A Far Corner

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Welcome once again to our summer travel blog. If you'd like to read about last year's trip to Thailand, you can find that here: Thailand . This year we are venturing through Central America and spending much of our time on the bay island of Utila, though there are sojourns planned to Belize, Roatan, and possibly some ruins on the mainland. Utila is a small island, about 5 miles long and 2 miles wide, with 2,500 or so residents and about half that many visitors at any one time. Virtually all the tourists on the island are here for the diving (we'll write about that quite a bit more in the next report). Utila sits on the edge of the world's second largest barrier reef (after Australia's) and is on the migration path for the amazing Whale Sharks. I'm hoping to swim with one on this trip. If you are wondering where in the world we are exactly, this map will help.

This particular journey started on a Monday night in Albuquerque, and included four different flights and a water taxi. We do seem to have an ability to pick places that are difficult to get to, but then, that's sort of the point as well. Not many lazy American tourists have the determination for this kind of thing, you have to be coming here with a purpose. Consequently, the locals here truly appreciate the income that the tourists bring, and you will be well treated on the island. Smiles, warm handshakes, and lots of laughter are the norm here, but then, with views like this, who wouldn't be happy?

The heat here though, is a bit tough to take. There is no air conditioning in the buildings here, mostly because energy costs on the island are among the highest in the world. In fact, I'd say most things here cost more than you'd expect. Utila bills itself as the least expensive carribean island vacation (which isn't saying much of course), and it is a lot less to be here than say Roatan or the Bahamas. Nevertheless, it's not nearly as inexpensive as Thailand was. It is an island and all things must be shipped in, expecially food and fuel. So the heat of the day is typically spent in a hammock or in front of a floor fan trying not to sweat from your own eyeballs. I went for a run this morning down the road to the local airport and back, and decided that running before 8:00 a.m. should be running before 7:00 a.m. from now on. At 8:15, I was being baked into the asphalt. Thank god for sunscreen.

Around sunset, everyone here heads for the local bars on the piers to have a beer or three and watch the sun go down over the bay. It looks like this pretty much every night here, which makes everything else seem completely worth it at the time. . There is a wonderful charm to this island that reminds me why I love to travel so much. There are no chain restaurants here or shopping malls. Just locally owned businesses and sense of protection for the locals and the tourists. People here walk in the sunshine and visit with friends and live day by day in a way that would make Thoreau proud.

I'll be writing much more about this amazing little island and its inhabitants over the next few weeks. Tomorrow we'll be diving, and I'll fill you in on my experiences under water here.

Till then,
Greg

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[R. Michael Litchfield]

Earthquake
7.1 shallow earthquake struck about 50 miles northeast of where they are in utila at 4:54 AM EST