Honduras, Ni Fu Ni Fa restaurant, San Pedro Sula-a great choice
A great dinner at Ni Fu, Ni Fa in San Pedro Sula, Honduras
I asked the hotel to recommend a place where I could get a very good dinner. They suggested a steakhouse named Ni Fu, Ni Fa. They told me to take a hotel taxi and make sure to have the same one pick me up when I was finished. In other words, don’t take a “rogue” taxi. Santos happened to still be outside the Hilton with his taxi, so I commissioned him to take me.
When I walked into the restaurant, I was the only customer in the place. I thought, “uh-oh….this may not have been a good idea”. However, the servers seemed to be very attentive to me. The waiter suggested I try the steak, which I did. I have to say, it was probably one of the best steaks I have ever eaten in my life. So tender, I could cut it with a fork.
Steak dinner at Ni Fu Ni Fa restaurant in San Pedro Sula, Honduras
I was enjoying a nice leisurely dinner by myself. Soon, a rather large party of about 12 came in. At the head of their table sat a gentleman that looked like the “godfather.” He seemed to command a lot of attention in the restaurant. His group seemed to be all high class, well educated people. I observed them with a great deal of curiosity. Soon, the “godfather” came over to my table and asked if he could sit down with me. He introduced himself as Jorge Marinkakis, the owner of the restaurant and he wanted to know what I thought about it. For the next 45 minutes he told me his life story. He was half-Greek, half-Honduran. He owned this restaurant plus 3 others in San Pedro Sula, and also a fishing boat. His children were almost all U.S. educated, mostly at the Ivies.
The restaurant soon began to fill and people kept coming up to our table to exchange greetings with Jorge. Obviously, he was a big hitter and well known. Pretty soon, two (2) other gentleman sat down at my table to speak with Jorge. One was another restaurant owner in San Pedro Sula, and the other appeared to be a senior level executive with one of the banks in San Pedro Sula. They spoke very good English and seemed to have all night to talk. However, I did not. I had a big day planned in the markets of city. I excused myself after about 30 minutes with them. However, I also mentally made notes to myself: 1. Bring my wife to San Pedro Sula. 2. Take her to dinner at Ni Fu, Ni Fa .
I asked the restaurant to call Santos to come back and pick me up. I was back at the San Pedro Sula Hilton Princess by 10 p.m.—exhausted from the big day.
Next-the street markets of San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Steve Barrymore ssb11@prodigy.net
Read about all of my travels click here
Honduras-part 5– My first attempts at the streets of San Pedro Sula, Honduras (Cont’d)
Honduras-part 5– My first attempts at the streets of San Pedro Sula, Honduras (Cont’d)
At our agreed upon time, Santos picked me up in Parque Central. He seemed a little stunned that I had disobeyed him by going into the market area that he had told me to stay out of.
San Pedro Sula, Honduras-Parque Central, I am pointing the number on the side of Santos' taxi.
I told him I wanted to go to more markets the next day and asked if he would take me. He pondered it for a moment and said (in Spanish), “ok, I will be your driver tomorrow even though I am scheduled to be off”. He asked me if I liked produce markets. I told him, I did. He said “ok, then before I take you back to the hotel now, we’ll cruise a produce market to see if you like it enough to see more of them tomorrow”. I believe he thought I might be bluffing.
The produce street market was starting to close down, but he parked his taxi on the street and we walked a few feet.
San Pedro Sula Honduras street market-it was close to closing time.
There was pick-up truck loaded with some fruit.
A truck load of fruit in San Pedro Sula street market
There was a man in the market who introduced himself as Francisco. Francisco was sitting on the tail gate of his pick-up, surrounded by 5 or 6 friends. He was friendly and asked me the standard questions…..Where are you from? Why are you here in the produce market (and Honduras)? Where did you learn Spanish? etc, etc, etc. Francisco seemed a little amused to see a gringo in a Honduran street market in San Pedro Sula. His friends just stared at me. I stared back.
Within a couple of minutes a sultry looking woman suddenly appeared at the truck, looked at me, and said something to Francisco. Francisco laughs and tells her that I wouldn’t understand. In Spanish, I asked her what she said, and she replied “soltera”, meaning single woman. Then she flashed a big toothy smile at me. They all started laughing. Santos looked embarrassed. I told them I understood completely and then they laughed even more. I showed them my wedding ring and they laughed harder. Santos was getting nervous and said it was time to go. When we left, they were still laughing. Ha, Ha, ha.
By this time, Santos was convinced I was truly up for the street markets. I told him that in the morning I wanted to hit every major street market in San Pedro Sula. He said it would take 3 hours and to be ready to go at 8 a.m. I headed back to the hotel for dinner.
Next-a great dinner at Ni Fu, Ni Fa
Steve Barrymore ssb11@prodigy.net
Read about all of my travels click here
Honduras, A visit to a plantation near Progresso-Part 2
Part 2-cont’d
Honduras-visiting an orange plantation in Progresso–
I have a couple of friends that are from Honduras. Their parents still live in the town of Progresso which is located very near San Pedro Sula. When I told them I was planning a return trip to Honduras, they insisted their family pick me up at the airport. I didn’t want to impose, but when they said they thought it would be safer than me just grabbing a taxi at the airport, I took them up on it. So, their dads, Mario and Ernesto were there when my flight arrived. They spoke very little English, so everything was in Spanish. It was extremely hot when I arrived in San Pedro Sula.
Mario and Ernesto and their families live in Progresso. They took me to visit their homes for some refreshments. I was no longer a typical tourist. I was quickly absorbed into the real Honduras lifestyle.
After resting up and being shown around town, Mario wanted to take me up into the hills to see his citrus plantation where he had 1500 orange trees. Of course, I welcomed that opportunity. We drove up into the hills until we ran out of pavement. We then proceeded down some pretty iffy dirt roads. Mario told me I was the only person from the U.S. to ever step foot on his plantation. That made me feel very special.
Honduras-a view of Progresso from the hills
We were in a very remote area. When we got out of the truck, Mario pulled out a heavy duty pistol, tucked into his pants and said, “you never know who/what you will run into in the hills, so we need protection”. Okay by me!! My only question was……how many bullets do we have?
We walked through the plantation for a while. Mario pointed out various things of interest.
A walk through Mario's plantation in Honduras
The area was very rugged as you can see by the following photos:
Honduras-the rugged hills with the orange groves
Honduras-An orange tree growing on the side of the hill
Honduras-the rugged hillside with the orange trees
Honduras-another photo of the rugged countryside we were in.
Mario talked with me about his orange trees. His caretaker showed up and we chatted with him for awhile.
Soon, it was time to leave. Mario was taking me to my hotel in San Pedro Sula. Quite honestly, I was looking forward to the air conditioned room. To be continued…..
Next-an overview of the San Pedro Sula Hilton Princess
Read about all of my travels click here
Steve Barrymore ssb11@prodigy.net
Honduras-San Pedro Sula, a visit-part 1
Honduras-San Pedro Sula arrival-Part 1
Honduras has always been a country that has had a certain appeal to me. Not sure why, but I think it may be because it is still a country not high on everyone’s travel list. Now, I am NOT talking about the Bay Islands, or Roatan. I am talking about the real Honduras……the mainland, the ”heartbeat” of Central America.
I had spent a week in Honduras a couple of years ago, but wanted to go back to spend more time in some of the places I had only briefly been before. So, I decided to retrace my original steps and slow down a little this time. My first stop was going to be the city of San Pedro Sula(SAP). SAP is a city of about 500,000 population. It’s the jumping off point for many people going out to the Bay Islands or other parts of Honduras. Problem is, no one wants to spend any time in the city, because it has a pretty rough reputation.
On my previous trip, I had been advised not to walk the streets of SAP alone. While I don’t want to play down the crime problems, with a little caution, there are some interesting places to see in San Pedro Sula.
Now I will admit, I tend to be a little more adventurous than the average tourist. However, by being careful, I sometimes have the opportunity to see things that most people won’t see.
During my previous trip to Honduras; while on the plane, I had met Mr. Javier Ortega, the general manager of the San Pedro Sula Hilton Princess Hotel. During that trip, I had spent a week in western Honduras, and was back in San Pedro Sula for a couple of hours before my flight home. I stopped by his hotel to say hello. He offered to give me a quick drive through the city. What that did was whet my appetite to explore it on my own and to walk the streets and get a better feel for the city when I returned.
And so with my second trip, begins my next series of blogs. I will take you through San Pedro Sula, on to Copan Ruinas, then to Jocotan, Guatemala, and back to San Pedro Sula. I will have lots of photos to share. Stay tuned!
To read more of my travels click here
Steve Barrymore ssb11@prodigy.net
