Natural Hot Springs near Celaque (Aguas Termales el Pinal)

So if you want to find these hot springs just download the points in your GPS and follow the route. Or just go past Villa Verde to the last houses before you get to Celaque and ask how to get their. It was less than an hour hike from Villa Verde. On the same trail is the warm springs, aguas tibias, that Fronnie owns, she has developed it a little bit.


View Natural Hot Springs Trail in a larger map

 

 

Funlesol Website

The organization that I (Bert) work with is called Funlesol. They are a local honduran "non-profit" organization that works here in Lempira Honduras. They were started in 2006 in connection with Solidaridad Internacional to try and keep the non-profit project management local and more sustainable. 

They survived and continued to work after the Honduran governmental problems of 2009.  They are the counterpart organization for several international NGO's including Heifer and Dipuacion de Jaen.

The boss of Funlesol is making a 3 week trip to Spain to try and find funding organizations for some of the projects Kalin and I have worked on.  I put together this website (blog) before he leaves so that they have a website, you should find some more information about some of the projects Kalin and I have worked on.

Funlesol.blogspot.com

Bert

Mining For Opals Explosively

Kalin and I took another trip to Erandique Lempira. It is a tiny town 2 hours down a bouncy dirt road from San Juan Lempira. It is one of the few places in world where Opals are mined.
More Information on Erandique and its Opals from a former Peace Corps Volunteer.

 So Kalin and I, ya conocimos las famosas vendidores de Opals, Juan and Sister Riena. She offered to walk with us out to the Tablon Mines. Once There Kalin was able to dig up her own opals (see pictures below).

In addition we were able to witness how the holes are dug; by hand, and with a little help from dynamite:
warning video is explosive:

Suyutal, in Google Earth, San Sebastian, Lempira, Honduras

So two weeks ago Kalin, Kalin's Counterpart, and I spent 4 days and 3 nights in a village called Suyatal.
It is located  in the municipality of San Sebastian on the other side of the mountain of Celaque from Gracias.  

Kalin has uploaded all of your pictures from this trip here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Kalin123/20101015?feat=directlink 

The villages that we go to that do not have potable water are usually hard to get to. If you have Google Earth installed I recommend turning on the terrain function and follow the tour of  this path just to arrive at the Catholic Church where we stayed.  We were able to find a ride around Celaque on paved roads to the town Corquin Copan.  From there is a well maintained dirt road to Belen Guacho Ocotopeque. From there begins the following Google Earth trip:  In Car, In Bestia, (Horseback).  The next day Kalin hiked another 3 miles up the mountain in the direction of the Cordillera de Celaque.

The purpose of the trip was to teach a Kalin's Counterpart, a young Honduran Engineer named Henry, how to do a topographic study for a water system. Currently Kalin is teaching him how to do the Design of the water system from the topographic data.

Overall it was a pretty good village trip, complete with going to sleep by 7:30 pm every night, Fresh homemade tortillas and Coffee every meal, bathing with wet wipes, hiking an average of 10 miles a day, a pretty sweet neck-tie shaped 75 foot waterfall, and two hour and half horseback rides.