La Travesia

Strewn along the coastline to the west and east of Puerto Cortes are small Garifuna communities. These people are descendants of Africans escaped from shipwrecked slave ships. They speak a language - Garifuna, which is a mixture of an African dialect, English, and French. Nidia, the Spanish teacher at the school, is teaching me a bit in exchange for help with English.

Buiti binafui numada (good morning friend)

La Travesia is a Garifuna village on the beach a few miles East of here. Small family run restaurants that serve good seafood are scattered along the beach.

To the west of Puerto Cortes, on the highway to Guatemala, is the village of Masca. I find the western settlements more beautiful because the mountains, rivers, and sea converge at one point.

An impromptu cattle drive occured during our visit to Masca.