Background Switcher (Hidden)

Paradise Farm

Sunday, April 10, 2011



Finca Paraiso: Paradise Farm. What a perfect name for this shade coffee/banana/cacao plantation not far from Lake Yojoa, Honduras.

Yes, it rained. It rained a lot while we were there, which made it tough to take decent bird photos, but oh! how I love the other photo ops it opened up. Flowers look their best in the rain, no? Yes, roses happily grow in Honduras. Told you it wasn't all that hot and humid, Possum. If a rose can grow there, you can go there.


There were so many flowers, and they all looked so lovely in the rain. Here's a heliconia, favorite of hummingbirds and relative to the banana, starting to open:


I am glad this is not a strict birding blog, (I don't do strict anything, come to think of it), because I was enchanted by the Gallus domesticus chuckling about in the rain.


They were cleverly taking shelter under the huge heliconia leaves. We were sheltering, too, in an open concrete shed, waiting for the rain to let up enough to go birding. It eventually did. With my telephoto lens and the flock of wet chickens, I had fun the whole time.


The high point for me? Seeing an heirloom bronze turkey hen running off with a stolen tortilla.


One reason to enjoy travel in Latin America is seeing the pure heirloom varieties of farm animals at the little fincas. You'll never see those big ungainly white turkeys that are the norm in America. They'd never survive the truly free-range living conditions in Latin America, where it's every turkey for himself, and damn the tortillas.

This one's for DOD, who loved to travel, but never made it to Latin America. He sure stomped all over America, though, and boy, did he have stories to tell. Miss you, miss you, miss you.

2 comments:

Hot and humid isn't normal? Other conditions exist?
Why wasn't I told of this?

90's here today.

I see the gallo and his gallinas have a soccer ball to play with. Even the hens are serious about the sport in Honduras. Brings memories of Mexico. Gotta love the strutting roosters and varieties of domestic birds.

[Back to Top]