Saturday, 03/06/2010 Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras

I almost stole another boat yesterday. But then the owner gave us a ride.

However, I could not resist a house break-in.

So on Wednesday morning it was time to leave Lago Joyoa. I'm supposed to give Ari (an Israeli who is just finishing med school in East Tennessee) a ride to La Ceiba (from here the ferry to Utila leaves), and Dillenger and Ana (both Americans who travel all the time) a ride to Tela (city on the ocean straight north from here). Dillenger, who is (kind of) the nephew of the owner Bob (of D&D brewery, the place we are staying at), has essentially been running the place for the past 6 months. I was told he and Ana were going on vacation for 3 days in Tela, but this morning I suddenly figure out that he is leaving for good - I'm shocked - things change fast down here. So well. The drive goes very smooth - thanks to excellent directions we got. We get to see some interesting horse-transport methods -


but Ari and I arrive in La Ceiba too late to catch the last ferry. Since I've heard that prices in Utila for food (and drinks) are fairly high, and I'm - as always - a frugal bastard - I buy a 1 liter bottle of rum this evening. Ari does the same. The cool thing about traveling like this is that most 3rd world travelers are similarly price-conscious, and hardly anyone goes by that "I don't care what it costs, I'm on vacation"-mentality.

Next morning - this is our ferry:

the fact that is entirely enclosed is a little concerning. It's very rough sees - after the first three minutes I start feeling like I actually might get sick - and I usually never get seasick. But after a few minutes things calm down a little bit and I feel better again, even though it remains a bumpy ride.

Arrived in Utila I fight my way past all the guys that want to convince you that their hotel / dive center is the best. I make way way up the street along the bay to check out dive shops. Over here you typically get free accommodation if you do a course, and since I'm planning to do 2 courses there is no need for a hotel. Despite a good impression at Cross Creek I decide to go with Underwater Vision - they just have an awesome ambience in their complex.


After a refresher dive on day one, and my first two dives of my course yesterday morning, I went for lunch with Kate, a girl from Poland, yesterday. After lunch, we continued walking until we reached the other side of town. There is a lagoon on the inland that runs parallel to the bay, and we wondered if it was connected to the ocean. We saw a little motor-boat anchored, and since I now have experience in boat-stealing I was in the process of convincing Kate that we should steal the boat and go find out - as the rightful owner suddenly comes driving up in a small golf-cart. He has a body in one of these strap-ons in front of him, a 5-gallon container of water and a box of groceries with him. I ask him if the lagoon is connected, and he says yes - and invites us to come with him since this is his way. His house is right where the two meet, so we can walk back from there. We agree, and help him get the water and groceries in the boat (not the easiest tasks to do on your own if you have a baby strapped in front of you). It turns out he is from Corsica, his wife is from Quebec, Canada, and they bought a sailboat in Guatemala - which is where their son was born. They sailed down here, but now his wife is pregnant again and they decided to stay for a few years. As we arrive, I take out his water and groceries and then we say good-bye.



On our way back, we saw this really cool wood-home that was under construction, standing on steltz. I thought this was worth checking out, and made Kate into my partner in crime. After stepping on construction material that covered swampy-underground, we made it to the stairs. The door was open, and we get to check out the place.


Beautiful. I would have opted for a different layout, but other than that I loved it. To the back they had a nice view of the lagoon, and to the front of the ocean. The night ended calm – I was tired from only sleeping four hours the night before (I got up at 5am to read about my upcoming dives), so I went to bed at 9.30pm.

This morning I got up at 6am and read some more for my dives today. After a wreck dive and an underwater navigation dive this morning, it's time for a siesta now. I'll have a night-dive tonight, after which I'll be an “Advanced Open Water Diver”. I'll take the camera on the boat tonight and try to take some pictures. Adios ….

I've been battling with the damn uploading now for about 2 hours. The system is super slow, I just had all the pics in the blog that I wanted, and then the damn system gives me some html error. Whatever. Check out the pics on the picasa link. I'll put them in once I have a decent connection again.

http://picasaweb.google.com/joegrass76/05cUtila#