im a scuba diver

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so a lot has happened since my last blog entry. ill try to follow my calendar to go in order.

after leaving monterrico, a very teary farewell, we made our way to antigua. we climbed the volcano pacaya. that proved to be a difficult hour and a half ascent. all along the way with guatemalans on horses ready to yell taxi whenever it looked like you were having difficulty breathing. i did not succumb. but it was really cool. we didnt see lava but some of the rock was really hot and you could throw sticks on it and it would go up in flames.

afterwards we made it to panajachel to see the lake atitlan. big and beautiful. we stayed in san pedro one night and jaibalito another. jaibalito is somewhat off the beaten path. recommended to us by a peace corps volunteer. it was a cute little village. but there was so much trash everywhere it kind of ruined the ambiance. but this man hanz started this lovely hostel thats so green with hammocks everywhere and a wi fi connection. with wondeful fruit pie and yogurt and granola.

then we made it to the next spot. lanquin. which is near semuc champey. which means where the river goes underground in a mayan language. lanquin is such a small tranquil town. not even an atm. and you take a lifty 7 km away to semuc champey. and first there is this swing over a river that everyone must go on to get initiated. then we go through the fresh water caves holding just a candle. the caves were pretty cool. we were climbing up waterfalls and swimming. saw a couple bats. then actual semuc champey was pretty incredible. first we took a little hike to see it from above. these beautiful turquoise pools. then we hiked down and got to swim in them. and slide down natural slides in the rocks. great fun.

after that we made it to flores which is next to the mayan ruins at tikal. we took a 4 am shuttle to see the sunrise. and it was gorgeous. so many temples to see and climb. again i will use the word incredible. teri´s pictures dont do it justice. and we were hanging out with some really fun people we had met at semuc champey. so we had formed a nice group by then. and while on top of temple five bunlay led us in a meditation. wonderful. awe inspiring. relaxing.

we then said good bye to guatemala. and hello belize! we were never really planning on going to belize because it is expensive and they speak english. but we figured since we were so close why not a couple of days. so we went out to caye caulker. a tiny little island. near the big blue hole. which i guess is belize´s tourist attraction. a huge sink hole. that is a wonderful diving opportunity. teri and i did not take advantage. but we did have a good time on the island. enjoyed the Caribbean side. the rasta reggae feel. and the english was even nice. but prices were expensive. 2x almost 3x as much. so we only stayed a couple of days.

our next stop was at la ceiba in honduras. we stayed the night there. after a lengthy chat with our taxi driver trying to find a cheap hotel. he took us into a really unattractive part of town. at night. and yes the hotel was cheap. it had to be for the prostitutes. and after asking where to get a decent meal..only a few blocks away. we settled on the greasy food across the street. it didnt feel safe to walk. the next morning we made it to the ferry to head to utila one of the bay islands.

in lonely planet the ferry is affectionately named the vomet comet. the design is terrible. we beelined it to the one bench on the outside and stayed there. and over the next 15 minutes were joined by 15 more people. we had decided to go to utila to hang out on an island for a little while and just relax since we had been on the go for awhile. we knew we could dive there but we really had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. as soon as we get off the ferry we were bombarded by people from dive shops and hotels. when i told a woman we werent diving she called us pussies. haha. teri wasnt feeling well after the boat and she just wanted some air so we walked away. and then saw this sign for a hostel and went over to them and chose them because they hadnt hassled us.

we got set up into our dorm. and then they offered to take us to the dive shop they are affiliated with. utila dive center. and teri and i talked about snorkeling a little bit. we figured it would be cool to go out on the boat and do. pass the time. both of us don´t actually like snorkeling though. when we got to the dive shop though people could not believe it. i thought they were going to have a heart attack when we said we didnt dive the blue hole. snorkeling is not cool. that is the message we got. like a group of surfers looking down on the spongers. or whatever analogy you could think of. but teri and i are both pretty confident people and they didnt sway us. until one of the instructors offered to give us a ten minute trial just to see how it is. and then that did sway me. teri wasnt convinced. the entire course is about $300. which is actually really cheap when comparing prices in the states. but thats about 2 weeks of our budget. so instead of doing the full open water course where i could get certified and dive with a buddy wherever i decided to get certified through the scuba diver course where i can go as deep as 12 m and i need to dive with a dive master. all a ok with me. that was for 216. teri was going to do just one dive for 89. then she started talking with some of the instructors and came to the realization that it was about the same as a pair of pants. and so she was in.

we had to watch some real cheesy videos. made in the late 80s im sure. and read through some of the padi manual. and have some homework. then practical work on how to set up your whole scuba system. and practice in shallow confined water. where your only a couple feet under water. and you learn skills like if your air thing falls out of your mouth how to retrieve it or if your mask fills with water how to clear it. or if your buddy runs out of air how to give him your alternate air source. and then we did more stuff in deeper water. then we got to go out on the boat and do more learning. at 12m. it was so cool. the first day on the boat teri´s ear was bothering her so she couldnt go down. but our instructor jason took me and another guy jordan (ucsb alumni). and we got to do more of the same exercises. and then just swim around. and we completed our certification. then the second day teri felt better and completed her certification and we got to go on a fun dive. just to hang out and swim around. saw some angel fish and eels and things. im really jealous because on the night dives people kept seeing octopus and i guess they change colors from red to grey to blue to green. and its supposed to be whale shark season and you just go snorkeling with them. like 40 m long. but we didnt see any. they had been seen every day the week before we got there. but the week we were there nothing. oh well. another time.

it was great though. and we cant wait to dive in other places. people told us both costa rica and panama are great sites. and panama is real cheap to do it in. completely unplanned and random. but i think added a lot to our trip. both teri and i just like high fiving and yelling that were certified scuba divers. haha.

yesterday we left the island. after 5 long wonderful days. its great to stay in one place for longer than a night or two. but then once we leave its hard to. because you meet people and make new friends so fast. but we gotta keep going. still more to see. anyways we made it to the honduran capital of tegucigalpa yesterday. we wanted to continue our journey to the capital of nicaragua..managua but there were no buses running. so we were walking around looking for the ticket office to purchase tickets for the next day. and we ran into the police office. and they gave us a lifty around all over. as we tried to find the cheapest ticket. all the ticket offices are spread out, theyre not in one central area like they were in tanzania. or even guatemala. so that was frustrating. but we were very grateful to have the police and not have to pay a taxi. and afterwards they found us a nice cheap hostel. and invited us out to dinner.

they picked us up. and drove for a long time. i got a little nervous. because i know you cant trust police all the time. but they were stand up guys. made us decide between chicken and hamburgers. and we ended up getting popeyes fried chicken. and then afterwards went to burger king to get a softserve cone. and if you are interested in knowing tegucigalpa also has a ruby tuesdays, tgi fridays, dennys, mcdonalds, baskin robbins, dunkin donuts, etc. everything. much more than guatemala. afterwards they took us on a drive through the city. we passed through the neighborhood of the rich and the famous to get to this big statue overlooking a big part of the city. they had camera phones so they took pictures. and it was really nice. then we exchanged email addresses and we got dropped off at our hotel. i must mention that tegucigalpa is a very dangerous city. and i dont know crime statistics really but the police we were with were homicide detectives and they said each night there were between ten and twelve murders. but we couldnt have been in safter hands.

today we took the bus across the border to nicaragua. and made it to the colonial town of granada. we got here at night but it reminds us already a little of antigua in guatemala. it was a pain to cross the borders. we had to pay unnecessary fees because the immigration people are corrupt. and it was only a matter of about 15 dollars but for our trip it really adds up and i just feel its disrespectful. so in order to avoid these hassles teri and i are thinking about flying from panama to el salvador to avoid border crossings. we´ll see if that fits into the budget.

anyways i guess thats all for now. we are in nicaragua for the next week. might hit the corn islands. def headed to the Caribbean coast. see what else happens. then we will pass through costa rica for a bit. then panama. should be fun....teri uploaded pictures on facebook as well!!

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