With every bad situation there is always something good ...

When last I left you I was complaining about the difficulty in getting from here to there  -- or there to here I guess it is now. But you know what I mean.

But even when I thought I had it figured out there was still another glitch. From my June trip I knew that one, Belize dollars could not be exchanged at a bank in Honduras. They could only be exchanged right when you get off the ferry and you don't get the best exchange rate. Trust me, in June I lost about $200, the moment I stepped off the boat. Water under the bridge as they say. But, the banks in Belize will only exchange limited amounts of Belize dollars for US dollars, $250 USD to be exact per day.

So this time, thinking ahead, smart cookie that I am I decided I only really needed about $400 US to get me where I needed to be and give me some cash until I could get to a Honduran bank to get money. And, based upon my June experience, I knew I could get a ferry ticket, on the ferry, the day I traveled.

Off to the bank I went, got cash from the ATM and went to the window. I explained I wanted to exchange Belize dollars for US dollars. The very nice woman behind the counter explained to me, again, that I could only exchange a limited amount. I explained that I understood. She then went off to talk to another person behind the counter, her supervisor I assume. Then she comes back and says they don't have the ability to exchange any more Belize dollars that day, that their central banks decides how much they have to exchange and when they reach their daily limit they can exchange no more. Huh. This was on Wednesday, giving myself some wiggle room just in case there was a problem, I asked if Thursday morning I could then exchange money. She said, she wouldn't know until Thursday morning when the central bank told them.

I quietly left the bank and headed down to the other end of the main street to a different bank. I didn't just fall off that turnip truck. I stood in line and when I got to the window I explained I wanted to exchange Belize dollars for US Dollars. Here the teller tells me that I can only exchange the dollars if I am leaving the country. Hooray, I have the right answer here, I am leaving the country. She again explains that I can only exchange the $250 USD amount and that I need my passport and my ticket to leave the country. Well wait, I tell her I don't have a ticket, I'm taking the ferry, and getting my ticket on the day I leave. Nope, sorry, gotta have a ticket and she proceeds to tell me that I can go to one of the tour operators on the sidewalk and buy my ticket today.

Breathe.

So I head down the sidewalk to the appropriate tour operator. Surprise! They are closed.

I decide I have a better idea.

I think a beer is in order. It is really hot and I am really tired and really really frustrated. I walk to the Pickled Parrot, and visited Eugene and Lynn and had a Belikin. I told Eugene my troubles and he asks how much money I'm trying to exchange. I tell him I want to get $400 USD and he says, wait a minute, goes inside and comes back out and hands me $400 USD in 20's. My savior. I drink two beers then head for home to finish packing.

I got all my belongings -- well almost all, a few items I just could not find a way to stuff into one of my suitcases but I could not bear to give up, and left with someone in Belize to be picked up later --  into three large suitcases. Friday morning my friend Cruz drove me and my luggage first to Above Grounds Coffee for my last cup and donut and then to the ferry, I buy  a ticket and they load my bags.

I'm off! At about 9:30 the ferry leaves Placencia, and after a 15 minute ride we stop in Independence where we wait for Immigration. The schedule says we leave Independence at 11. At about 10:45 the Immigration officer finally arrives and it takes about 45 minutes to stamp all the passports and collect the exit fee. Now we're off. It is a reasonably uneventful ferry ride to Puerto Cortes, Honduras but because we left so late I already know my chances of making the afternoon ferry in La Ceiba were somewhere between slim and none. But I knew I still didn't want to spend a night in San Pedro Sula and if I wanted to take a bus I would have to take a taxi to San Pedro Sula then a bus and wouldn't arrive in La Ceiba till rather late. My plan remained to take a taxi and make the trip as quickly as possible.

So the title of this post ... clearly things were not going as planned but there was a bright spot.

While on the ferry ride to Puerto Cortes I chatted with three people. One was a young woman from Australia on her "gap year" -- the year between high school and college. So I figure that likely made her 18 or maybe 19. How was she spending her gap year? She was spending seven months traveling, alone, through much of Central America and volunteering at different places. She had been in Guatemala for a month, volunteering with kids. She was in between assignments when we met, had spent some time in Caye Caulker in the north part of Belize and a couple days in Placencia, was on her way to Honduras where she would stay in Puerto Cortes a couple of days and hoped to get to the Copan Ruins, then would be headed to  Costa Rica where she would be volunteering for a few weeks. I kept looking at her with such awe. She was so self assured, confident but still a fun-loving young adult. Then I also looked at her as a mom, I don't know that I could have let my daughter go off alone to Central America with just an general idea of a plan but without family or friends for support in each different country she would visit.

The other two people I chatted with were a couple from Holland. He, Rogier, is in his final year of residency in Amsterdam as a Urologist/Surgeon. She, Kelly, was a nutritionist/dietitian but then went back to university and got her masters degree and now works in Senior Health Care Management. They just got married and are on an 11 week honeymoon. They traveled to Canada and Alaska, then to Isla Holbox in the Yucatan, then spent about 4 days near  San Ignacio in Belize. They were traveling to Utila. Turns out Rogier is a huge music festival fan and the weekend we arrived was Sun Jam and annual music festival held on one of the Cays off of Utila.

We decided that Rogier, Kelly and I would share a cab to La Ceiba. With the delay at Independence we didn't even arrive in Puerto Cortes until almost 3, then the half hour with Honduran Immigration and we got into a taxi about 3:30. Last ferry leaves La Ceiba at 4:30 and it was a 3.5 hour drive. But we were enjoying each other's company, Rogier speaks pretty good Spanish and we headed off. We decided if we could talk the cab driver into it we would stop somewhere that had wi-fi, on the way and choose a hotel from Trip Advisor. There was a minor problem in that we now were going to hit "rush hour" on the way which would delay us even more.

We stopped along the way at what really was a bar, we used the facilities but they had wi-fi and we found a hotel.We all planned to catch the early ferry, and were tired so we decided the three of us would share a room to save some money. We chose the Hotel Partenon. We finally arrived a bit after 8 p.m., had dinner at their outdoor restaurant next  to the pool and on the ocean. Not bad. A really nice and comfortable hotel, and our room included Breakfast in the morning.

Next morning started with a taxi ride to the Utila Princess the ferry to take us to the island. We arrive and there is a very long line waiting to buy tickets. We get in line. Interesting thing about Honduras; making things run more smoothly or more quickly is not really high on their priority list. They have one person selling tickets and for each ticket they must scan your passport as well. It is not necessarily a quick process. When we get to the window to buy our tickets we learn that the early ferry has already left because it was full. It is about 10:00 now and they said there would be another ferry very soon. So we sat to wait.

My new friends and travel companions, Rogier and Kelly

And we waited. They said the ferry would be there by noon, but noon came and went. The lady at the ticket window told me that there was a problem with the ferry in Utila and they had to fix it but it was now on the way. Finally about 2:00 p.m. the ferry arrived, we got on and headed to the island.

I got a tuk-tuk (taxi) from the ferry to Pirates Bay Inn where I got a lovely room and signed up for several days of diving. More about that in the next post.

Despite all the problems with trying to get from  Placencia to Utila, I was so thrilled to meet Rogier and Kelly and they were wonderful traveling companions and I hope we will stay in touch. I'm considering it all a positive experience. Not one I really want to repeat any time really soon, except the part about meeting new friends.

You almost can't get there from here ...

100 miles, as the crow flies.

That is how far Utila is from Placencia, Belize. So one would think getting there should not be that big a problem. One would be wrong.

When I met my friends in Honduras in June for our trip to Utila, I posted about my ferry/taxi/plane/ferry/bus/taxi/ferry/bus ride from Placencia to Utila and back again.  I made the trip that way partly for the adventure and partly to save a little money. I didn't save that much  money, but whatever.

Here I am, less than a week away from moving to Utila permanently and again I have to figure out how to get there. Add in that two weeks after I arrive I'm  heading to the U.S. for a shark diving trip that leaves out of West Palm Beach, Florida.

This time, I am still hoping to not spend too much money, but more importantly is trying to avoid overnights in places like San Pedro Sula (apologies to Hondurans who love their city).

Let me add that I have to take into account that I'm schlepping everything I own, once again, to another country. I really wanted to pare 4 suitcases down to two but that just isn't happening. Now I'm trying to be happy with three bags.

This is how it feels ...

So let's consider the options ....

Flying: There are no direct flights to Utila, so I have to fly either to Roatan or San Pedro Sula. But there are no direct flights from Placencia either place, that means first flying to Belize City then taking a flight from there to one of the Honduran cities. Because I'm moving  to Utila each of these flights would be one way, adding to the cost.

The other thing that I have to consider is baggage. Remember, these planes are like 12 seaters. The baggage regulations will allow two checked bags, the third bag they won't promise you can take, depends on if they have room,and then you pay extra baggage fees. If the plane went to my final destination that might be okay, I could just have my extra bag arrive on a later flight. But since the flight goes somewhere else, that means I either stay and wait for it or have to make a return trip to wherever to pick up my bags.

So we are back at the ferry idea. I can take the D-Express Ferry from Placencia to Puerto Cortes, Honduras. It only runs that route on Friday mornings. Then I could take a taxi to San Pedro Sula to the International Airport and fly to Utila. But they only fly on Saturdays .... we're back at an overnight in San Pedro Sula.

Okay, I can take the ferry from Placencia to Puerto Cortes and take a bus to La Ceiba then the ferry from La Ceiba to Utila. But wait, the bus would not get me to La Ceiba in time for the late afternoon ferry so that means an overnight in La Ceiba.

Again, I could suck it up and do an overnight but one, it adds cost, and two, I am dragging three huge suitcases and my backpack around.

So maybe it isn't quite this bad but ....

Am I sounding grumpy?

So here is what I've decided, the D-Express Ferry on Friday the 1st to Puerto Cortes, a taxi from Puerto Cortes to La Ceiba (about a 3.5-4 hour drive), and the afternoon ferry from La Ceiba to Utila. The taxi ride will be pricey but no more so I don't think than an airplane ride and I skip the overnight.

I finally felt like I had it figured out, but then I started trying to make reservations for my trip to the U.S. I had originally planned on a "multi-city" trip, Utila  to San Pedro Sula to West Palm Beach to Nashville to San Pedro Sula to Utila. When I need to be in West Palm Beach and when I can get to San Pedro Sula .... that just doesn't work without a couple of overnights. I've split it into two distinct trips ... and I'm leaving out of Roatan. Cheaper out of San Pedro Sula but my time and sanity are worth something. So it will be Roatan to Nashville, round trip. And then a separate trip Nashville to West Palm Beach round trip.

I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

It seems that with my plans finalized everything should be perfect. But Murphy's Law is always there, and there has been a tiny wrench thrown in for fun. The deal for Greg's house fell through last week. I've been trying to secure another rental and I have some promising leads which I'll  have to finalize when I arrive in Utila. I have set up staying at Pirates Bay Inn again for the first week I am there. My birthday gift to myself, a week of diving ... Welcome to Utila. Hopefully Greg will be able to find the perfect house, either the original deal can be tweaked and revived or a more perfect house will come on the market. My fingers and toes are crossed that he finds the perfect retirement home in Utila. Please send positive vibes, good thoughts, prayers, whatever it is you do for Greg to find the house he really wants and wants me to rent! (The last part was me being greedy, really let's just hope for Greg to find exactly what he really wants so he can retire and live the good life in the Caribbean.)

We did more than just diving in Utila

While one of the main reasons to visit Utila was to dive, we also did some other things as well. One thing we did plenty of was eat. And there are some good choices for food and I found them all to be reasonable in price. In fact a couple of the places that were recommended to us people commented were a little "pricey". I didn't find any restaurant I would consider pricey.

Of course I've already raved (and will continue to do so) about Christina, the cook at Pirates Bay Inn, she is wonderful. We also visited several bars and restaurants around the island including Foo King Wok, a great chinese restaurant. The portions are large so between four of us we shared two entrees and rice and i think someone ordered an appetizer. I think the entire dinner cost each person about 250 lempiras .. about $12.50, it may have been as much as $15.00 but still I considered it reasonable for the quality and quantity of food.

The chef at Foo King Wok also does Sushi Tuesday, where at Pirates Bay we were able to put our name on the list for sushi Tuesday evening. Choices were shrimp, tuna or vegetarian. I had vegetarian  and thought it was great! The others in our group tried both the tuna and the shrimp and were equally as happy.

We also went to Driftwood (some went twice), they had great food, we sat near the water and the special the night I went was Filet Mignon which I think cost about $15 USD. Really good food, again averaging about 250 to 300 lempiras per person including tip.

A couple of our group went to La Piccola, an Italian restaurant, and then we also visited Rehab a bar and restaurant and Skid Row Bar and Restaurant.

Overall I would say all of our experiences in bars and restaurants around the island were great and reasonably priced.

So, the other reason for Utila?

I have finally convinced some people that retirement is the way to go. Greg has seriously started to plan for 4-5 years down the road and decided he'd like to live somewhere tropical, hence Utila. The first few days we were there, Sandra and I tagged along with Greg and his realtor Brad to look at possible properties. Greg originally had his heart and mind set on a property known as Eco House which in the pictures looked lovely. After looking around though Greg finally decided on a house known as Bambu house, and put in an offer. His offer has been accepted and things are in the works, hopefully he'll be closing around the end of July.

I am fortunate enough to have Greg as one of my best friends and he has offered to let me rent his home in Utila, at least until he moves there permanently when he retires. I am so excited about what now will be the next chapter in my adventure, moving to Utila. As opposed to Placencia where the diving is very expensive and I've only really gotten in the water twice and cannot work, the diving in Utila is very reasonable and I may have the opportunity to teach there. At least I will get  many more opportunities to dive and to improve on my photo skills.

Here are a few shots of the house:

Front view of the house

Another view from the front

Large covered porch - lots of plans for this area

The living room, taken from the landing between the two bedrooms

The kitchen, outside that doorway is the dining area on an outdoor deck.

The house is lovely as is but Greg already has a few things he will be doing during his visits to improve the house and make it more his own. It is a 2 bedroom, one bath home with a small loft which will be an office area. It also comes with a detached studio apartment and the outside is lush with different trees and flowers. I think Greg plans to plant a banana and a lime tree. I'm excited to help him do those few projects and I will get to see him several times a year when he comes down to his house.

A very eventful and fun week came to a close. On Saturday the four of us took the 2:00 ferry from Utila to La Ceiba.

A comfortable and easy hour long ferry ride from the island back to the mainland. Once in La Ceiba we headed for the bus terminal to head back to San Pedro Sula. Kevin, the owner of Pirates Bay Inn had recommended a place to stay in San Pedro Sula, small apartments which he and his family considered safe with a restaurant on the property.

The bus was large and comfortable for the 3 hour ride, until about an hour into the ride when the driver turned on the air and the temperature in the bus was like a freezer. It probably was about 60 degrees or so, but after what has been months in tropical weather for me, it might as well have been -60 degrees. I froze. But we finally arrived in San Pedro Sula, the place we were staying had sent a car to pick us up.

The place we stayed was comfortable and easy. Our reservation included breakfast on Sunday morning, then we got a taxi for Sandra and Paula to head to the airport for their flight  home. Greg and I decided we certainly weren't going out and about in San Pedro Sula so it was a day of relaxing by the pool and taking it easy. Our relaxation was slightly disturbed when I was out on the porch of our room (to get the best internet signal) and I heard two gunshots.

I've had some experience hearing gunfire but I waited to see if I had mistaken the sound. A few minutes later there were two more. Over the next half our or so we heard a total of about 15 shots. The place we were staying is surrounded by a 10 foot concrete wall that is topped with four strands of electric wire and armed guards at the entrance gate. I saw staff members of the property while I heard gunshots and no one even blinked. It clearly was not concerning to any of them and they obviously felt safe inside the "compound".

It was just another reminder that for me and for anyone coming to visit, the safest thing to do is to fly into the international airport in San Pedro Sula and get a flight to the island. The ferry idea I used didn't really save me any money and forced me to have overnights in San Pedro Sula at both ends, not what I'd recommend. The island of Utila itself felt completely safe and I've spoken to several people who live there (expats from around the world) and everyone agrees it is a safe place to live and work.

While living there, it will be necessary to get some things from the mainland and from all that I've learned so far, anything I need can be gotten in La Ceiba and I can make it a day trip to there for whatever is needed.

So, the plan is I'm giving my 30 day notice at my current place and the first week of August I'm headed to Utila. I'm told the first week of August is one of the very best for Whalesharks in Utila, and I still have those baby turtles to see hatch around the 8th. Then I have a shark trip in the Bahamas the 15 through the 21st of August and a visit to Nashville after that. I should be back in Utila for the long hall at the end of August.

If you see Greg around be sure to congratulate him on his new home. My next job is to convince Greg that he should retire in closer to 2-3 years and make Utila his full time home.

Monday Greg and I took a taxi back to Puerto Cortes to take the D-Express ferry back to Placencia. And as is the way things happen the D-Express was not running, an engine had gone out and they could not make the trip on two engines. I at first thought we might get stuck in Honduras but as it happens there is another ferry that goes to Belize called the Starla. Problem is the Starla takes us to Dangriga, on the coast north of Placencia. It is a 3-3.5 hour ferry ride and then a 1-1.5 hour bus ride from Dangriga to Placencia.

Next post: Greg's visit to Placencia and Lobsterfest