end of the world. Just close. But there is a sauna and a pool and you can just slip from one to the next and watch the clouds go by and stare at the christ-like statue that overlooks the city as if we were Rio. Tegus isn't Rio, though. Not even close. So why all of these hotels?

But the conference. For me it was fun as it was the first time I've ever presented at one of these things. We played math games, nothing fancy, but I got great feedback from everyone and it was nice to meet some other teachers. And there was a coffee shop right there in the lobby with Lattes and bagels. And I got a white presenter badge instead of a yellow one. Who wants a yellow badge, right?

I was asked to present again in March at a conference in the north of the country. It's something to look forward to. San Pedro Sula is Honduras's largest city, full of textile factories and crime. I wonder what kind of hotels they have there?