Don't think, just jump!
Trip Start
Mar 08, 2010
1
16
20
Trip End
Jun 07, 2010
La Ceiba, Honduras
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
After our two weeks of study in Antigua we made our way to Copán Ruinas, Honduras, to see the Mayan ruins. They're smaller than Tikal but still impressive. Also impressive were the huge Macaws (photos will be posted at a later date). Free salsa lessons were quite fun as well.
After a brief stay in Copán we headed north to the Bay Islands, namely Utila. Ang battled sand flies and I struggled in the muggy heat on the island devoted to cheap diving. Our first full day we walked the island in search of a beach–it's such a weird feeling when you're surrounded by water and don't have access to it! We learned later that there is a small beach in an area opposite from where we were. Bah!
On Sunday we joined a boat with Parrot Divers for a diving/snorkeling excursion. I dove the site 'Black Hills' while Ang waited in the boat. After the dive we went in search of the whale sharks–we were all snorkeled up and ready to jump in when the cap'n yelled, but it took quite a while to find them. Luckily, he yelled GO, we jumped in, looked down and there one was! It swam away pretty quickly so Ang didn't see it, but we stopped for a couple others and she saw those. THEY'RE HUGE!
The last time we jumped in the shark was directly below us, so close that if we'd extended our legs our fins would have touched it! That was by far the largest one we saw. Someone was screaming because it was so close and I had accidentally swallowed sea water in all the commotion. The water caused me to vomit a bit but later I was thanked as that could've been the reason the shark stayed around for a short while (yay me?).
After seeing the whale sharks we went to a new dive site and suited up. Ang was able to snorkel while I was diving. I didn't see as much sea life as in Belize, but the coral was still gorgeous. Unfortunately no photos this time.
Yesterday we left Utila and came to a lodge in the jungle near La Cieba, a small harbor city. The lodge is very pretty, located on a river with rock pools and cliff jumping right out front. We eased yesterday afternoon and enjoyed the peacefulness of the jungle. It is so beautiful here. This morning we woke and prepared for our most exciting adventure yet, whitewater rafting!
As it was Ang's first time rafting, we chose the 1/2 day, class III and IV section of the river. After a fun hike upriver and a float back down (sans boat) we got in our rafts and began the main part of the trip. Everything was going smoothly until we came to the class IV rapid, aptly named the Toppler. We unfortunately hit a rock in the process that forced our boat to flip on top of us. All three of us were briefly trapped under the boat while it was stuck in the rapid. Gasping for the air stuck under the boat we were all able to push ourselves back down and around the side of the boat (which was still stuck in the rapid). We were able to get it unstuck and the guide flipped it back over and we got back in. OMG (Grandma), it felt as if we'd almost died! But, in hindsight, it was super scary but we all did the right things in order to survive it. After searching for our paddles we continued on.
Tomorrow we head toward the Nicaraguan border, probably stopping for the night in Tegucigalpa. We're hoping to meet up with our/Tasha's friend Stephanie near Matagalpa, Nicaragua on Thursday.
P.S.
Poner
Comments
Super fun!!! Poner?
PONER!!!
whoa... toppled by the toppler!