day 3 (we couldnt figure it out in spanish, lo siento)

Another early morning, with breakfast being served once again by poolside. Many of us loaded the Cayos Cochinos bus with anxiety, seeing as random odd people were sitting in the first few seats. It was the right one, it just took us a while to figure that out. The ride to the beach was somewhat crowded, with 5 kids squished into a backseat meant for 4 at the most. We did enjoy a nice game of jello though, squishing both Danielles, who happened to be sitting on the ends.

The boats to Cayos Cochinos, the small island in the Caribbean we visited today, def sketchy. They were little uncovered boats with 2 motors. The first group took off with no problem, carting away Kyla, Harper, Stacey, Alexis, and one of the volunteers and his 2 girls, plus a girl from the Hogar, Rosa! (The 13 year old Jack danced with the night before, thinking she was 18) Good joke. Our second boat carried the legit kids, but took like 15 minutes to start, in which time some people freaked out about the boat capsizing, which is totally believable seeing the size of the boats. Luckily we got started alright, and the 45 minute boat ride began with the kids on the outside being hit by stray waves. Very amusing for us on the inside. ;)

The area where the island is located was beautiful. The scenery, surreal. It was like stepping out of Survivor Roatan, which was filmed in the islands we visited. Amazing. We landed on Cayos Cochinos Minor, which is the smaller of the main islands. Nate was greeted by the Navy officers, but everything went smoothly, despite the many pictures with armed people. That boy likes guns. And knives. The group was led under a canopy, where we were given the most hilarious presentation ever. It included comparisons between turtle sex and people's libido. 90 days of straight lovemaking, where the male turtles sometimes die "happy death". Tears streamed down our faces as the guide showed us a poster that read "Me huevos no es la solucion" with a turtle holding a viagra. Apparently locals use the turtle eggs as a natural sex drive. Save the turtle eggs!

The first boat was taken to a small cove to snorkel, while the second boat was directed by Melvin, a fully fluent speaking English Yankees fan (boo), to a VIP snorkeling area, where we interacted with barracudas, parrot fish, jellyfish, and the rest of the reef. The snorkeling was so good it could be compared to that of the Great Barrier Reef. The water was extremely clear and blue, with great visibility. The second boat was also taken to a dropoff to snorkel in deeper water with larger fish. The smart people stayed in the boat, where the fish could not eat them.

Las Chichuhuana, which means the twins, was the island destination of our lunch. We were served full fish, skins, bones, eyes and all. Since the first boat arrived before the other, those ladies were able to walk across the sand bar connecting the twin islands, and convinced the island boys to take them on a boat ride on the local small wooden boats, that looked like they would tip at any given second. The locals were super nice; the ladies even got some pictures with the local studs. Melvin took some on a tour of the small community on the island, where we got to see how the people lived and some of the wildlife, including an iguana. It definitely made me more grateful for the things that we are privileged with.

The ride back to La Ceiba was ridiculously bumpy and rough. Nate, sitting in the back left side of the second boat, was soaked within the first 2 minutes. He rode back with his snorkel goggles on, then moved to the bottom of the boat, where he managed to nap, despite the rough conditions. The boats almost tipped numerous times, with the waves almost washing over the entire boat. Back on the mainland, our studly guys helped the locals drag the boats onto shore. They're muy fuerte, as the Hogar children told them later. Before going to the Hogar, we went and watched a Station of the Cross parade, which included the stages of the Holy week. It was a cultural event we probably wont ever experience again.

We were able to bring Pizza night to the Hogar children, who ran and jumped into our arms the moment we stepped out of the bus. We laughed, ate, and played with the kids for hours. Danny did flips and gymnastics tricks, the girls got their nails painted and received lessons in hip moving while dancing from some of the chicas, which we failed slightly at, and the guys showed off their muscles more with arm wrestling contests and pushups. Nate, Brian, Danny and Jack even taught the kids to say "Es enfermo" and do the shaka sign, like we say "that's sick dude." It was kinda adorable. Lots of pictures were taken, including many of the kids receiving piggy back rides. Mercedes, a girl from the Hogar, returned to the hotel with the group to spend the night. We do love making friends.

Coming back from the Hogar, we ran into a firebreather. Nate paid him to take a picture and hold the flaming stick. His mother would be so proud. Nothing caught on fire thought, so it's all good. Some of the group continued to walk around for a while, meeting more locals and staying slightly in fear for their lives. Luckily some of the guys were there, so everyone was protected.

Looking forward to tomorrow and the trip to the Rio with the Hogar kids. Hopefully everyone wakes up tomorrow.