We have something to get off of our chest

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Utila is known for being the cheapest place on earth to gain your PADI diving qualifications. However, it wasn’t the diving we’d come for but to snorkel on the world’s second largest reef. We had found Honduras a pretty inexpensive country with accommodation noticeably cheaper than Nicaragua. Although the Bay Islands carry their premium we found a cheap sea-facing balconied hostel with kitchen which enabled the finances to be kept on track.

On Utila you never know quite whether to start a conversation with the locals in English or Spanish. English is the first language as like much of the Caribbean our British ancestors had some not so positive influence in the past (the Bay Island were given back to Honduras in 1857). However, hearing the varying degrees of creole-like English, from understand nothing to understand everything, is a nice continual reminder that you’re in the Caribbean.

Unfortunately, our medical Spanish was back in action this time for a chest infection. It felt like retribution for all the nasty diseases us Europeans once brought to these shores. Still there are certainly worse places to recuperate from a chest infection than a sun drenched Caribbean island surrounded by crystal clear waters. A planned three night stay turned into seven. We waited until the infection had past as we could not leave without accomplishing the snorkelling that we had come for. It was certainly a highlight to see this magical underwater world and has probably put Belize and its part of this reef back on our travel itinerary.

Tomorrow we leave our island home for the border with Guatemala. We leave full of good stories to tell about Honduras and its people. We think it’s definitely a place worth taking sometime over whilst navigating the gringo trails of Central America.

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