Paradise, lost

Trip Start Feb 02, 2010

Trip End Dec 23, 2010

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Where I stayed

Captain Morgans

Bavaria

Flag of Honduras Utila, Islas de la Bahía, Honduras
Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Getting to Utila wasnt' too bad - a couple of bus journeys, a rip off taxi ride and a ferry from La Ceiba was all polished off in a day. Lucily the 'Chicken Buses' seem to have evolved into coaches as we know them in this part of the world, so reading and listening to music is actually possible. The journey also spawned 'The Circle Game', nicked off Malcom in the Middle. Basically, me or Nicci needs to get the other person to look at them making an 'o' with their finger and thumb over their leg. If this is achieved, we get to punch the person who fell for it. Unfortunately im pretty crap at this game and now have a sore arm, and on the off chance I do catch Nicci out, I end up looking like a wife beater in front of the locals.

So Utila....is not exactly the paradise island we had read about. Sure its set in the sunny Carribean, but it consists of one town that's full of mopeds and quad bikes and populated by locals who hate foreigners

Pidgeon Cay

. The Bavaria guest house we stayed in was no better, with bugs in the bed and cockroaches in the shower.

After one night we looked around for diving and discovered Captain Morgans, who not only had a good course but gave us free accomodation on Pidgeon Cay, a small island to the west of Utila. So we packed our bags and headed for new lands. Upon arrival we found what we were searching for, a quiet, beautiful island with friendly locals, crisp beaches, stunning coral reef and all set to a back drop of Honduras' mountains. Oh..and religion. This island had 7 churches for the 500 inhabitants, singing crazy hyms every night.

For the next few days I worked on my PADI open water scuba licence, the net result being full marks on the test (much to Nicci�s distain) and my certificate to let me loose around the world. The coral was stunning and the array of fish was amazing, ranging from angel fish to a yellow stingray. Unfortunately we didnt see any of the fabled turtles or whale sharks that lurk the local waters. I have to say though, by the end of my 5th dive i was a little bored.

And with that, we were off.

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