June 9, 2020
Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras
SCAB = Soto Cano Air Base. A rather unflattering acronym, but there it is. And recreation at SCAB – “very limited” at present. Thank so you very much Mr. COVID.
We are restricted to post because of COVID. If you have official reason to leave post and interact with locals, you must quarantine for seven days when you get back. I really don’t want to quarantine anymore. On post, most of the normal places are closed, as locals staff them and all non-essential locals are barred from post. These include small shops, bars, restaurants, and barbershops.
In normal times there are lots of weekend tourism opportunities. The Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) office, which would help coordinate these, is closed.
The gym is open with restrictions. The chapel is closed, but Chaplain Mike (who we met in quarantine, and who is a great guy) is available. Masks are required in the dining facility (DFAC) when not eating. There are hand wash stations to get in, and you are required to use them. Seating is spaced out to promote social distancing.
This all means there is very little to do. It would be great to take a taxi into Comayagua, have a meal, and buy things at local shops. To experience a little bit of Honduran culture, you know? This would have to be on weekends, as I understand the Hondurans have a dusk to dawn curfew. One imagines there are cool local hikes, and there are numerous orphanages that are favorites for the people serving here. In normal times quarterly “chapel hikes” are organized to hike food and supplies into villages in local mountain villages. Maybe, in a month or so…
A restaurant I can’t eat at.
A coffee house I can’t sip at.
A wood shop said to have an amazingly skilled proprietor that I can’t shop at.
Cool tours I can’t take.
SGT Escobar is in charge of unit (MWR) for the medical folks here. Last weekend he collected some donations, got a local to purchase food from off base and had a BBQ. The enlisted soldiers have a “day room” with TV, lounge chairs, and a pretty tricked out kitchen. The scene Saturday most entertaining with four Hispanic soldiers all cooking, each with their mother on video chat via phone, telling them they were doing it all wrong, I suspect. They cooked up some most excellent food and there was an ample supply of adult beverages to go with it.
The Lizard Lounge is famous, and a total throwback to the sixties. I hope it reopens while I’m here, as I really want to be able to say I had a beer there.
On any weekend evening you can walk around and see various groups partying around their hooch. It’s all pretty tame, with little chance of DUI, as it’s a short walk home for everyone. I’ve seen some of the MPs as patients and they say things are very quiet from their perspective.
On Sundays Derreck and I take about an 8-mile hike around the other side of the airstrip, where Ollie North’s infamous compound, or at least what’s left of it, is located. Isolated on the undeveloped side of the airstrip, with a couple of helipads next to it, it’s not hard to imagine secreting supplies for the Contras there and later flying them into Nicaragua. The jungle seems to have reclaimed the compound with a vengeance.
Random scenes from hike with Derreck.
Deadly (and thankfully dead) critters.
False Coral Snake
Montane’s Pit Viper
Non-deadly (and quite alive) critters, much closer to home.
