The Log of the Alvee: Voyage to Honduras

e [Music] well Thursday March 10th left Palm Beach 800 position latitude 21° North longitude 80° West four passengers aboard three of them biologists on scientific Expedition weather clear destination hondurus yes that's what the captain wrote in the log of the Alvi in the morning we set sail but me well I was just the fourth passenger going along strictly for the ride as they say and all I were on deck and look at that blue blue water destination Honduras that means we cross the Gulf Stream and head out into the Caribbean from then on we'll be catching up on History following the trail of Columbus seeing the same things he saw more than 400 years ago of course Columbus didn't have a ship like the Alvi why you can tell from the way her sails fill and stand up to the breeze that she's a trim craft ready to battle the heavy currents of the Gulf Stream and ready to pamper them a bit too because the captain set the course to allow for a 35m drift it takes a while to get your sea legs on a trip like this unless you're a regular seagoing man that is the log is put out and the Sails are trimmed and the Great Waves that spank against the side of the ship and pitcher about don't seem to bother the man at all and just like you know the Ali is a good ship you know she has a good crew got to talking about that to one of the Explorers aboard I guess those fellas read up a lot before starting out on one of these Expeditions he said it was a mighty different story on the Santa Maria that was Columbus ship you know his crew was sick and frightened most of the time but they didn't know where they were going and they didn't know many of the tricks of the sea they didn't have true compasses of course or good maps or any of the other devices our modern Sailors have why do you know if the wind kicks up or blows the wrong way the men on the Alvi simply lower the main sails and let the big diesel engines take over now Columbus didn't have a pinch hitter aboard when his going got tough as we head head for the southern caves and on down to San Salvador It's mighty easy going smooth sailing as they say I'll never forget that stretch of white Coral Beach at San Salvador it's 3 and A2 miles long the lonliest and the most beautiful beach I ever saw important historically too because they say Columbus once walked this same beach in fact the Chicago Herald put up a big mon ument on the northeast end of the island just to Mark the spot where he first stepped foot on American soil in 1492 now well let's face it maybe it wasn't exactly at this point because after all 400 years is a long time and the original Coastline has probably been worn Away by the action of the wind and the waves so it's quite possible that Columbus landed out their way where those great white waves break and roll and Roar and was a lot of fun though trying to figure out just where he did land but as we walked back down the smooth white Beach towards the Aldi we all felt pretty sure this was where his tiny dingies first came ashore watch a ship get underway weighing anchor they call it it isn't just a matter of hauling in the anchor you know there's quite a science to the job and the anchor has to to be securely battened down with a long journey ahead I don't know anything in the world more thrilling to watch than sails being hoisted it's a routine maneuver to the men of course but the sails themselves seem to make a real personal business of it especially when there's a stiff morning Breeze to reckon with they run up those great masks with a kind of human eagerness anxious to fill and be underway and when the alv is swung around and her nose put into the wind you can't tell me those great white sails aren't Mighty proud of the whole [Music] thing and there's always someone to see you off even though it's just a school of curious porpose that suddenly appears circles the ship and swims alongside and then disappears again in the Deep Waters there's a long 4-day journey ahead down through crooked Island passage and Windward Passage that separates Haiti from Cuba you know we head on down toward Jamaica through the same Waters and islands that Columbus loved so well the Sails are set and the nose of the alv is put into the wind and then swung around as the sails catch the first breezes moving out to the open sea with our course set we race ahead of a stiff breeze with the motors turned off we move along at a silent 8 knots and it's good to relax and get a bit of tan before the sun goes down and we sail on into the [Music] night we leave the cool sea breezes behind when we dock on the south side of the island of Jamaica in the city of Kingston imagine the thrill of stepping from the deck of your ship into a busy bustling City from Compass to cop from seant to Street Scene and less time than it takes to tell it it was kind of disappointing at first to see so many low buildings in a town that tumbles into a heap of rubble every so often because of periodic earthquakes you know just outside Kingston there are tropical and semi-tropical plants from all over the world in the Hope botanical gardens we saw the strangest one a rare plant that folds up when you touch its [Music] leaves and birds why I saw one no bigger than a bumblebee one of the Expedition group told me that it's the smallest bird in the whole world a vervine hummingbird he call it and it's found only on the island of Jamaica it's hard to leave Jamaica truly an island paradise but there's a long trip ahead so it's back to the Alvi again up with the sails and Anchors Away Back to the Sea for a real historic part of the trip across the Caribbean it's thrilling to follow the same route Columbus took on his last Voyage in 15002 a 5-day sail directly south to bonaka in the bay Islands yes we're catching up with our history all right but even more than that it's almost as though we were starting out on a voyage of rediscovery these Bay islands of Honduras are one surprise after another take banaka for example it's a small fishing settlement built high on stilts out on the coral reef that's to protect the people from the biting flies of the Mainland and there are friendly people these Island folks and although their jacked up houses are a bit inaccessible the welcome mats are always out for Island visitors these Thrifty folks for the most part of English stock are fishermen from Wayback as they say they came here to hunt for Green Turtle liked the climate and settled here with their families and they still hunt the green turtle just as they did a 100 years ago they like a bit of fun too especially the modern water sports we know and enjoy so much snake charming isn't such a bad sport either but if you fool around with a boa constrictor you'd better tie his mouth shut before the game begins as one of the scientists from shipboard did when we explored the islands a bit we found High ridges covered with pine and Oak forests in contrast to the lowlands with their dense jungle growth and the orchids we found orchids growing out of every rotting stump and even in the tallest of [Music] trees you really have to see them for yourself and even then it's hard to believe great beautiful orchids that grow on giant stems from 4 to 6 ft long with anywhere from 10 to 100 blossoms on one stem there are huge colorful clusters of them absolutely free for the picking in the jungles of the bay Islands I'll never forget the scurrying rock crab we found on a stretch to deserted sand beach and there were thousands of fiddler crab there too they look something like small armored tanks and are most amusing to watch as they feed on the vegetable debris they find along the shore they hold one claw in front of them and feed with the other but they're a timid lot every time we got too close they would wave their funny long stalked eyes Dash over the sand in a sid sweeping motion and Scurry into the water oh well perhaps they like a little privacy now and then like the rest of [Music] us I've seen a lizard or two in my time but never before have I seen one that waved at me they're all along this beach and the natives call them the lizards that shake hands it's something of a tongue twister when you first say it but this particular specimen is called the nerus they're small harmless lizards that feed on insects and they actually do seem to wave at you that is until someone who knows all about them puts you straight on things the beautiful male in full breeding color who looks as though he's waving at me is really greeting his lady love who's up in the vegetation overhead somewhere then there's the tiny specimen with bright golden eyes the enus he uses a palm trunk for a front porch and watches everything that goes on it's one surprising discovery after another in the shore jungle surprising and warm with a temperature around 105° and a sticky sea level humidity but temperatures don't bother a Carib boy he laughs at the Sun and walks up an 80ft Palm to bring down a coconut there's nothing like a machete for opening it and nothing as cool and nutritious as the milk alvy underway leaving Bay Islands position latitude 16° north latitude 35° 45 minutes West weather Misty yes it was a misty morning when the Alvi set her course again and the captain wrote in the ship's log but even The Mists couldn't hide the great tall mountains we could see just south of bonaca tall why I found out that those peaks of Honduran mountains are 8,000 ft high and what's more they're the same ones Columbus saw on his fourth voyage another historic stopover just 25 Mi south of bonaka is where Columbus first set foot on the mainland of North America troo I picked up quite a lot of information about troo as we entered the port you've heard of Cortez well this is the place he used as an outpost for his conquest of the Mainland in 1539 grew into quite a town they say but over 10,000 natives died there in one year at the hands of the Spanish warriors as we came into Port we saw some natives in a large Dugout canoe made from Mahogany they call them pit pans and they found a fine substitute for sales you simply take a tall frond from the coroa Palm add a good stiff breeze and it's smooth sailing the fort of truo over 400 years old now was the first established fort in the new world and the original cannons still stand behind The Battered breastworks and the oldest cathedral in America built by Cortez is still there the water hins were all along the lagoons and rivers in the lowland jungles the banks were simply solid with their green leaves and purple flowers few white men have ever been in this area but here we were searching these tropical forests for scientific Treasures while long years ago the Spaniards invaded these same virgin jungles to search for gold and to conquer the mainland farther Inland we found the Pickel weed mingled with the hins and growing on floating mats of vegetation the beautiful Tacoma shrubs are mixed with the hent too and they add a splash of color to the sober greens all about Tacoma by the way is the Aztec word for trumpet and that's just what they look like bright yellow trumpets it's primitive travel and it can be exciting we saw Jaguar tracks one day and giant iguana scurrying to cover and there's always the danger of meeting up with the fa delance the most deadly snake in Central America as you're paddling along you'll probably see the fulvous tree duck right at the water's edge he has gay colored feet and Bill and is a shy retiring sort of fellow stays pretty well in the shade of the undergrowth oh well perhaps he knows that he's an extremely rare specimen another interesting bird specimen in these parts is the wood rail he's a noisy customer and sets up a loud plaintive cry in the early morning and late evening the purple ganu darts across a patch of sunlight and you're apt to hear the Deep lonik Roar of the female tiger bter these birds feed on poisonous snakes and Eels and nest in the palm trees the tiger B is n particularly afraid of anyone but then who would be with that razor sharp bill we found out these jungle Rivers aren't too easy to navigate you see the canoes ride deep in the water and there's always a chance of swamping them takes a bit of skill all right but it's worth it you you may just possibly round a bend and see a whole flock of Rosy 8 spoon Bill flash across the sky it's quite a sight and the delicate coloring of these birds is only noticeable when they're in [Music] Flight as we landed one morning we saw a native boy coming out of the forest with a giant 5-ft lizard a rhinoceros iguana the Iguana makes good eating because the meat tastes just like a young frying chicken and it's a popular food item with the native families who live on the small farms scattered along these Riverbanks a favorite pet of these families is the white-faced monkey which is found wild in the jungle they're friendly enough when tamed but you can never break them of one particular habit they like to get up early each morning and Roar at the sun I've heard them myself and they surely stir up quite a racket not just one monkey at a time either a whole old jungle rings with the cries of several bands of them answering each other's [Music] calls before taking this trip to Honduras I never gave much thought to the scientists who go on these expeditions to foreign lands but you know I feel privileged that I could go along with the men who sailed on the alvy they're doing the rest of us who don't get around so much perhaps a real service when they sail the seas and study the people and birds and animals in these far off places and come back and tell us about it it helps to bring the four corners of the world closer together and we understand it a little better and I feel That's mighty mighty important leaving truo Friday morning position latitude 16° North longitude 86° West weather clear destination lasa that's how the log read that morning and we were all anxious to get on to New Ports and new people and so we pushed on Westward across the Caribbean it's a long day journey through a mighty rough sea to lasa on the coast of [Music] Honduras even on a calm day a harbor is a tricky one to navigate the captain said it's the steady ground swell that makes sailing along these particular coasts so precarious he's known the time when the wind has blown up so strong during the night that he's had to head back to the Bay islands for safe Anchorage lasba is a typically Spanish Town of about 12,000 people the climate is pretty enervating the temperature often reaches 110° with the humidity at near saturation because of the intense heat there isn't much activity in the town between about 10:30 in the morning and 3: in the afternoon we walked through the Central Square a park where the town's folk Gather in the late afternoon and we stroll through many of the fine modern stores where buying and trading is brisk in the cool of early morning or after the hot sun has set if you're up and about at Daybreak you'll see lots of people going to town with bread and cakes and many other items they hope to sell at the market and you'll see countless Washings spread out on the green grass to dry it's not more than a Stones Throw from town to the Primitive jungle and what a gay place that jungle is with those great patches of Flame Trees Royal ponana is the real name for them but Flame Trees describes them better they seem to burst into bloom like one flaming big bouquet and orchids are simply everywhere if a man's smart he does is Orchid hunting during the winter rains in December and January but I guess the rest of the year isn't too disappointing because I was told that over 300 different species were found in these Honduran jungles in a single year some are small the size of a dime and then there is the tremendous spider Orchid that measures from 2 to 4 in in diameter large lies grow in the floor of the mountain jungles on stocks 4 to 6 ft tall [Music] and the small red Peavine lends its bit of color and Beauty to the very edge of this wet and matted jungle floor lasba is rightly proud of its dragonflies the reason for this is that they feed chiefly on mosquitoes and as you know mosquitoes carry malaria as well as other dreaded tropical diseases but bring on the dragon and like magic the mosquitoes disappear I'd never seen a peacock butterfly before but it's certainly a beautiful specimen and it's rather a special treat when you get a chance to watch one parade about with a quick flash of its gay upper Wing surface and the Calico butterfly so they tell me is the most perfect example of protective coloration you'll find anywhere one day I walked well out from The jungle's Edge and saw the oddest sight of all the nests of the oropendolas or giant Orioles hanging in good likee clusters from the crowns of the tallest trees the nests are firmly woven of plant fibers and fine Vines they have to be made of stout material because these birds the size of crows dive into them at full flying speed their mating performance is a strange sight too the males strut about swing forward on the branch and then swing back up on the same side orop pendula colonies are plentiful over the lowlands and you soon learn to recognize the characteristic babbling call of these powerful Birds it's one of the strangest sounds in the entire jungle world [Music] the real name for this bird is the carded arara one of the tucans but the natives call them the bill birds and it's easy to see why that big bill by the way isn't as topheavy as it looks actually it's very porous and light in weight and is supposed to be perfectly suited to the feeding habits of these oddl looking birds at this season of the year they feed exclusively on the fruit of the wild fig trees when you turn your back on the sea and look down the small rivers of Honduras you know your journey hasn't really come to an end I guess it goes back to that old thrill of discovery which makes an ordinary fellow like me who just went along for the ride feel like something of an Explorer himself it gets in your blood and you want to explore all the strange little cities and towns to see all there is to see what a wonderful thing it would be to push on Inland up the rivers toward those tall mountains that shoot into the sky of fabulous Honduras the [Music]