An Underwater Experience in Honduras

So my departure from Belize was pleasant though it would be 2 days of travel to the Bay Islands in Honduras.  My first day was a bus trip to the southern port of Belize, Punta Gorda where I spent the night.  I did get to sample a piece of chocolate filled with coconut rum from a store that professed itself as the Chocolate Center of the Universe.

I made my way in the morning by boat crossing the Belize/Guatemala border.  It was an hour boat ride in a 10 person boat across the sea.  We got rather wet from the rain and waves splashing in the boat and fortunately met up with two women from Atalanta going in the same direction as me. A combination of taxi, bus, walking and a few border crossings and I was in Ceiba, Honduras.  I had one issue crossing into Honduras since I did not have 3 dollar bills to pay a border fee and they were not accepting my twenty dollar bill since they had no chance.  Fortunately I was able to borrow a dollar from my newly met travel buddies from Atalanta.  A night in Ceiba quickly passed, I'd gotten there at 8pm and went to sleep rather shortly.  In the morning it was a quick taxi ride to my ferry which would be my last transport to my destination.

Notice the two ferries. I took the one on the right, not the left.  My 100 person ferry runs to Utila, my island destination, while the 500 person ferry on the left runs to Roatan, a more developed island.

In an hour and a half I was on Utila and in my dive center.  This is the main road that ran along the island.

I'd chosen Alton's Dive Shop as it was laid back, distant from the bars so noise wasn't a problem, and I had heard good things of them.  The following day I would begin my Open Water dive class, was incredibly excited of course.  It was a 4 day course with a mixture of classroom movies, book reading, knowledge reviews, quizzes, a final test, and a good amount of skill practice underwater. Setting up our gear, clearing water from our masks, not holding our breath underwater, dropping and then finding our regulators, the breathing piece, were several we practiced consistently.  My favorite however was buoyancy control or "hovering'.  We did just that during this skill and it is quite an awesome feeling to be floating in space underwater.  Practiced this on my own without direction it was so fun.

 Each course is completed by a group, mine just so happened to include 3 other Americans, all from California.  The 4 of us would study together, dive together, and in the evenings go to dinner as well.  Basically a bunch of dive buddies learning to dive and then enjoying the island after course training.  

Of course it was not all learning and practicing.  There were fun dives and exploration to be had and we rented a camera for two of those dives.  The following are a few of the images we took.

Hard to see but we spotted an Eagle Ray, one of the more coveted creatures to spot.  Did not see the most sought after Whale Shark though, unfortunate but I had no room to complain.

Just me, flipping around underwater.  Such an incredible, truly different feel to be underwater and neutrally buoyant.

Spotted another turtle, Hawksbill Turtle this time.  Our guide Jesse, a 20 year old from Spokane oddly, had swam past it and I was able to get his attention.

A Lionfish which actually isn't welcome in the waters. People hunt these to control their population and protect other naturally found species.

I forget what this guy was called but we saw it.  I'd need to check my dive log for the technical name but it's buried in my bag.

Just a shot of coral, which I found very pleasant to look at, just fields and long stretches of coral like this.  Untouched and swaying with the current, quite a sight to see.

Unfortunately my time on Utila had to come to an end.  I had debated about doing another course and more dives but it was time to move on.  A great stay for about a week, diving, chilling, swimming in the sea.  Not to mention some delicious food.  I was introduced to the Honduran Baliada, which I would describe as a lazy burrito.  Its very similar ingredients, mix in some sauces, and then fold the tortilla in half rather than rolling it.  Very delicious none the less.  I departed Utila by morning ferry and after a 6 hour bus ride found myself in the city of Copan.  I'd come here to visit the Mayan ruins of Copan, known for the sculptures and carvings more so than the temples.

Having no guide limited my knowledge and history of the site but I could still greatly appreciate the detail in the work.

These structures, or stellas as they are called, were everywhere on the ruins site.

This would be the hieroglyphic stairway, the longest Mayan hieroglyph.  It had been damaged but archaeologists have been working together to restore it and it remains covered by a tarp and roped off to visitors.

The most famous monument of the Copan site which depicts the first 16 rulers of Copan.  Four on each side of course.  All this knowledge I pulled from the trail map at Copan, it actually came in handy.








There is so much more to the Copan site as far as sculptures go.  It wasn't like previous temple sites where each picture felt somewhat the same.  I found myself taking so many photos, basically one of each Stella and any original sculpture I may find around the ruins.  I cannot compare this with Tikal as they are two different venues and both offer different experiences.  My time in Copan city would not be as long as my stay in Utila.  Only a few days but I did get to try some chuletas, basically a barbecued piece of meat on a stick.  Also a funny small fruit, about the size of a strawberry and reddish greenish.  Imagine if hairs grew on it though, you cut it open and have a fruit a little tougher than a grape, similar taste and there is a pit the size of a cashew.  That is the fruit I had, and enjoyed as a desert.
Next stop on this journey would be El Salvador which I had passed through previously en route to Bryce in Guatemala.  I looked forward to a more authentic feel of people, food, and city life.  I had not found that in Copan or Utila.  Both great places to visit, yet very geared towards tourism.  Not to mention I had heard El Salvador has the best food, and I love food as well as trying different things. Espero que todo esta bien. Tenga cuidado.

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Belize con Novia

The week in Belize with Bryce was very fun but can't lie, I was very excited for Nicolette's arrival to Belize.  I basically hunkered down in Belize City at a hotel awaiting her arrival.  I spent three days lounging about there.  To pass the time I helped with an ongoing project the hotel owner had going.  Nancy the owner was decorating her roof deck with metal cutouts of various sea creatures and they all needed to be filed before being hung.  It was easy, simple work and prevented me from being a complete hermit.  I also met her main employee Jones who was a chill guy and we debated at that time over who would be in the NBA Finals. Really was enjoyable except for the fact the files were square and made it interesting trying to file curves smooth, but oh well.

One of the cutouts here.  Easily the most difficult I worked on, it's a seahorse by the way.

A view from the top of the hotel.  It was one of the highest points in the city.  Fun fact, same hurricane that created the split in Caye Caulker also destroyed so much of Belize City that they relocated the country capitol to Belmopan which is near central Belize.

Lounging after some filing.  Such a hard life I know.

Arrival day didn't come soon enough even with this relaxing environment.  I met her in the airport, well more so on the street as there is no official international arrival waiting room and we were off.  I'd done my best to put together an itinerary and first stop was Cayo.

Enjoying each others company and definitely not the beer from our hotel deck.

Our first adventure was the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave.  An old Mayan sacrificial cave where sacrificial offerings ranged from pottery to people.  This was our standard getup, headlamps were far superior to the candles I had in Guatemala.  It was an intense cave with the largest cavern I've ever been in termed 'the Cathedral'.  I'd have taken more pictures but my camera stopped working within 10 to 15 minutes of entering the cave.  Believe me though it was amazing.

This is the view looking out of the cave, deep in the jungle.

We went for an afternoon to the Mayan ruins Cahal Pech.  It was a small site, fun none the less.  We played frisbee in a courtyard in front of a Mayan temple, it seemed only fitting.

Found a small playground the same day, a see-saw provided a good amount of fun and laughter.

From Cayo, the jungle adventure city, we went to Placencia.  Great beaches as you can see.  It was fun getting there, specifically the bus transfers.  Our last transfer, the bus driver actually pulled over in front of a store and told us to get off and board the bus across the road since it was the one we needed.
This photo was actually taken a few steps out of our room.

The beaches looked like this up and down the coast. It was gorgeous and very fun to lounge about.  A little frisbee occurred here, in addition to the required sun bathing.









It was a great time swimming in the water, very warm.  Only thing is we caught some bad weather and it would get a little windy in the afternoon and make the water a little rough.  Not complaining of course, it is still the Caribbean.  We stayed close to a bar called the Tipsy Tuna which one night featured a Garifuna drumming presentation.  Enjoyable to watch but it became background music to the great view of the stars at night.

Our last stop on the Belize tour was Caye Caulker.  It would be an interesting travel day to get there since we were trying to time everything perfectly to not waste time in Belize City.  We caught a bus leaving Placencia around 6 am, transferred on a highway intersection and grabbed another bus.  The driver of this bus was moving with a purpose, thoughts of rollovers came to mind.  Our deadline was 10:30am in Belize City to catch the water taxi to Caye Caulker and avoid waiting for the 1pm.  Arriving in Belize City at 10:30ish we grabbed the 1st taxi we could, rushed through buying our tickets and were the last to board.  It was such a relief to make it on time.

Our time on Caye Caulker was great.  Enjoyed the split, sunsets, food, and drink.  We were able to get on the Raggamuffin snorkel trip as well.  This time around we saw two green sea turtles, in addition to the manatee, rays, sharks, coral, and fish.  It was great, not to mention the rum punch and ceviche were delicious again.  I'd provide pictures of this but I did not take my camera, only hers.  Great overall week it was.  It seemed rushed at times, and we accomplished a lot during the week, but it wasn't stressful.  Lots of new food sampled including snapper, grouper, barracuda, conch, and fry jacks.  I recommend fry jacks to anyone, as would she.  Especially stuffed with cheese, beans, jack spiced chicken or fish, with onions and salsa.  Now I'm hungry, sigh.  This will conclude my time in Belize.  I did have to leave but not much interesting in means of exiting the country.  Next up Honduras.  Later everyone, take care.

Belize con Hermano

Departing Guatemala to Belize with Bryce was a charm.  A quick 5 hour shuttle, in a shuttle van with open seats to stretch out in.  Actually comfortable and no need to take a picture of a fold out seat, what a rarity.  The only destination for Bryce and I was Caye Caulker where we planned to do some snorkeling at the Hol Chan Reserve.  Which was great as I'll get to shortly.  Not many photos of our time there as it was more of a R&R destination.  A few days on the island to relax and make a snorkeling trip. It was a 1 hour trip by water taxi to the island from Belize City.  We had little to no difficulty talking with people as most of the inhabitants are Creole and understood our English.  Our first "hotel" was dirty, smelly, and just poorly kept.  However it cost us $7.5 each for the night.  We later upgraded to a clean room with private bath and fan for $11 each per night.  Most of our time when chilling on the island was spent at "the split".  Caye Caulker used to be a single body of land but Hurricane Hattie in 1961 tore through the middle of the island creating a channel of water.  This area would become the local hangout for swimming, sun bathing and enjoying loud reggae music played by the Lazy Lizard Bar.  A fun time definitely.

Our first night there we were able to catch a nice sunset on the west side of the island.  The island itself is about 6 blocks wide I think, but it varies in areas.  From the stairs leading to our hotel room we could watch the sun rise and set only being two stories up if that helps.

A typical shot of the island.  That sand path between the buildings is the main road.  We saw one vehicle while here, a dodge pickup which was the island's garbage truck, and that was only once during our few days there.  The rest of travel is by bicycle or golf cart.

Another view of typical shoreline.  Most of the island is lined with docks and moored boats.

The fun awkward pose on our sailboat which took us and 13 other people out for our snorkeling trip.  It was through Raggamuffin Tours and we made 3 stops, highly recommend them if ever on the island.  A stop at a coral garden, 'shark/ray alley', and the Hol Chan Reserve.  Lunch is provided between stops and on the return sail ceviche with rum punch.

Shark/Ray Alley let us swim with large stingrays and nurse sharks which are not dangerous by the way.  They swarm here since the area is used by local fisherman as a place to clean the catch of the day.

Another ray, both rays and sharks would swim underneath us in about 8 feet of water.  Was very fun.

Saw a green sea turtle as well at the Hol Chan Reserve which is more towards experiencing wildlife. We did see many other fish and creatures but I was using my camera in a water proof bag, pulling it tight over the camera lens.  The only pictures worthwhile were those of larger creatures.

Manatee! I think this was my favorite creature of the snorkeling trip.  They're so much bigger than I thought and very fun to watch.  So peaceful just hanging out underwater.

Blurry but I think it gives a good perspective on how large they are, should be noted that after Bryce got this close it swam off.  We believe he scared it off.










It was a great few days relaxing on the island.  We sampled local food, mainly from this place called 'Pirates' where we could get meals for only a few dollars.  As well as home cooked cinnamon rolls, pineapple coconut juice which is delicious, and a wonderful yet inexpensive treat: Freezies, which we termed Otter Pops on Muscle Milk.  Great time relaxing, and I'd be back within the week but we headed off to Belize City for his departure and my waiting for the arrival of a special someone.  Oh those days took awhile to pass but I have to conclude this post as I'm not the only person at my hostel and keeping a waiting line for the computer does not make friends.  Take care everyone, talk with you again at some point.

Guate All Stars: The Great Finale

Leaving Semuc would be hard.  I had wanted to lounge about in the pools again but we were on a timeline and had already paid for a shuttle ride.  We left by truck bed taxi to Lanquin where our shuttle would be picking us up. Schedules are not to be trusted but I find myself still somewhat frustrated every time a bus or shuttle is late.  Such is life.

Snapped this picture while waiting for the shuttle. Can you spot the mistakes?  Misspellings are seen everywhere, but it´s still always enjoyable.

One of the most frustrating moments of my entire trip was about to occur and here I was blissfully thinking about all the fun I had yesterday.  We were to take a shuttle to Flores, Guatemala to see the Tikal ruins.  We waited for I believe 30 minutes before the first van shuttle arrived.  Not only was it late, it could not accommodate for all the people waiting to take it.  Frustrations ran high as people realized the those responsible for coordinating our shuttles over booked by a few spots.  Whether it was intentional or a mistake we could not tell.  The kid, and I mean kid, maybe 16 or 17, who drove us here and on the phone with shuttle drivers was laughing at our questions and complaints.  A few of those waiting boarded the shuttle and the rest stayed for another shuttle that was on its way supposedly empty.  In a few minutes it showed up and guess what, not empty but close to full.  Kid still laughing, people frustrated, not a good situation.  We piled in and set off on our journey.  At least some familiar faces were in the van, the same people we had taken the shuttle to Semuc with were in the backseat. 

The seat.  As stated the van was nearly full, they put 16 people into a 14 seat van.  My brother and I shared the fold out seat shown for about 8 hours. I had the right side of the seat so I could lean on the window and he had the left side straddling the two seats.  We put my rain jacket there so he could try and sit level and I asked whoever sitting behind me to keep there knee forward to help as back support.  While very uncomfortable we were able to keep positive attitudes knowing everyone was uncomfortable and joking about the situation.


We eventually made it to Flores after a few stops, a delicious pineapple smoothie and some more discomfort. The town of Flores was a developed tourist town, pleasant, and felt relatively safe.  I say it felt self because about a week after we left a safety warning was issued to travelers to stay out of Northern Guatemala due to gang violence.  Our plan was to catch a shuttle to Tikal the following morning around 8am.  Not sure why I believed it would be anywhere close on time due to past experience.  Bryce and I sat around till about 9:30am until a private taxi driver showed up to take us.  The people we had booked our shuttle through forgot to have the driver pick us up.  Either way it was much more comfortable to take the private taxi and we were able to see everything in the ruins site that we wanted to see, even though a bit rushed.

Caution: Jaguar Crossing.  A few of these signs are posted along the drive to Tikal.  Our driver informed us 2 jaguars have been killed by cars in the past so a strict 25mph limit is enforced along with these posted signs.

Me in front of the Great Jaguar Temple. Boundary Bay what. I was somewhat surprised to see construction and repairs being done to the temples but it makes sense.  The ruins are a large culture icon for Mayans and those in Guatemala as well as an important source of income generated by tourism.

This carved face was found inside a hut which access to was prohibited.  It is actually quite large and I would estimate the top of the head is around 6 feet off the ground.

I learned that temples at Tikal are for the most part solid.  They begin as smaller structures used mostly for astronomy purposes.  As they age they are continually built over top of the previous structure resulting in huge, solid masses of stone with one to several chambers and platforms.

Opposite side of the Great Plaza viewing the Great Jaguar Temple.

Temple of the Jaguar Priest.  Multiple temples exist in Tikal but those not located at the Great Plaza have their bases covered by jungle overgrowth.  This being one of them, but a view through the trees is available.

 People are allowed to climb to the tops of the temples by way of wooden staircases.  Not the best construction and had me feeling a bit uncomfortable at times.  Then again I dislike heights very much.  This is one view.  Could see miles of jungle top in every direction, it was an incredible sight and feeling.  Pictures don´t do it justice.

The Great Plaza once more, giving a sense of the size and how it was surrounded by temples and structures.

We had a guide for our trip, again just us two since we missed the 1st shuttle.  He helped explain some of the culture of the Mayans as well as name the temples for us.  All in all it was very interesting to walk through the old ruins knowing these are the remnants of a past civilization.  Immense structures and buildings that used to be home to a thriving culture and population, all vacant now and turned into a travel destination.  The experience was definitely worth the trip, uncomfortable or not.

Tikal was the concluding destination in Guatemala.  Our time in the country while short, was a great experience.  We packed the biggest attractions into a week and had so much fun doing it with pictures to prove. I would not have much time to dwell on it though, we had scheduled a shuttle for Belize in the morning.  So long Guate, hello Caribbean!!! Talk with you all later.  Tome cuidado todos.

Guate All Stars Pt. II

I had covered the Semuc pools excursion while in the area but that was only 1 of the 3 activities for the day. Still planned was to float the river by tube and go through the Semuc caves.  While the pools in the Semuc Champey park were incredible we still looked forward to these following activities.  Once again our guide came with us and it was just me and Bryce.  Not that I expected more, but the tubes for the river float were very small.

 A shot of the river from the bridge.  We put in the river just past that rock and floated for about 30 minutes down river.  We were very fortunate that it was so sunny for the pools and river float considering the previous day was cloudy with rain.

Oh hey Bryce and my foot.  Notice the size of the tube and his position in the water.  Not meant for guys our size.

Closeup of us after passing the bridge.  My hair looks like I haven´t used shampoo in a few days, which is completely possible.  Some typical routines have lost their regularity on my trip so far.









The river float was great, lounging in the sun and floating the river.  We had tried to spot a decent rope swing or tree branch to jump off into the water but no luck.  We did however notice a woman bathing in the river and washing her clothes.  Also a very common thing.  Last on the days activities were the Semuc caves.  Once again just me and Bryce and a guide which was actually perfect because it allowed us to move at the pace we wanted.

This would be the entrance, and exit to the cave.  It was a single path to a large cavern in the back with a few alternate paths along the way.

Into the darkness, we go.  This little light of mine....

 Bryce in the photo.  It was difficult taking pictures as the dust in the cave or smoke from the candles would be picked up by the camera flash.  Interesting at times, frustrating the rest.

Bryce and our guide, great face as usual.  Not to mention our guide is striking quite the pose.

We reached the cavern in the back which was rather spacious.  Took some photos before heading back.  I must be standing in a low spot because he is not taller than me.

I am wearing shorts under the water.












The caves were very fun and it was an incredible day overall.  Pools in the morning and afternoon, floated the river, and then caves later in the afternoon.  It had started to rain very heavily while we were in the caves, once again very fortunate on the weather.  Finished out the night with some cards and prepared for another travel day.  We had concluded our time in Semuc and would be off to Flores, Guatemala to venture into the Mayan ruins of Tikal. Semuc Champey is easily one of the highlights of my entire trip so far.  Hope all is well at home with everyone.  Really kicking myself for falling behind on this but it´s my own doing.  Take care, talk with you later.