Arriving in Honduras

With my bags packed and passport in hand I headed out to the airport for my adventure into Honduras. This was to be the begining of 2 1/2 weeks into the unknown, a land full of mountains, beaches, coal reefs, and untouched rain forests. After a connection in Houstin we decended for the city of San Pedro Sula.

The first thing I noticed comming into San Pedro Sula was how undeveloped this country is. San Pedro has one runway, a terminal about as big as Hillsboro, and feels like a step back in time. It was quite refreshing from the Nazi's we get to put up with in our so called free nation of America. However, I must say that I was expecting a bit more from the nation's 2nd largest city and most modern airport.

After landing I attempted to get a flight out to the island of Rotan. However all the flights were full for the day so I caught a cab to the bus station. Why would I want to leave San Pedro so quickly? Well you see San Pedro is full of gang violence and is considered to be very dangerous. Once I got to the bus station I bought a ticket to La Ceiba. Now this is where the game of hurry up and wait begins.

See, the people of Honduras recently got hit fully with the real price of gas. The government decided they were no longer going to subsidize the price of gas and thus the people like to make roadblocks and not let the cars through. My bus to La Ceiba got hit by several roadblocks along the way. My 3pm bus was delayed to a 5pm departure. Once under way the 3 hr journey became a 5hr one due to more roadblocks along the way. The last two hours were extremely miserable due to the lack of a bathroom.

After finally arriving in La Ceiba at 10 pm I met a few other travelers who were headed into the city. We caught a cab to the city center and to lower costs I split a room with this guy Ben from Quebec. Ben came from Copan that day and was telling me even more stories of the road blocks. The night was rather uneventful as both of us were super tired and went to bed early.

The next morning both of us caught a ferry to the island of Utilia. The ferry ride was pretty wild. Imagine a small boat holding about 100 people speeding along the ocean at 35 knots. The large waves made things interesting so to speak. Most people felt really sea sick by the end. The poor girl next to me looked like she was about to need the bathroom. Thank goodness I fly airplanes and am used to all that turblence.

Upon arrival in Utilia I found a place to stay, signed up for a dive refresher course, and did some snorkling. Things are pretty nice here in Utilia. It reminds me a lot of the islands of Thailand with a heavier emphasis on diving. Most people come here to learn how to dive. The island seems nothing like the mainland of Honduras and is its own little traveler oasis here in the Caribean.

Tomorrow will be diving and lying out on the beach.....oh I can't wait.