After landing in San Pedro Sula, we had a 3 hour drive to the mountainous region of Santa Rosa Copan where we were staying for the duration of our Habitat for Humanity build.

The day before our build, we had a day to explore the small town of Gracias to learn more about the local culture.

Our first stop was at the San Cristobal Fort which represents independence to the people of Gracias. The contrast of the white buildings against the view of the mountains was stunning.

We then headed down to the village where we received a tour of a local gallery at Casa de Mito Galeano. This is the entrance to the gallery – just one of many beautiful doors that we passed that day.

I have too many photos from this gallery space to post them all here, but the exhibit that day was of digitized kids artwork depicting their fantasy world. We also got a sneak peek of amazing paintings done by a 19 year old (I hope to discover his name one day). The colours and expression have me in awe of his talent.

We also received a tour of a local middle class home so that we could see the typical living conditions. This is a traditional wood burning oven with the common sight of black beans bubbling in a pot. We saw lots of kids and elderly people carrying wood on their backs along the roads to their homes.

We explored a local market, with fresh fruit and vegetables. This little lady was so cute, and I was disappointed afterwards to realize that I had not caught her smile on camera.

We had the opportunity to sit in a local church –  Iglesia La Merced – that had been built in the 1600’s and has slowly been refurbished over the years.

We stopped for lunch at the Guancascos Hotel Restaurant, where we had a beautiful view while getting to know our fellow Habitat Team members.

From this one day of orientation, we soon learned that the people of Honduras are super friendly, the views magnificent and the colours vibrant.