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.)

Ready for a change, the adventure continues ....

Two weeks from yesterday I will be on a ferry on my way to Utila, my new home. Some may ask why I'm already leaving Placencia. The easy answer would be that my friend Greg bought a house in Utila and I am fortunate enough to get to rent it while he slaves away at his job in the U.S. preparing for retirement. But in reality, there are several reasons.

With the upcoming move I have been reflecting, and planning. And so I've decided to give my nickels worth of advice about moving somewhere tropical. Remember, it is only a nickels worth and only my opinion.

First I would say, moving to the caribbean ... Best. Idea. Ever.

But here are my words of warning:

1. Think seriously about what you want out of your life. Do you want to live somewhere near an ocean where it is warm and they serve lots of fruity rum drinks? The Caribbean has all of that and more!

2. Do you want to continue to enjoy all the comforts of home, high speed internet, cable tv with a million channels, air conditioning the minute you walk inside, a hermetically sealed house? That is all available, for a price. don't expect  to live in the Caribbean or anywhere else on the cheap if you aren't willing to give up a few comforts of your American lifestyle.

3. Do you think that because you have money, U.S. dollars, that people should be thrilled you're  moving there and should jump at your command? Stay home. You only give other ex-pats a bad name. I only mention this one because I've seen it first hand.

4. Do you want to continue to work? Do some research about where you think you want to live and figure out if you legally can work, and what it takes to be able to, i.e., work permits, residency, opening a business, investing in  the country you're moving to?

5. Do you already speak another language? If you do you're already ahead (Spanish is a good one if you want to move somewhere Caribbean). If you don't already, think about learning it, show some respect for the language of the locals.  English is a great language despite how often we mangle it, but if the primary language is Spanish at least make an effort to speak and understand, and don't expect everyone where you move to be able to speak perfect english.

So now for some more optimistic advice.

Let it go. Nothing is really that urgent. Slow down. Unplug. Sit and just watch the ocean, watch for dolphins, or flying fish or pelicans feeding. Or just look at the absolute natural beauty of the ocean, the different colors, the gentle lapping of the waves on  the shore, the cool breeze. Recognize how amazing mother nature is, the incredible colors of the birds, the different types of animals right around you; fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals. Realize how interconnected it all is. Every animal is important in the grand scheme and have their place and their job to do. No need to get baited into an argument about politics or religion. My favorite response these days? "There is a reason I'm laying in a hammock in Belize with no television or regular news service." Be grateful. Show compassion. Breathe.

So why you might ask would I want to leave this paradise and move again?

When I first moved I knew I wanted to live somewhere tropical The things I am most passionate about are more readily available here. I truly jumped and hoped for the net. I did a little bit of research, Belize was an easy choice, not too expensive, English speaking for the most part. I had a few momentary thoughts of moving to San Pedro on , Ambergris Caye. But I realized what attracted me to that place was the safety. The safety of being able to live much like I lived in the U.S. But the down side was it would cost me almost as much as living in the U.S. And what was the point of that. Also, truth be told, I had this romantic notion of traveling through the caribbean, learning about the culture, seeing countries I had only visited to dive.

My romanticism brought me to Placencia, a small village, with all the basic necessities but a slower pace, and still not completely "Americanized". And it has been lovely. The people here, both locals and ex-pats are wonderful. There is good food, both traditional  Belizean and a more international fare as well. You can, if you are willing to be a little adventurous and give up a few creature comforts, live fairly cheaply here. For me the real downside was that I didn't get to dive a  lot here. The reef, some of the most pristine of the Mesoamerican Reef System is 20+ miles off shore. That makes for long, expensive boat rides for the best diving.

And that romantic notion of exploring on my own? Well, yeah, not so much. I am only adventurous to a point. I didn't go anywhere much since I've lived here, I really didn't want to wander around alone. I would tell myself I would sign up for a tour but then the idea of spending a chunk of money to ride a bus or a boat and have no one to share it with just didn't appeal. So I really saw very little of the country. I never went on the chocolate factory tour, I didn't go see the crocodiles, manatees or monkeys of the Monkey River Tour. I didn't see any Jaguars. I know, bad tourist.

The most wildlife I saw was the insect variety inside my various homes. I seem to have gotten past the cockroach problem and have now moved on to a scorpion problem. Yes, that was me screaming like a little girl when I saw my first inside my house. And for all my desires to be kind to mother nature and the earth, you can't hand me the poison spray fast enough to get rid of  bugs in my house. Sorry.

Sorry for the terrible picture but really, I'm only willing to get so close, even when they are dead.

Now I'm ready for a change. Why not? So what do I expect to be different in Utila? For one, I can dive there relatively inexpensively. I can easily budget in likely two days of two tank dives every week. And that is assuming I don't work and/or don't have a chance to get some type of relationship with a dive operation there, maybe trade some teaching for some free diving. Who knows?

Opportunities. I am already excited about the opportunities I know of to volunteer for issues that are important to me. There is a Whale Shark and Oceanic Research Center on the Island, the Bay Islands Conservation Association, and Sea Shepherd. One or more of these may give me the opportunity to do some worthwhile work and maybe include diving in it too.

I really like the vibe there and I can't tell you exactly why. It seems that the backpacker lifestyle, people from all over the world living there for six months to a year appeals to me. Making friends from all over the world is just such a wonderful way to spend your time. And I have a hope that I will vastly improve my underwater photography skills as well as my above water photography. And it can be pretty inexpensive to live there.

Oh, and then there is that thing that one of my best friends now owns a house there, and that means that I likely will get to see my friends a little more often.

Next post: Getting from here to there ... harder than you'd think.

All Lobster ... All the Time

After our great week in Utila, I had convinced Greg to come to Placencia for a visit. And it worked perfectly to be in conjunction with the annual Placencia Lobsterfest.

It is basically a huge celebration of Lobster Season which opened June 15.  Many of the restaurants have a booth and cook their best lobster creations. There are ways people have found to use lobster that I never would have thought of. Here is a sample of some of the menus:

Lime lobster muffins? Who would have thought ...

Well I don't think they mean a story about lobster, but you get the idea ...

Some were better priced than others and a whole lobster could range in size ...

On Thursday night Greg and I visited a local restaurant, Omar's Creole Grub (this is the same Omar who I tried to buy a ferry ticket from a couple weeks earlier). He had a dinner that included a lobster tail. It was a bit pricey and the tail wasn't that big but it whet his appetite.

On Friday when we visited lobster fest after wandering to see what everyone offered and the price this is the place Greg chose:

So Greg go the type of Lobster meal he was looking for. And he got his picture on the Placencia Lobsterfest Facebook page.

Photo Credit: Marion Carr, Copyright Muzamanzie Photographs

In addition to all the food booths they had booths where local artisans sold their wears .... baskets and jewelry made by the mayan villagers of Punta Gorda, local jewelry makes and woodworkers. There are some of the most beautiful wood carvers in this village. They use hardwood species of Rosewood,, ericote Wood, Mahogany and driftwood.

This is Leo, who owns "Made in Belize". He has some of the most gorgeous carvings  both
large and small including a huge saiilfish carving that is incredible. Photo Credit: Marion & Ed Carr, Copyright Muzamanzie Photogoraphs.

More beautiful wood carings including these two little tables made with vertical dolphins holding up
the glass top.  I want. Photo Credit: Marion & Ed Carr, Copyright Muzamanzie Photographs

Photo Credit: Marion & Ed  Carr, Copyright Muzamanzie Photographs

The rest of Greg's visit was spent mostly visiting the regular hangouts, 2 Can B Sweet coffee shop and bakery for the amazing cinnamon rolls. Above Grounds coffee for their awesome coffee, juices, bagels and other baked goods,  Tipsy Tuna for beer and world cup soccer, Barefoot Bar for food and beer, Pickled Parrot for beer and Lionfish and Chips (Greg's favorite I think next to the Lobster).

Speaking of lionfish, on the Friday that the Lobsterfest started they had a lionfish tournament. The seas have been a little rough of late and three boats went out. I haven't yet gotten the exact numbers or had this confirmed but was told that the winning boat caught 356 lionfish, the second boat caught about 350. That is a lot of lionfish.

I think this is the catch off one of the boats. Photo Credit: Marion & Ed Carr, Copyright Muzamanzie Photographs

I will try and update the numbers for the lionfish tournament as well as some of the numbers and information for the fishing tournament that took place over the lobsterfest weekend.

So happy to have had Greg come for a visit. A bit unfair maybe that our thinking had turned already towards Utila and I didn't really take him on any of the available tours so he didn't get to see the Chocolate Factory or Monkey River ... maybe another time we'll come back and he can see those things.

My focus right now is culling my belongings once again and I would really really really like to get my four suitcases down to two for my move to Utila. And I'm working on different ideas of how I'll get there.

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

Now That's What I'm Talking About

It doesn't take long for the four of us to settle in and relax a bit at Pirates Bay Inn. Within a couple hours our names are already on the boards for the two morning dives for the next six days. Boat arrives at the dock there at 7:00 a.m. and we are on our way to a dive site by 7:30.

The vibe in Utila is a great one. The island is 7 miles long by 2 miles wide and has about 17 different dive shops on it. It is a mixture of Hondurans, ex-pats from the US and Canada and a wide range of people from all over the world. Utila does a lot of dive training, people getting certified and at least as many becoming divemasters and dive instructors. Because it is cheap to live and dive in Utila it is a "backpackers" paradise.

For example, Pirates Bay Inn also owns Captain Morgan's Dive Centre. If you sign up to get  open water certified with Captain Morgan's you can get free lodging at Pirates Bay Inn. They have private rooms that when you're doing dive training are $29 USD per night, clean and safe and comfortable (add $10 per night if you insist on having air conditioning). They also have some dorm style rooms that you can stay in for free if training, if not training you can stay there for $7 per night.

7:00 a.m. on Sunday morning we get up and go to the bar/restaurant at the resort. Its really more of a bar, there are no dining tables and wait staff, but there are plenty of chairs around, bar stools at the bar and a couple picnic tables close by, and really good food.

Christina does the majority of the cooking and boy is she good at it. You can get the usual, eggs, bacon, toast type breakfast, or baleadas (a thick flour tortilla folded over some mashed black beans and other ingredients like eggs and bacon or sausage, cheese), but you could also get crepes, fresh fruit, homemade yogurt, french toast, cereal, and of course coffee, iced or hot even a latte or espresso drink, and fruit juices. I usually had either a baleada or scrambled eggs, bacon and a tortilla (homemade right there) and coffee and a bottle of water to take on the dive boat and it cost about 70 lempiras. Yep that is just over $3 US.

The dive boat was filled  every morning with about 14 divers, usually about 6 of us "fun divers" already certified, and the rest in various stages of training, either open water or advanced open water students and an instructor for each of those classes a divemaster or two to lead the fun divers and usually at least one if not two or three dive masters in training.

We regularly went north for the first dive site of the day and south for the second. It all had to do with the wind and the waves. Most of our dives consisted of the boat mooring in about 25-40 feet of water at the top of a wall. The wall often dropped off to close to 100 feet.

The dives were beautiful, we were fortunate to see a lot of see life including turtles, spotted eagle rays, lots of green moray eels and the usual cast of caribbean sea life. Surprisingly we saw no sharks  during the entire week. I'm not sure why the lack of sharks in this area.

Green Moray Eel in for a cleaning by Coral Banded Shrimp

Beautiful coral

Queen Angelfish

The Halliburton Wreck

Sea Turtle

Tarpon

Blue Tang

Of course my desire was to take photos. I assembled my camera gear, put fresh rechargable batteries in my strobes and checked to make niether my strobes or housing leaked. I jumped in the water on the first day and my strobes would not fire. I took a few pictures but was really frustrated as once I got past about 30 feet I got none of the beautiful colors of the reef or the sea life.

I thought maybe there was a problem with the batteries and left my camera on the boat for the second dive. When we returned to the resort I borrowed a charger from Sandra and charged more batteries. Second day I jumped in the water and got about 2 shots where one of the strobes fired then they both failed again. I was afraid my hopes of lots of photography opportunities were going to be dashed completely. That afternoon we checked out strobes and batteries, testing different batteries in each strobe. Finally, after a bit of futzing with the connectors on the cap of the battery compartment of the strobes I got them to work. May need to buy new caps (although I'm secretly hoping to find a way to upgrade my entire system actually but don't think my sparkling personality is paying for one and doubt I could find enough people who would want to donate to a "Go Fund Me" request).

I did try on the second day to change my attitude and rather than giving up and being upset about the equipment failure to try and work on my ability to take some good shots with just the ambient light. It is tough and I hate to lose the color, but just the change in attitude just made the diving better anyway. Overall I wasn't particularly happy with many of my photos from this trip but it serves as just a reminder that I have to just keep working on learning photography more, and taking lots of pictures .. only way I'll get better.

Chris a native Utilian from Pidgeon Cay, our divemaster, carried a spear with him on most dives and did his best to reduce the lionfish population, and Eitan an Israeli instructor on the boat with us on a majority of the days we dove also speared lots of lionfish. Greg finally got his chance to carry a spear and after a few misses early on he and Chris got a beautiful bunch of lionfish. On Sunday they brought their catch back to the Pirates Bay, cleaned the lionfish then lightly breaded them and fried them up for lunch and after a great haul on Thursday by Chris and Greg they brought them back cleaned them and Christina made Lionfish Ceviche.

Greg's first Utila lionfish kill.

Chris Howell, our divemaster with his and Greg's lionfish haul destined for ceviche.

On Wednesday we got the biggest treat. On  our way to the dive site we came upon a large pod of dolphins. Our Captain, Whitney stopped and we got to get in the water with snorkel gear and swim with them. It was so great to be in the water so close to these beautiful creatures. Then after getting back on the boat when we took of several of pod surfed the bow wake of our boat. I lay on the bow of the boat and took the video, when they would breach  I could have probably reached out and touched them they were so close. It just made my week perfect. I had hoped to upload the video here but that seems beyond my capabilities.

Also on Wednesday night Paula and I volunteered with Sea Shepherd to help in guarding the beach and the nests of turtle eggs and any turtles coming up on the beach to lay their eggs. Unfortunately there are still those who would come out and steal the turtle eggs to sell on the black market. At 7 p.m. we went to the BICA (Bay Islands Conservation Association) office, which also houses the new Sea Shepherd office and met with  Fernando, the coordinator of this program and Chel who would be the person actually logging research information about nests and eggs etc., as well as Haley, a visitor from Wales who like us just wanted to volunteer. We rode out on ATV's to a secluded beach set up a tarp with some sleeping bags laid out on it and started our watch. It consisted of every hour walking one half or the other of about 600 meters of beach, watching for signs of turtles coming up on the beach, signs of poachers, or signs of turtles returning to the sea.Then we returned to the base camp and slept until the next patrol, from 7 p.m. til about 4:30 a.m. We didn't get to see any new nests laid or turtles but Chel was kind enough to show us a nest of eggs which had been laid two nights before. We saw two or three eggs of what is likely about 200 eggs in the nest. The eggs stay in the nest for 52 days so my plan is to be there on August 8th to see those babies hatch and hopefully make their way back to the ocean.

Turtle Eggs in their nest.

All in all a great week of diving with great friends.

My dive buddies, L  to R: Greg, Paula, Sandra

Next post: The other part of the trip to Utila and returning to Placencia.

The Adventure Continues ... Getting to Honduras

The Ferry ride on the D-express was nice, easy and fairly comfortable. And yes, I was able to buy a ticket when I arrived.

Just more than two hours after leaving Independence, Belize we arrived in Puerto Cortes, Honduras. It is a small port and where the ferry arrives is a fresh fish market so I'm assuming the fishermen all bring their catch in right there as well.

As soon as I stepped off the ferry I was met by someone wearing a D-express polo shirt who asked me if I wanted to change my Belizean money.

Oh right, money, almost forgot. My plan had been, knowing that nowhere in Honduras would they take Belize dollars, I would go to the bank in Placencia and change my money for US dollars. It was a lovely idea. But it doesn't work that way.

In the bank the first thing they wanted to know is what I wanted to change my money for. Now I know I look like the type to be doing something shady, probably a money launderer. I explained I was going on a weeklong dive trip to Utila. They told me they would only change $500 BZD ($250 USD). Well that wasn't going to work. I asked if I could change the money when I arrived in Honduras. They said that I could change my money when I got to Puerto Cortes BUT that the banks there would not change my Belizean dollars for Honduran Lempiras. Okay, I'd change it in Puerto Cortes.

I told the man who met me at the ferry that yes, I wanted to change my Belizean dollars for Lempiras. He said they were giving an 8 Lempiras to 1 BZD rate. Let's review, the going exchange rate in Belize for BZD to USD is 2 to 1, for every $1 USD I get $2 BZD. So if they are giving me 8 to 1 for my Belize money that equals 16 to one in US dollars. The exchange rate the day I got to Honduras for Lempiras to USD was 21 to 1. I definitely got the short end of that deal. You might wonder why I didn't just go to a bank and use my ATM card to get money out -- a US account I'd get the 21 to 1 rate. The reason I didn't do that was that I had been reading some posts recently of people having some issues with their card being compromised after using an ATM in Honduras.

Okay, water under the bridge, next time I'll do it differently, but I sure could have used that money I lost in the exchange..

The same guy who changed my money also asked where I was going and if I needed a taxi. I explained I had to get to San Pedro Sula. I was then introduced to a lovely Australian couple who were traveling through Central America and they too needed to take a cab to a hotel in San Pedro Sula, we could share and save a bit of money.

We stuffed all our luggage into the trunk of the taxi and off we went towards San Pedro Sula. I had the name of the hotel I had a reservation at and the address and gave both to the driver. You've never really lived until you take a taxi ride in Honduras. Intersections? That is where the driver honks his horn to let others know he's comin' through, never figured out what horn got you the right of way but there wasn't any stopping for cross traffic. The taxi ride is about an hour from Puerto Cortes to San Pedro Sula.

Arriving, there is a sense of entering another world. The pictures in your head of the Caribbean go away when you realize that every single business has an armed guard standing outside of it. There are lots of corners with men with sub machine guns. No they don't all appear to be army, they might be police they might be something else, who knows. Our taxi driver needs to stop for gas. He pulls into a station (it may have been a Texaco station, I don't remember). There seems to be an attendant for every pump, the driver tells the attendant how much gas he wants and they pump it for you. Watching over all of this is a guy patrolling the area with a shotgun at port arms. And here is the reason why:

The driver seems to know where he's going and I"m happily thinking about meeting Paula, having a nice late lunch early dinner. The ferry had arrived at about 1:15, and after the money exchange and immigration we left Puerto Cortes about 2:00. Should have gotten me into San Pedro Sula about 3:00. It is probably about 3:30 when it becomes apparent the driver doesn't know where my hotel is. I feel fortunate in that the male of the couple I'm in the cab with speaks fluent Spanish and is able to translate the address of where  I need to go. We drive around and around, stopping about four times to ask peopleon street corners if they know where the  hotel is. It is not inspiring confidence that almost all look like they never heard of the hotel and have no clue about the address either.

I'm beginning to wonder if the  universe is conspiring against me getting to my final destination for a week of fun and diving.

Finally the taxi driver pulls over and calls the hotel. They give him directions from where he says he is. He is repeating them outloud as they tell him. Off we go again, he gets to an intersection where the female of the couple says, I think you'r supposed to turn right here. Taxi driver turns left. Around and around for another 10 minutes, a couple stops to ask pedestrians and then call the hotel again. The hotel staff keeps trying to tell him that he is only two blocks away. Finally the driver listens to my female taxi buddy and turns right when she tells him to and voila there is the hotel. Funny, it doesn't look anything like the picture when I booked the room. My two friends from Australia have now spent a good extra hour to an hour and a half  in the cab trying to get me to my hotel. I apologize and the guy laughs and says it's okay, the driver likely won't be able to find their hotel either. He says the driver is from Puerto Cortes and doesn't know his way around San Pedro Sula at all. That has become painfully obvious.  In addition the driver speaks absolutely no english and I speak almost no Spanish.

The driver wrestles my huge bag out of the trunk and is more than happy to leave me there. I get into the hotel go to the desk and happily say, "hi, I have a reservation." The desk clerk is a lovely young man who speaks outstanding english. But he looks rather forlorn when he says, "did we speak to you this morning?" "No", I tell him, " but you may have talked to Paula, my friend who I'm sharing the room with". His frown becomes more pronounced and he says, "I was afraid you'd say that. You're at the wrong hotel."

Turns out the hotel has two properties, with the same name but in different parts of the city. After a short discussion he assures me he'll get me another cab to take me to the correct hotel and in addition gives me one of their brochures that has addresses and maps of both their locations so I can show the driver if necessary. After waiting about 15 minutes he is a little flustered that the taxi has not arrived and gotten this lost American out of his lobby. Finally the taxi gets there, and off we go again.

This driver seems much more certain of where he's going, well until we get where he thinks is close and he also pulls over and asks a pedestrian for further instruction. Honduras has not gotten the memo about GPS. Finally we arrive and Paula breathes a huge sigh of relief, having convinced herself I had been kidnapped by pirates or been murdered on my way to the hotel.

The desk clerks at this property do not speak any English and so it takes some time to pantomime what information they want me to provide on one of their check in forms. But finally we are in our room with air conditioning. We decide to head for dinner and head down to the front desk again. Luckily we get a staff member who speaks limited English and in answer to our question is very adamant we cannot walk anywhere to go eat, we must take a cab, it is far too dangerous to walk. They help us choose a restaurant once they realize we really don't want Applebees or TGIFridays and would prefer Honduran food, and they call a cab.

The taxi driver, a very nice young man, takes us to the restaurant and gives us his phone number and tells us to call or have the restaurant call about a half an hour before we're ready to leave and he'll come back and return us to our hotel. It works out very well.

Following morning, after breakfast provided by the hotel, we're back in a taxi on our way to the airport. We check in for our flight and wait for Sandra and Greg to arrive from Atlanta. Getting ready to head up to the security screening area and we are stopped and told we have to go over to the bank and pay our fees. We do and then it is on to a 12 seater plane for the 1/2 hour flight to Utila.

Our plane from San Pedro Sula to Utila

Upon arriving on  the island we collect our bags and find two taxis, which are basically three wheeled motorized rickshaws and we clamber in for the 10 minute ride to the hotel. There isn't a lot of cars on Utila but there are lots of bikes, scooters, pedestrians, golf carts, other taxis, and none of them feel the need to slow down for anyone else. If the vehicle, of whatever type, in front of you is not going fast enough then go around and honk plenty so the oncoming vehicle at least knows you're in their lane.

We arrrived at Pirate's Bay Inn Dive Resort Resort, David there checked us in and set us up for our diving. We got our rooms then met at the bar where we met staff, visitors, dive masters in training, and the lovely ladies who cook and work the bar. A very cold beer that only cost 30 lempiras ($1.50 USD) and we are settling in nicely.

Next Post: Utila; diving, underwater photography .... or not,  house hunting, volunteering for Sea Shepherd and forgetting all about whatever happened on the mainland.