and take a snorkeling/hiking trip to a jungle-covered northern Honduran coastal tip about an hour’s boat ride away from Tela, called Punta Sal. Mercifully, the ocean was uncharacteristically calm that day, and the weather a delightful combination of sun and breeze. We loaded up with bug spray and began our hike through the jungle with our guide identifying all different types of flora and fauna for us along the way. Of greatest interest, with pictures below, were: 
The spider, who, including his legs, was literally as big as my palm. Blech. My future sister-in-law, Amanda, would have loved this guy.
The banana flower, which apparently makes a really loud popping sound when it opens; this was cool to see because I have showed pictures of this plant to my students before, but have never seen one in person.
And our favorite: the howler monkey. This monkey’s “howl” sounds remarkably like a very large dog barking. Apparently, these furry creatures are very territorial, so if they feel threatened, they literally mark their territory. In other words, the best advice is not to stand under them. Ever. From there, we went snorkeling over a coral reef. It was nice to be in the water and explore around together, but the visibility was pretty poor, so there wasn’t much to see… until we went to a Garifuna village for lunch, that is (Garifuna being a cultural subset here with an African influence). This place reminded Reade of Gilligan’s Island, although I must admit that I’ve never actually seen the show. The fish that we had failed to see in the water had made their way (caught fresh just hours before, complete with eyes and fins and everything else), onto the lunch plates of all the other people who came on the trip, including our very own Professor. Fortunately, we had packed our lunch and did not have to dig through the eyes and innards. By the time we got back to Tela, we still had time to go play on the beach. You can’t ask for much more than that.
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