6th April
In Panama waiting for next flight. Catching this up frantically so we are not so far behind. Real tired so will not be doing much this afternoon. Yay for warm weather again!! Caught our flight to Guatamala about 2 and a half hours long and had a really nice lunch on board. Arrived in Guatamala and was met by a GAP representative to drive us an hour to Antigua. Antigua is very touristy but quite quaint too lots of cobbled roads and colourful buildings. Arrived at about 3pm to the hotel and had a snooze for 2 hours before getting up to get ready to meet our tour group and guide at another hotel. Filled out all the paperwork required, our tour guide is Martin a really nice guy from Germany. Dinner has been organised for us so we all sit down for a good helping of meat, veges and salad. It is the end of the last tour and the beginning of ours, there are only four of us joining at this point. A big night is had with the others participating in drinking games but as Chris and I are too tired and not had any sleep in about 3 days we head for bed. Unfortunately not for long though as our tour group is actually in our hotel and make a huge noise all night until about 3am and we have to be up at 6am – not a good start to a tour!
7th April
Not much sleep and a long bus ride today. Everyone is hung over, tired or both. Didn’t really manage to sleep in the bus either. Cross the Honduras border and we arrive in Copan at about 2pm. Have a quick shower to cool down – really hot and then head for an ATM. Once we are sorted for money we walk to the Copan Mayan ruins which are about 20 minutes walk from the hotel. The entrance to the mayan ruins has a whole lot of macaws at the front gate which are incredibly tame and are not fussed having their picture taken – numerous times! Into the mayan ruins and there are more macaws and acouti’s. We finally sight the ruins in a big grassy patch. We manage to spend about an hour and a half wondering around the ruins which are not as impressive as machu picchu but still interesting and much more artwork. The artwork and statues are all integrated into the pyramids. There are also tunnels that lead under the ruins but the price to go in is the same as entry so we decided not too. On our way back to the front gate we manage to spot a toucan in the trees – quite different to the ones we saw in south America as it is a lot smaller and not as bright colours. At the front gate we sit for probably half an hour taking photos of the macaws, Chris manages to get about 10cm away from one of them. We wait for a couple of the girls that have gone for a nature walk so they don’t have to walk on their own. Grab a 3l bottle of coke and water from the local petrol station – drinks are so cheap! Back to the hotel for a cold shower and a snooze for an hour before heading out for dinner. Dinner is at a restaurant called VaiVai, Chris orders fried chicken and I have thai green curry. Orange juice and a energy drink called Rockstar which is huge and about 6 servings in one can! Well the energy drink had no effect after 4 days of no sleep and we are quickly sound asleep tonight.
8th April
Another long travel day of about 7 hours in a bus, a wait of 1 hour and then grab the ferry for another hour and a bit to Utila. Arrive at the Utila ferry terminal, no time to take our bags out of their sleeves so really heavy and awkward – although the local dive shop offers to take our bags to the hotel – very thankful! Our hotel is quite a walk though from the ferry about 20 to 30 minutes. We are staying at the Colibri Hill and somehow manage to score an apartment. The hotel also has a pool and it doesn’t take much convincing for us to jump in. A few drinks at the bar before getting a run down on things to do at the island – mostly snorkelling and diving. Chris decides to do an open water course with four others. Out for dinner at a reggae/Jamaican looking restaurant – had barracuda and Chris had red snapper which was much nicer than mine. Also had some really good strawberry daiquiris. Then headed towards a bar called “treetanic” which is a bar set as a treehouse. It is run by an eccentric American artist that has decorated the whole place with bottles and ceramics – quite amazing. Really cheap cocktails about US$2-3. Had one each and then headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.
9th April
Early wake up for my dive, but not feeling too good and nose is running. So will try and go this afternoon. Chris disappears though to start his open water course, not going to see him until this afternoon. I finally get up at 8:30am and wonder out to find breakfast meet up with one of the people from our group who is a retired fire fighter. Have a really good granola and freshly made yogurt cereal. Sat chatting for a while before heading back to the hotel. Walked down to the dive shop to sign up for the afternoon dive. Managed to find Chris at a small restaurant for a juice before having to find my stuff for diving. Back to the dive shop and out on the reef for a two tank dive – loads of fan and purple coral and saw three seahorses. Chris was on the same dive boat but doing shallower dives and more to do the dive skills required for his open water. No night dives tonight but I can sign up for one tomorrow, also signed up for a morning two tank dive. I go back to the hotel for a shower and Chris arrives back just after I finish. Decide to go find a laundry, find one down the street that will have it done in a day. So head back to grab all our laundry and drop it off. On the way back we spot a guy cutting hair and Chris heads in – its been about 3 and a bit months since he had a haircut. Even the barber can’t believe he has left it that long. Get back to the hotel and everyone notices straight away – quite a drastic change! A drink at the bar before heading out for dinner. The dive guys had suggested a place called ‘Daves’ so we all head there. Really good food and reasonably priced, head for a pub next door but we don’t last long before heading for bed as we both have an early morning again.
10th April
It’s our four year wedding anniversary today but chances are we will hardly see each other. I head off early for my dive and Chris goes for breakfast with the others. My first dive is on a fishing vessel wreck which has two massive moray eels under it. Also a number of bicycles that you can try and ride. Second dive was a reef dive on a underwater mountain. Back for lunch which I manage to have with Chris at Munchies although the burgers take a while to arrive and before I know it he is off again. What I didn’t realise is that he had the hotel key. I finish off my lunch and head for the internet café to catch up with news. Buy a couple of postcards and try to find the post office which is at the ferry terminal. Decide to go back to the hotel at which point I realise I don’t have the key and head for the dive shop instead. Unfortunately they have gone out for their final dives so no chance of getting it. I go back to the hotel anyway and have a swim. Then decided to go for a walk to the other side of the island passing the numerous restaurants, hotels and dive shops along the way. Grab a red bull on the way back but needing a swim again – it is so hot! Head for a different internet café that is cheaper and decide to change some of our cruise options to include some diving. Back to the hotel for another swim before heading back to the dive shop for my night dive. See Chris after his final dives – he is having a ball and loving it, just has to do his exam and he is finished. I head out on my night dive with 3 others and a dive instructor and master diver. Our dive is at moon hole and we have to wait for the sun to go down although it is a gorgeous sunset but I don’t have the camera. In the water and lots of shrimp, bioluminensce, lobsters, although not many fish but the reef still looks amazing at night. Lots of surge and we have to swim back to the boat – quite interesting to board the boat with so much surge. Back to the dive shop and get our dives signed off before heading for the hotel. No bbq tonight as planned as there is no good meat in town so pizza has been ordered instead. We have dinner and a drink before going for a walk to find some ice-cream. Don’t find any and land up talking to a couple I met on my dive tonight instead. Decide to give up on the ice-cream and go to bed as we have a 5am wake up tomorrow.
11th April
Early wake-up and a long walk to the ferry with all our stuff. Board the ferry for a one and a bit hour crossing. Then grab taxi’s to the bus station, no breakfast yet and not a lot around the public bus terminal either. We are expecting the worst bus for this next part of the journey and are quietly surprised with a comfortable coach although no air-conditioning and the temperature is about mid 30s in the afternoon. Our total travel time today is 11 hours and we feel really stuffed by the time we arrive in Tegulcigulpa, the capital of Honduras. Our room is on the third floor with a good view of the city and really good chairs on the balcony so a whole lot of us sit and have a few drinks before dinner. Chinese for dinner tonight – absolutely huge meals- but our guide is not keen on us going anywhere else as the city is very unsafe. So we head back to the hotel, I go straight to bed but Chris stays up for a few drinks and a chat with the others.
12th April
Another long travel day about 9 hours today. Although we have a private mini-bus today instead. We cross the Nicaraguan border after about 3 hours, no checks at borders and both borders are in the same spot – no ‘no man’s land’. Lunch at a small restaurant which offers armadillo, iguana and snake. No one opts for the snake but we all try a bit of my iguana and Scotts armadillo. Chris has the safer option of pork, my iguana is basically all bones but actually tastes ok. I think the armadillo was nicer but a weird texture something between fish and steak. Back on the road and another couple of hours before we reach Granada so currently updating this diary. Arrived in our hotel and a couple of people in our group went to sort out a tour for tomorrow. Had a quick shower before going out to dinner. Chris had a thai chicken, we were suppose to go to a thai restaurant but the thai chicken was the only thai item on the menu, I had a salmon and cream cheese crepe which was really good. And then both of us indulged in a chocolate and banana crepe – yum!
A couple of the others found a liquor store for some continued drinking in the hotel with cards, I went to bed but Chris stayed up for a couple of hours.
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