Yaragua restaurant

By Howard Rosenzweig
Copan Update, Honduras This Week
May 29, 2006

Restaurante Yaragua opened its doors a few months back and the initial results are very promising. It is wedged between Hotel Yaragua and Yaragua Tours - the restaurant that goes by the same name and shares the same owner - and has earned quite a name for itself amongst locals and tourists for their large well-prepared portions of hearty typical fare. The dining room is a simple affair and reflects the town itself: saddles, ceramics and other local paraphernalia hang from wooden beams and walls, chairs and tables are simple and sturdy, stressing utility over comfort.

There is a small bar with the requisite color television and the place is one of the few in town to boast air-conditioning for those hot days when staying cool is the priority. The menu is heavy on typical Copan chow like grilled meats that come with the requisite sides of refried beans, rice, hard country cheese, tortillas and chismol. It offers up heaped portions of perfectly grilled steaks and chicken as well as fish and seafood dishes.

My particular favorite is the grilled boneless chicken breast served with either a mountain of fries or, better yet, typical style with all the local fixings like beans, rice, and encurtido (pickled veggies). The chicken was grilled just as ordered, well done, which many restaurants in Copan have a problem with as cooks here are very reluctant to serve a really well done piece of chicken or beef.

Other recommended dishes include a monstrous fillet mignon ringed with bacon and the requisite sides. Each Saturday, the chef cooks up a huge pot of typical soup, each week a different kind. One week it may be a seafood soup brimming with whole crab, shrimp and chock full of veggies, another week may bring tapado, a Honduran specialty made with coconut milk. For the uninitiated, soups in Honduras are a full meal, not an entree; they are big, hearty, robust affairs that are taken with a pile of freshly warmed tortillas and a cold Honduran beer.

Fish at Yaragua is best left to the local tilapia variety, which is raised on a local fish farm. Tilapia are prized for their white, meaty flesh and are served up whole, with head and tail and well fried to a crispy, crunchy brown and comes with a side of fried plantains, salad and a hunk of lemon to squirt over it. Honduras by the way is now the second biggest Latin American exporter of tilapia fillet (Ecuador is numero uno) to the US market.

For dessert, there is a mouth watering, in house baked cheesecake, which is one of the best I've tasted in a long time. Copan is not much of a dessert town, most restaurants do not offer sweets on their menus, so any eatery in town that can serve up a sliver of flan or a hunk of cheesecake is way ahead of the game in my book.

Service at Yaragua is still in its infancy although the staff really try to please and often succeed with pure youthful determination and energy. Despite occasional lapses in service, I'd say that service at Yaragua is just as good or better as any restaurant in town, simply because the staff at Yaragua are young, energetic and eager to please. Over time, the waiting staff will mature and improve their technique and with the quality of food now served, Yaragua will become a food force to be reckoned with in Copan's competitive restaurant market.

Proprietor Samuel Miranda is the force behind all the Yaragua enterprises - hotel, tour operator and restaurant - and, believe it or not, he has additional projects in various stages of development as well. Although Samuel is a newcomer to the food service business, he puts the same hard work and determination into his new restaurant venture as he puts into his hotel and tour operator. He is an entrepreneur who knows no boundaries and sees opportunities and attractive niche markets where other more timid entrepreneurs see only obstacles, roadblocks and interminable 15-hour days.

Sombreros off to Samuel and his team for a job well done, Copan could use a few more empresarios like him in order to bring more dynamism and energy to Copan's hospitality, food service and tourist services scene.

Enchanted village

By Kelli Sullivan

A group trip was planned for Las Ruinas de Copan at six o'clock the morning after I arrived. The pet rooster and bed bugs made me aware of every half hour after three o'clock. They won and my anxiety made up for the lack of sleep. I packed a bag, brushed my hair into a ponytail and climbed into the van at five o'clock. Street vendors were already selling coconut water hanging in bags off of long wooden sticks.

I made my way into the station and introduced myself to the group leaders who I had yet to meet, given that I was in-country two weeks after hearing of the micro credit program. I found the street corner and watched the world go by the hour before the bus was due. I took interest in the isolated gringo with shaggy hair and a Red Cross hat. I imagined him to be a Peace Corps volunteer and fell in love with the idea. He ended up just being another volunteer and becoming my good friend and travel partner - Juice...he will be a part of these stories.

The adventure began. Outside Tegus was a tropical paradise. Banana trees and cascades seeping out of the green mountainsides taunted any self-control to not throw out my arms and sing. Fatigue kicked in and I made myself fall asleep, bruising my brain against the vibrating windows. I popped a pill for nausea and could only anticipate a worthwhile trip in eight to nine hours.

Copan is the enchanted village with cobblestone streets and adobe buildings with tile roofs. It was a valley inhabited by the Maya for thousands of years and has become a prominent tourist attraction. The minute I stepped off the bus, every cell of my body was replaced, suffused with ecstasy. Several boys immediately approached us, bargaining hotel prices and selling horse back tours. Their cheap offers were enticing and the group ended up staying in their parent's hotel - 4 days, 3 nights, $6 each. Toilets without toilet paper (of course), cold water showers and sheets included...excellent!

Ready for the good stuff...(you can read about Copan Ruinas in any tour book...ask for Tony as a tour guide by the way: he speaks five languages and claims to be able to somewhat communicate in 100) Juice and I headed out for liquados - a milk shake if you will - and ended up crossing the river to set out for the peak of some mountain we could see from the other side of the city. Four and a half hours later...after passing hundreds of cows, climbing to the top, down the back, and over two other peaks - probably 15 miles - we were LOST. Jungle is jungle and the river had no tell-tale signs of north or south. We honestly thought we had crossed over into Guatemala. We finally found a dirt road and followed it to a home. The door was open, there was a baby crying inside - but even after clapping our hands, yelling "buenas" for five minutes, nobody came out to help us. Suddenly they let their dogs loose and I started praying for the forgiveness of my sins. Having lived in Argentina, Justin knew that the dogs hated rocks and we were saved by the mere action of bending over to find some.

The road took us home. Dogs hate rocks, hike with your passport, and work up an appetite because you need to eat at Vamos a Ver.

Vamos a Ver is the Central American haven: covered patio with hanging stars, hammocks, fresh, frozen lemonades and homemade bread. The portable toilet is decorated with broken mirrors and Christmas lights. It's owned by a friendly English-speaking Dutch couple and offers an ambiance allowing for any traveler to search one's soul.

On our way back to the hotel, the lights in the entire city went out. Pitch black...felt like Hell. My first thought was...perfect time to be robbed - of what, Kell? My quicksilver flip flops and velcro watch? I, not quite used to this whole lifestyle yet, just grabbed a hand and walked up the hill until a car shined his headlights for us. Are you in love with these people yet?

We left at 7:00 the next morning for Las Sapos - a place infested with frogs, a sign of fertility, where Mayan women were believed to have come to give birth. We stopped at a family villa for breakfast owned by a Honduran woman who raised her family in Kentucky for 30 years. Breakfast was fabulous...fresh juice, tortillas, huevos rancheros, homemade cheese and beans. There are some casual hikes to the waterfalls and birthing sites...but if you go, make sure you stop in and say hello to my friend - I forget her name - and sign the guestbook. (Look for a May 27^th, 2000 entry from me...Kelli Sullivan)

We hitchhiked to Santa Rita...another waterfall. The hike was sweet - some of us did a little cliff jumping. If anything, cold water, tick-infested forests and once again...a true Honduran experience. Between that and doing a little laundry on the washboard, we met up with some travelers and headed over to the city disco (25 limpiras) to earn money for the city ambulance. Crazy - Latin dancing (if you could even call it that), monster bass and a city full of drunks. I love Copan...I packed my wet clothes and left at 5:30 the next morning...but I didn't say goodbye. I would be back...I did make it back on a random hitchhike going straight there from Tegus. Puchika! Cheque no?

review borrowed from http://www.bootsnall.com

photos borrowed from http://peppo.twoday.net/images/topics/Honduras

Learning the language

By Stacey Holeman
Summer 2005

I had two wonderful weeks exploring Copán Ruinas, Honduras while staying with a host family and studying Spanish at the Ixbalanque Escuela de Español. Here are a few of my thoughts:

The town itself is quaint and interesting (cobbled streets, tile roofs, bright stucco), LOTS of shops catering to tourists (150,000 people a year visit the ruins) but not spoiled by tourists. I avoided the gringo hang-outs, though I've heard some of them have excellent food. There's a new hostel (Manaza Verde - green apple - that looked interesting and I didn't see in any guide books).

The people were friendly and willing to help with my Spanish - overall seemed to like that I was giving it a try.

The surrounding area is extremely mountainous and worth exploring - Indian villages, hiking, birding, waterfalls, caves, hot springs.

The ruins are beautiful, only bummer is the excellent museum will continue to be closed for months for structural repairs. We LOVED Tikal for its setting and grandeur and we LOVED Copán for its setting, art, sculpture, giant stone faces, and trees. There's a nice nature trail you should take if you won't have a chance to get out hiking anywhere else. Go when they open at 8:00 am (best) or late in the day to avoid the crowds, don't miss the cementerío on the far side, one of our favorite spots.

In addition to the above I visited and enjoyed:

~~The butterfly farm (easy walk from town, displays, life cycle information plus a large, beautifully planted butterfly enclosure and two orchid houses)

~~Hacienda San Lucas (2-3 km from town - steep going up; I chose to take a mototaxi up and walked back through working farm land and along the Copán River; restored as a B & B, still a working farm, great views, hammocks, dogs, and hiking trails, including a fairly short hike to Los Sapos (the toads) which was, apparently, an ancient Mayan birthing site - loved that place.)

~~Macaw Mt. Bird Park (Parque de Aves - 3-4? km out of town a different way, gorgeous landscaped grounds along a river, wheel-chair accessible sidewalks and observation decks, hundreds of exotic birds that are native to Latin America including macaws, parrots, and toucans. This place is beautifully done and the birds are lovely, but doesn't seem very "Honduran".)

~~Agua Caliente (45-60 minutes out of town, depending on the road conditions, which can be very bad. The hike to the source of the water is through fabulous rainforest and the drive up through villages makes the trip worth it. The pools themselves were turquoise cement, bath water temperature, and a little scummy/buggy.)

~~El Boqueron cave (45 minute drive on some of the worst "roads" in the world plus a hot, mountainous hike through farmland [no joke - some of the farmed hillsides were 45-50 degree angles]. Cave itself was interesting with a variety of structures and textures, lots of water time, bats everywhere [including interesting colonies of juveniles] and the biggest spider I've ever seen - mouse-sized body and each leg 5-6 inches long.)

~~El Rubi Waterfall (30-45 minutes but in roughly the same direction as the cave, still thought to be dangerous unless you go with someone from up there or someone who knows the villagers, pretty hike, narrow suspension bridge, then up the river [which was high and fast when I was there] to the falls themselves.)

~~Birding with Jorge Barraza (this guy is AMAZING at spotting birds and interesting to talk to) was a guide at the ruins in the early 80's but couldn't read or write so actually attended primary through secondary school in his 20's, learned to speak English, and began studying the indigenous bird species. He also took us out to breakfast at a traditional "restaurant" in a house in an Indian village which was fascinating.

After studying hard for 3 terms at a local community college I arrived in Copán Ruinas with lots of vocabulary, an inadequate recollection of verb tenses, and not much usable Spanish. After two weeks of 1-on-1 tutoring (4-6 hours/day), a homestay with only Spanish, and lots of effort on my part to practice around town (a special thank you to the Yaragua Tours guide named Talo who took me to the cave and the waterfall, Carlos the stone carver (pictured) in the Mercado Artesanal, the taxi drivers, and girls from La Pintada village who sell corn husk dolls in the square), I can say pretty much whatever I need to and have a good handle on the most useful 5 or so verb tenses, but still need people to talk SLOWLY to hold a lengthy conversation.

My teachers at Ixbalanque were good, my host family fascinating (3 generations coming and going, lots of laughter and singing and way too much food), and the school itself is lovely. I thought the workbooks should have had more information in them, could have used more hand-outs to study, and found it frustrating a time or two that the teachers don't speak English. Most of the time that was okay, but a few times [like word order in questions] it would have been nice to have an English explanation.)

Hedman Alas isn't the cheapest bus company, but very comfortable and safe; they pass out soft drinks and snacks and show American movies with Spanish subtitles (good practice for me as I couldn't really hear the English). The trip from San Pedro Sula takes 2.5-3 hours, take dramamine or bromine ahead if you tend to get carsick as the last hour is really curvy.

Internet access is widely available, though the electricity was out off and on.

Local women wear skirts and, occasionally, long pants; I never saw a Honduran man in shorts. I felt more comfortable in skirts and pants other than shorts.

It rained - sometimes HARD - most evenings and into the night, sometimes starting in late afternoon, rarely during the day.

Hardly saw a mosquito but did get a few bites in jungly areas if I didn't have repellent on.

If you go to Copán Ruinas, stay for awhile - 1 or 2 days wouldn't cut it for me. Walk around between 7 and 8 in the morning as people leave for work, walk to school, scrub the sidewalks, and set up their shops. Somehow get up the road to Aqua Caliente village or at least to Sesemil to see how people live up there.

review borrowed from www.SidewalkMystic.com