Honduras, from bad to great

11-22 March 207

Somewhere along the way into Honduras I get sick. It’s a long day, changing busses several times in high heat. By the time we get to San Pedro Sula its 9pm, and I collapse straight into bed. At the time I assume it is just tiredness.

The next moring we are on another bus for 3 hours to Copan, and its then I realize something is wrong. I have no energy and am stiff all over. Sara has escaped it as ñeaves me to it. For the next thre days I eat no more than a couple of pieces of bread each day. Not good.

I am particularly put out cos we are leaving soon! And I almost never get sick, so when I do I don’t seem to handle it well.

We do manage to see the ruins at least. Maybe its my condidtion, but they do not impress me much. They are small and the ¨amazing¨ detail of the carvings seems to be missed by me. In fact most of the better pieces are replicas!! We are shocked at having to pay $15 US each to get in!! And the guide stings us another $7 each, even after teaming up with some travelers… ouch!

So we bus back to SPS then onto La Ceiba. Having to cab the transfers between bus stops is highly frustrating.. they charge ridiculous gringo prices and get surly at the concept of bargaining. We get on the ferry to Utilla just on time…

Utila has the reputation of being the cheapest place in the world to get dive certifications. And the water is warm and clear. It’s a tall order, but it does indeed come true. We speak to a few dive shops and end up going with the skankiest, cheapest and most laid back one, Paradise Divers.

Its so cheap Sara ends up doing her Advanced Course for all of $210US, including 2 free fun dives and free accom. I am happy with 10 fun dives for $150!!

The accom is basic, which is fine, but the location between two loud discos could be better! The best two dives are a night dive where we see an enormous King Crab, and a wreck dive which is surrounded by massive fish. The instructor takes photos with his very flash 10mpx camera (I didn’t know such high definition existed yet!), which are too big to post here, but look fantastic.

The island itself is basically one small town. Only 2 roads and quite crowded. Not quite what we expected, but pretty cool.

On the last two days we decide to check out the next island over. Roatan. The big interest here is the current real estate frenzy. We fly there (as a treat!) and hire a car at $45US a day. This is a budget blower, but allows us to have a good look around.

The East end is much less developed, and super laid back. We stay at a private cottage on the beach. Costing $50, its steep but is very nice. We organize this thru the Windsong restaurant, where the local gringos have a great yarn to us about living on the island, then one goes and pays for our dinner!!!

The West end is very expensive, and while very commercial, no where near as ¨civilized¨as we expected. It still has sand roads etc. We eat a flash lobster dinner on the beach which is nice, fully aware that we wont see each other for ages very soon.

Back at SPS for a night it pours with rain. It’s a 3.30am start to get Sara on her flight. Its an emotional farewell, and we both hope that the next 6 months will deliver to each of us what we are looking for.

178 days on the road together. Its been a great trip….