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Published: January 27th 2009
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UTILA
CHEPES BEACH Stayed for 2 nights in La Ceiba, the city is not so bad but nothing much to do at night I noticed the stores are closed early and perhaps it is because it is not tourist season. The Parque central is buzzing with activities, one day is a rally for Women's day in Honduras sometimes a band is playing. We are staying at Hotel Caribe, 4 of us got a good value for a big room with cable tv and we watched a couple of Heroes episodes on TV. We went to a Garifuna village called Sambo Creek next to the beach but it was raining so we did not stay that long plus it is more modern unlike Miami in Tela. We bought coconut from an old woman warning us to keep an eye on our things, good advice. We have been eating at a restaurant next to the hotel, we get 10 lempiras off because it is tied with the hotel. I had a very delicious oxtail dish one time like the kare kare. Still hoping to get sopa de mondongo, very elusive... We went to shop for supplies, food in particular as we get ready to go to
Utila, we shopped for 3 nights of stay and hoping that would be enough. We met a young Brazilian dude in the port, Pedro and he became part of the group. The boat ride was really choppy, people screaming and hurling, as if riding a roller coaster. I successful once again to keep my food in my tummy. Once we are on the shore, loads of people, mostly gringos are there giving us brochures for hostels, diving shops etc,pitching for some business, we have to chose the best place, we are staying at Lomavista where there is a kitchen for us to use and for a good deal, 400 lempiras a day for 5 people, trouble is 2 beds per room so us boys drew straws to figure out who gets a room for himself, Martin won so Pedro and I have to share.
Pedro is speaking to me more in Spanish which is good, I need the practice, his English is not great, Portuguese is excellent so we meet halfway with Spanish. He promised not to laugh at my mistakes. Soon as we arrived we got dinner ready, I cooked a vegetarian pasta dish, brings back lots of
memories of Africa when we were cooking in the camp, how i miss that!! Later us 3 boys went for a walk to check the night life but we came back soon as there is nothing much going on, later on Juan told us they found a nice bar called Coco Loco and they danced the night away there. Met Agnes, the Swedish girl I met in Santa Cruz, she is working as a bartender in Coco Loco, saw her walking down the main street hung over.
Pedro and I next day went to catch up with the others at Chepes beach, as we both woke up pretty late. Rain came so we sheltered at a shack bar we had beer at 11am and chatted with a local fisherman and an American dude from Miami here for a long weekend, saying it is quite cheap for a round trip ticket to San Pedro Sula from Fort Lauderdale, 74 US! Rain abated we started walking and saw the others on their way back. I went to swim but got bitten or stung by a jelly fish so went back to shore, Pedro did not want to go in, he said
he is not a good swimmer. Martin talked about starfish on the beach but we cant find them. We walked as far as we could close to the lagoon then went back for lunch, then chilled out for a bit. Went to Chepes beach in the eve to see the sunset but it was on the other side!
The next day, I persuaded Pedro to go snorkelling with me, we went to Chepes beach and rented snorkels at a shop in front of the beach, he has not snorkelled in his life and he told me if something happens to him I will have to answer to his mother! So to be sure he is comfortable, I had him test his snorkel and get used to breathing through his mouth, after a couple of times swallowing and choking on seawater, he is ready!! We went together in the water, for a guy who claimed to be not a good swimmer he was doing well, we saw lots of fish right off the bat, coral fish and some big ones saw a barracuda as well. Lots of grass and debris in the shallow part so the fishes have a place
LA CEIBA
SAMBO CREEK to hide, There are plenty of starfish as well.
After an hour we returned the snorkels back and went back to the hostel to cook lunch. Josefina and Juan and Martin already had lunch, we cooked ours, and also chatted to the new people, Andrea from Argentina, Vita from Lithuania and Malcolm from Scotland.
Martin and Pedro and I looked for the iguana sanctuary, we found it and we were given a tour by an English dude, Pedro had a hard time understanding him with the dudeĀ“s thick accent so we explained some things to him. The Iguanas were in big cages and various age and are to be released in the wild again soon. It was actually boring! I thought we will be shown the adults out in the open not in cages.
While cooking dinner we got to know the other new people, Andrea offered her place in Buenos Aires for me to stay for a couple of days while finding a hostel or any type of accomodation and in exchange I will tell her my travel exploits, deal!! She is also a yoga instructor and maybe I will learn it from her, quite a pretty girl,
LA CEIBA
FERRY PORT Pedro had a crush on her right away!! The Scottish-Lithuanian couple lives in Cambridge, very friendly in fact we hope to meet them again in Copan where me and Pedro are headed to tomorrow. Said our byes to the Argentines and Martin.
Early rise at 530am to catch the 620am ferry. It was smooth sailing, the water is very calm unlike our trip to get here. Arriving at the La Ceiba port we hired a taxi shared among 4 people for the bus terminal.
About 4 hours later we arrived in San Pedro Sula and have to wait an hour for the connecting bus to Copan. In the bus are 2 dudes we sat next to in the ferry, an Argentine and a German dude, arriving in Copan Ruinas we got lost trying to find the Manzana Verde hostel and when we got there there is only one big bed available so me and Pedro decided to share and save money just for the night, the German, Argentine duo was there minutes ahead of us and beat us to 2 single beds. I dont feel comfortable sharing a bed but just for the night it is ok.
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