Antigua to Copan Ruinas, Honduras!

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Well I left San Pedro for Antigua, figuring I would only spend the night and then leave the next morning for Copan, Honduras. Instead I got sucked into the city's nightlife and spent 4 nights. Unfortunately, what I will remember most about Antigua, the beautiful UNESCO world heritage site surrounded by volcanoes... is... the bar scene. Nuff said, moving on...

COPAN! I finally made it with a fellow traveler from the hostel, Gerald... a French guy with a thing for potato chips, birding, and Scandinavian girls. He was a decent traveling companion because he spoke so little English that it was almost like I was alone. Our bus left at 4:00 am (!) from Antigua and we opted to stay out all night in order to ensure we were awake to catch it. This meant by the time we arrived in Copan Ruinas, the pleasant little town near the actual ruins, we were worthless hungover sacks of crap. He slept all day (and night), I toured the town, spent much time on the internet, and read up on things to do. Bright and early the following day we walked to the ruins.... I will elaborate on this later once I find a computer that allows me to upload photos.

Next day we walked about 3km out of town to Macaw Mountain. It's a nice bird park, or whatever you call that... bird zoo? reserve? Relatively new, it's still somewhat small, but in a great location. The Copan river runs through it and it is, like the rest of Honduras really, beautiful. I got to see many parrots, macaws, and toucans... held a few, let one crawl up my arm and almost bite my ear off... Picture of this later, too.

The following morning Gerald caused me to miss my very early morning bus to La Ceiba, from which I would have caught a ferry to Utila on the Bay Islands. Cursing him we parted and I spent another night in Copan. Yesterday I took off for La Ceiba, but didn't catch the earliest bus, meaning it was too late for the Utila Ferry. Stuck in La Ceiba I tried to stay in a nice hotel, since I had heard from friends that it was truly a dump. I picked the nicest one in the guidebook (ok, it's a shoe-stringer's guidebook) and it was packed with sketchy guys, cops, and prostitutes. I arrived after dark but just had to get out, and noted that it was weirder than Belize City at night.

This morning I hopped a ferry to Utila. I love it so far, even though it's been RAINY AND OVERCAST EVERY TIME I TRY TO GET SOME SUN. My hotel (Rubi's Inn) is pleasant... the owner sat me down in her kitchen, called me honey, and chatted me up for a bit. If she serves a country breakfast I'm not leaving!!!

Just a note about the rest of my itinerary -- I had planned on turning north after Guatemala. I ended up meeting some excellent English people traveling round the world, and they talked me into meeting them in Costa Rica from November 10th to 25th. They didn't have to try hard, really. So we are working our ways south separately, and I'm looking forward to an adventure packed two weeks in CR!! Until then I just want some SUN!!


Pictures later... gotta grub some.

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Photos

Macaw Mountain
A bird trying to eat me alive.

Comments

[Taliya]

guess ill just celebrate my birthday without ya ;)

[Aunt Betsy]

Hello from your relatives
Carly, What an amazing adventurer. It's hard to keep up with all of the places you have been even though I am getting your travelblogs journals. Thanks for adding us to the journal and keeping us informed of your travels. It sounds like your gaining great life experiences. Please be safe!