Swimming with sharks, people yelling at Eli Manning in Finish, and hauling ass to Costa Rica

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Ok, clearly I am not a blogger at heart. I don't even like using the word B word. I still think of blogs as forums for melodramatic 14 year olds to post crappy teen-angst poetry, and joining their realm makes me feel a little conflicted. But I will bite the bullet and try, if only so you will all stop sending me emails asking if I am dead.

Where to begin? I am on the island of Utila where I have recently gained certification as an open-water scuba diver. Yeah, I didn't see that coming either...but I met some guys who were heading out here and before I knew it I was underwater going on reef tours led by a British guy named Dick. The highlight of the last weeks, and maybe the whole trip, happened yesterday in the afternoon. We were on the boat between dives just killing time, when we got word of a whale shark sighting on the North shore of the island. We hauled ass as fast as we could, perched on the back of the boat so the second we saw anything that vaguely resembled a whale shark we could all jump in and follow it (it sounded like a more sensible plan at the time)... we ended up spotting it 3 different times. The first time I missed it completely. The second time I got in the water and saw it turn its head just before diving out of sight. The third time I splashed into the water, and could just see bubbles and churning and blurriness and blue, and I thought I had missed it once again, when all of a sudden it passed directly underneath me, about 3 feet below where I was floating in the water. I was able to follow it for a while before it took off, but I am certain that the image of the shark passing will be burned into my brain for the rest of my existence, and that the way my heart jumped into my throat probably took 5 years off my life.
In the evening I watched the Superbowl with some buddies down here, including 2 Finish guys who aren't that into football, but who LOVE reasons to paint their faces, drink beer, and yell at the TV in Finish. Solid times were had by all.

Ok, just by way of update, here is a stream of non sequitars:

In Guatemala I went to a hotsprings waterfall, an off-the-beaten-track place where streaming water cascades down a cliff face into a calm pool enclosed by cloud forest. It might be the most beautiful place I have ever been.

Stayed at Finca Tatin, a collection of huts in Northern Guatemala only reachable by boat. Spent a few days birdwatching, kayaking, and doing a whole lot of nothing at all.

I saw the Mayan ruins at Copan, which were small, but loaded with incredibly intricate carvings of Snake Gods and Skulls and Human Sacrifices and all that good stuff.

Met some Texans in Tela and ended up at the birthday party of an Irish guy who was trying to Kayak from the US to Venezuela, but ended up in Honduras when he was robbed. Hung out with an insanely eclectic mixture of people (the root "insane" is used purposefully there) and was almost hit by a falling power line on the way home.

My plan now is to go to Trujillo to see the grave of William Walker, and then to make a bee line for Costa Rica, where I can stay for a couple days in order to enter Nicaragua with a fresh 90 day travel visa. But plans tend to change, so I will keep you all posted.

Much Love

Tim

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