Not A Tourist

We bode farewell to our island paradise, the beautiful reefs and our new friend Haidai after enjoying her wonderful island cooking, fresh baked Snapper, Honduran rice and beans and her beautiful children we headed to our next stop.

 
A quick flight to the mainland, another local bus trip, our destination, Copan and the ancient ruins of the Mayan empire. Flavia our host and owner of the Hacienda San Lucas was waiting with a smile and a hug. We immediately felt like family.
 
It’s hard to explain the feeling when you arrive at San Lucas. A very special place, a place for travelers, not for tourists. We met a tourist in Roatan who had just come from Copan who had told Lou there was not much to see in Copan and you “could do the area in a day or two at the most”. She couldn’t have been more wrong.
 
The difference between a traveler and a tourist is that a tourist just wants to see as much as possible as quickly as possible, jumping from hotel to hotel, carrying their tour guide like their bible and thinking their money paves their way. A traveler takes the time to soak up the culture, beauty and history of the places they find on their travels, changing course when the wind blows in a different direction.
 
A tourist sees the person behind the desk or delivering their food as a necessary faceless service, a traveler recognizes the people they come in contact with as mothers, fathers, daughters and sons who have a story to tell. Someone who can teach you much if you take the time to listen.
 
All over the world people have created the perfect destinations for tourists, Disneyland, the Hyatt Regency and McDonalds in Paris. The Hacienda San Lucas was created for travelers, a peaceful hacienda  perched in the mountains overlooking Copan where each night as the sun goes down the travelers collect to experience God’s handy work. Then sit back and enjoy a five course meal that is cooked with love and patience out of the family kitchen over 100 years old. Soaking up the flowers, antiques, great conversation and the family dogs. Finally retiring to a room where the ambient light comes from candles strategically placed around the room.
 
A traveler could never “do” Copan in a day or two. We have been here three days and barely scratched the surface.