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Published: November 19th 2008
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The sunset view from the jetti
Why does Vicki take all the good pictures? The following passage outlines how we got from Guatemala to Honduras:
Having spent a great few days in Semuc Champey we hopped on a bus to a little town called El Rancho. From here we went on to a little junction town called La Ruidosa. We were immediately met by an American guy who arrived at the junction 4 months prior and hadn't left since. He also hadn't spoken any English since he got there so he took full advantage of the opportunity we presented and proceeded to chew the ears off us until we got our next bus. Incidentally he was remarkebly tall and had hands like shovels
After he saw us safely onto the bus and waved us off, like a nervous father watching his children leave home for the first time, we headed off to Rio Dulce. What was supposed to be a 2 hour bus trip turned out to be more than twice that because our socialite bus driver spent more time flirting and chatting with everyone and their friend than driving. This, combined with the fact that we were forced to stand for the whole journey made it one of the less memorable bus
Above the clouds
From Semuc Champey to El Rancho trips we have endured. Having said that we were kept entertained by a young girl who pretty much gave the name to "Chicken bus". She was sat beside her grandmother and at their feet was 2 big clucking bags. Every time the chickens popped their heads out of the bags this little girl would hammer them on the head in a manner not too dissimilar to the old carnival game "Whack-a-mole". At one point however everyone had disembarked the bus and our little friend took her eyes off the ball and the bags fell over. Victoria, thinking the chickens were about to escape, searched for higher ground and leapt on top of a seat fearing a chicken attack
There's not much to say about Rio Dulce
From here we took a really enjoyable and picturesque boat ride to Livingston. The views were spectacular and like something out of a film. Little men fishing in their canoes, a fortress on the river (El Castillo San Felipe), massive cliffs on one side and dense forest on the other, houses on the banks, not to mention the petrol stations at various points along the river. It was a great little trip!
The gang's all here!
How they roll in Guate! When we arrived in Livingston we were dropped off at a random jetti which actually turned out to belong to a hostel. We use the word "hostel" loosely because we had our own charming little wooden cabin looking out to the sea. Livingston is a little Garifuna town quite unlike anywhere else in Guatemala. The Garifuna are descendents of Africans who were brought to the "New World" as slaves. They have the Caribbean accent and to us it was a little unusual to see people like this in what we assumed was a solely Latin American country. The town itself was lovely and really laid back. We had initially planned on just spending the night there but as soon as we arrived we decided to extend our stay by another night. In the afternoon we decided to rent out a canoe and attempt to traverse the river. The results were...pitiful. The rain began to fall quite soon into our adventure and the heavy wind only added to our problems. Captain Victoria's nautical experience saved our hides a number of times. We were out on the river for about half an hour and we travelled a modest 200 yards before
Houses on the river
Also known as a River House turning back and heading home with our tails between our legs. We were in knots laughing for the whole time. Whether it was fear or actual enjoyment we will never know but it was another funny experience. That evening we decided to sample one of the local dishes called Tapado. It's a rich sea-food dish made of all kinds of fish, coconut milk and plantain. This is the official description of what it is but we would describe it as a lot more like hard work. We ordered a bowl each and when we got it we couldn't believe it. In each of our bowls was a whole fish, a whole crab, huge prawns, shrimp (incidentally in the Americas they don't make any disntinction between prawns and shrimp) and a number of other creatures of the sea, the likes of which we had never seen before. By the end of it we weren't so much full as we were exhausted so we washed it down with one of the local drinks, Coco Loco (crazy coconut). It was made by slicing the top off a green coconut and adding rum. It went down a lot easier and with minimal effort. That
El Castillo de San Felipe
It's a river fortress and castle night was...entertaining. When we went back to our cabin we experienced an invasion of the cockroach. Vicki went to bed armed with insect repellent in one hand, torch in the other in a mosquito net sellotaped for extra protection. We didn't enjoy a deep sleep that night! Every few minutes I heard the delightful click of the torch light turning on and a faint whimper. I would open my eyes to the sight of a nervy and anxious Victoria scanning the room frantically and spraying blindly into the night from the confines of under her mosquito net. Good times!
The next day we had a long day of travelling before we finally got to La Ceiba in Honduras - the point of embarkation for our next adventure...
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liam o f
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Ireland's number 1 best seller of all times
Hi Conor and Vicki, Your blog is amazing. Its like a best seller. Cant wait for the follier up r. As the critics woud say " Its a must read for everyone " Liam Joan and the gang