Blogs from Bay Islands, Honduras, Central America Caribbean
First two weeks on Utila
Published: May 19th 2012Central America Caribbean » Honduras » Bay Islands » Utila
May 19th 2012
It’s been a while since my last blog post, so I’d just like to reassure everyone that a. I am still alive and b. I am still having a brilliant time. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I’ve not written – I’ve not been able to tear myself away from the fun kingdom that is Utila to sit and type a blog post, and the longer I’ve left it, the bigger the task has become! So. I arrived around a month ago. Adam, one of the volunteers we met in Mexico met us from the ferry. He and I would be volunteering at BICA, the Bay Islands conservation association, whilst Hannah was keen to learn to dive. She went off to find herself a dive school with a boy we had got chatting to on ... read more
May 19th 2012
So, after 3 weeks of volunteering, I finally moved out of the BICA visitor centre and into a dorm down at Altons. Except.... well, Hannah by this time was sick of her cramped dorm room down at her dive shop, and had moved into an air-conditioned twin room at Underwater Vision, complete with an ensuite bathroom and hot water. So naturally, my dorm room at Altons became a storage facility, and I spent most nights at her place, enjoying being cosy at night, rather than sticky. I moved out on Tuesday, and my PADI open water dive course started the following day. In between watching videos and reading my textbook, I spent most of the time sat on the dock at Altons and swimming in the sea. On Thursday, my dive group collectively decided that we´d ... read more
Night Diving and a Day Trip to Cayos Cochinos
Published: March 22nd 2012Central America Caribbean » Honduras » Bay Islands
March 22nd 2012
Ok. Three things. Important things. First, my sister is here! Second, I’m officially an advanced open water SCUBA diver! And third, I went on a boat trip with friends to Cayos Cochinos! If you have no desire to read my blog posting, just stop right here. You got the highlights. You’re welcome. This past weekend I did my final certification dive, a night dive, so now I can do all kinds of fun dives whenever I want! I was a bit nervous before the night dive, since the whole jumping-into-dark-water-without-seeing-what’s-lurking-below thing kinda freaks me out. I had also had diver friends tell me about “bloodworms” which come out at night and swarm around your light, which sounded just delightful….. not. Anyway, after a bit of mild freaking out I jumped into the water and it wasn’t ... read more
In Honduras - it's beautiful!
Published: March 19th 2012Central America Caribbean » Honduras » Bay Islands » Roatán » Brick Bay
March 19th 2012
Sorry - Having problems with photos so will post them on facebook. OK – it’s now the 18thand we get into Honduras – or a tiny island of Honduras – tomorrow and it is to be a “chill out” day on and around the beach so hopefully we can find a decent internet café from where I can send this missive and attach a few photographs. Also send Mum a Happy Mothers Day greeting albeit a little belatedly. Note to boys – maybe read the messages you have sent me (hahahahahaha – no doubt doing the French one again – that is until the French one arrives). On the 16th March we transited the Panama Canal. It was a really great experience and a fab day. Scott thought it started a little bit too early as ... read more
Trying photos again
Published: March 19th 2012Central America Caribbean » Honduras » Bay Islands » Roatán
March 19th 2012
Photos at last!! Can't put captions on tho as its taking too long and i'm missing the sun. Byeee xxxxx... read more
Fried chicken (pollo frito) and whale sharks – A Honduran holiday
Published: March 19th 2012Central America Caribbean » Honduras » Bay Islands » Utila
March 19th 2012
“Make voyages! Attempt them… there’s nothing else” Tennessee Williams. The idyll of Belize seems a lot time ago now. We are now in Nicaragua, on the Pacific Coast where the ocean waves thunder down onto the black sands, enraged and tumultuous. Woe betide any surfer who wipes out in these foaming tempestuous waters. Leaving Tobacco Caye, the waters of the Caribbean were pretty turbulent. A Westerley wind had picked up shaking the coconut palms and causing waves to break on the peaceful side of the island. Munch, our boat captain was prepared to take us (hope he wasn’t stoned) back to the mainland and we navigated the crossing back to Dandriga in his little plastic boat bouncing and vaulting the swell. Reaching dry land was a relief as I don’t think our backs and butts could ... read more
Getting my Advanced Diver Certification, and Diving with Sharks!
Published: March 5th 2012Central America Caribbean » Honduras » Bay IslandsMarch 5th 2012
A few weekends ago, I had the best weekend of diving I’ve had yet on the island. I’ve started doing my Advanced Open Water course for scuba diving and did 5 dives throughout the weekend, all of which were amazing. The way the course works is that I choose 5 “Adventure Dives” (a.k.a. specialty dives like deep diving, night diving, etc.), read a chapter and answer some questions about that special dive, and then do it. I did the course with a friend who works at one of the dive shops, and so far it’s been a really awesome experience. The first day of diving, I did my deep dive and a buoyancy control dive. When you dive down deep, starting at about 100 feet, there is a potential for getting “narked”, or nitrogen narcosis, which ... read more
Diving and the game of Kings
Published: April 2nd 2012Central America Caribbean » Honduras » Bay Islands » Utila
February 19th 2012
I get it now… I understand where to meet the travelling female. I understand now the better way to innocently communicate. For years I’ve been slugging it out on the cheap shitty local buses getting to know the local way of life all the while missing that elusive single travelling female. The rarity of seeing a young, attractive, good personality single travelling female has been limited for the 4 and a half years of on and off travelling in the past 9. As JP5 comes to a close I realised that I should have mixed it up a bit, especially in Central America. I should have taken more of the tourist shuttles to get from A to B. I learnt this when my sister and David joined up with me and we took the tourist shuttle ... read more
Island Life in Utila
Published: March 3rd 2012Central America Caribbean » Honduras » Bay Islands » Utila
February 14th 2012
Hola amiguitos! We headed straight for the one of the Bay Islands when we crossed into Honduras from Guatemala. Utila is the smaller island of the three and it has a friendly town with a mixed linguistic salad of English, Creole, Spanish. The daily highs were consistantly about 30-35 C, so needless to say we spent many hours of the day in (and under) the crystal clear water of the Carribean Sea exploring the amazing reefs that are just a few metres from the shore. The underwater world is a place that few people get to visit, and so we always feel priviledged to be able to swim with the fishes and our many other aquatic companions that live in our oceans on our gorgeous planet. We stayed at a nice hostal right on the water ... read more
Roatan - Blog #5 Final Week on Roatan- A Snorkeller's Paradise!!
Published: February 7th 2012Central America Caribbean » Honduras » Bay Islands » Roatán
February 7th 2012
Today brings us near the end of our stay in Roatan. It was a fairly quiet week, but we seemed to do a little of everything. We had four days of cloud and rain off and on which made for puddles all over but we manged to survive! Other than that we have had the perfect tropical weather. A highlight for me on Roatan as you probably have gathered is the easily accessible and amazing snorkelling. I can't even count the number of times we've ventured into the beautiful blue ocean. With the reef within swimming distance all around the island, it's always ready and available. The water is crystal clear, the coral is beautiful and varied and there is an abundance of sea life. We've met some new friends who live on the island 6 ... read more
