Just a quick set up. I did return back to Roatan to pick up where I left off after my brief stint back home in the States. I had some buddies, Frank and Axel, already waiting for me on Utila where we planned to attend Sun Jam Festival and hang out for the next week and a half. I wrote about Sun Jam in my last post so here is the rest.
A one street town:
Utila is a tiny island comprised of a small airport, backpackers looking for a cheap stay, and one street along the bay that is crammed with dive shops, hostels, restaurants/bars, and churches to save the heathens. About the only thing going for this street is that it is paved and just wide enough for a small truck and slim pedestrian to pass each other on with some effort. Luckily there is only one truck on the island however it usually drives down the middle of the road and since it is bigger than a person, it has the right of way meaning pedestrians jump for the concrete ditch. Aside from the truck though, there are plenty of other vehicles that can maim you just as easily including golf carts, mopeds, dirt bikes, bicycles, tuk-tuks, and peddle powered carts with natural gas tanks dangling loosely off the side as cargo. It's no UPS but it makes for an interesting finale to a delivery when the the driver is trying to stop his contraption heading down hill with his flip-flops since he has no brakes.
Sand Flies:
There are two gorgeous white sand beaches at each end of town with turquoise water gently lapping the sand and palm trees overhead but to enjoy them you take the risk of getting swarmed by sand flies. If you are unfamiliar with sand flies, I will explain. They are about as small as a flea and attack any bare skin available. We tried insect repellent with mixed results. We were told to try baby oil and it seemed to help a bit better but after a day on the beach your skin feels like you just went sightseeing at a sand paper factory with all the sand you collect. They seem to have built up resistance to any type of 'protective' coating you apply and you don't really notice you've been attacked usually until it is too late. All the sudden you are covered in small red dots. If you are lucky they just begin to itch in a few days and that lasts for a week or so. If you are unlucky, you may have some type of allergy to them and get whelps all over your body like our buddy Axel. The best part about this was that every local we talked to had a different remedy for the bites and when the bites are this bad, you are willing to try anything. My favorite was when a large Caribbean waitress we had told Axel the best thing is lime juice. She then got him to take off his shirt in the restaurant and rub juice from a half cut lime all over his upper torso. He left a generous tip. Not sure if it helped the bites but it was an entertaining show for us and the rest of the patrons.
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| Axel enjoying his dessert lime rub down. |
Shark Dive:
After getting tired with Utila, which didn't take long, we headed over to Roatan. Roatan is much larger than Utila. It takes about 45 minutes to drive from one end to the other. It is set up to accommodate more of the cruise ship type visitors meaning things are more expensive. The guys wanted to stay at a swank hotel since we slummed it in Utila. The swankiest place we could find was about a 3 star with a pool and garden area that welcomed destination weddings. We tried to crash one for free drinks and food by pretending we were the wedding singers but when we started to sing "Push It" by Salt-n-Pepa our guise was up. On my budget, I wasn't able to help too much for the bill at this place so will probably owe Axel and Frank my first born. I told them he is probably out there somewhere already and they can fight over who gets weekends.
The hotel is set on a gorgeous white sand beach in West Bay however again it is only suitable if you have genetically modified your DNA to repel sand flies. The Italian tourists surprisingly have either surpassed America in gene modification or don't care about sand fly bites as long as they look good lying on the beach in there speedos. But I'm not sure 'look good' and 'speedos' go together.
We talked to the event coordinator at the hotel about renting motorcycles to tour the island. He advised us heavily against this as being way to dangerous and instead offered up that we should instead go diving with reef sharks. He convinced us this was the safer option and so we did what any smart person would do and signed up. Here is the link to a video I put together of our dive:
(Noah, the next time you go to Hawaii, get your dad to take you shark diving there. It's much safer because they use a cage...for you, not the sharks;)
Last night of Karaoke:
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| Night Boating: Just as dangerous as drunk driving but without the jail time |
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| Frank back up dancing to "Like a Virgin" |
As the night progressed, we were almost kicked out of the country for bringing in an invasive species that has been banned from the island. It has a bite that stings longer than the sand fly's and can leave you scarred for life. A rare photo of this elusive species was taken and I posted it below so it can be avoided at all costs and reported to the authorities if seen in your area. It is the land shark:
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| Land shark attack on local girl's calf. |
Post Script:
Luckily for the country and probably me, the guys left the next morning after their week and a half visit. I had intended to spend a few months in Utila or Roatan working at a dive shop but just really wasn't that into the islands here. The diving is cheap but it doesn't make up for the random power outages, bad food, cramped streets, and sand flies. So after much internal debate I decided to take the 3 day bus trip, which I wasn't looking forward to, down to Costa Rica.
I had to spend the night again in everyone's favorite Honduran city to pronounce, Tegucigulpa. This time I was able to stay in a bit nicer accommodations than last time I passed through here however the Hondurans were sure to foil any relaxing time I was to spend in their capital. As it happened the Honduran Welcoming Committee that was hanging out in the alley below my window thought the 80's music they were blasting from their blown car speakers would sooth me to sleep when in actuality it only hastened my need to get out of this country or at least the hotel. But the HWC is always one step ahead of the tourists. When I finally had enough and was going to step outside for a bit, the power went out. The good thing about this is when the power goes out in the city it effects all the street lights which are helpful when walking in the dark but it doesn't effect the loud music coming from your car. It actually intensifies it as there is no other noise to help drown it out. I was still determined to leave the hotel but conveniently learned that the electronic locks on the hotel doors that keep bad people out also keep guests locked in when they have no power. I am sure there is a plan in the event of a fire when there is no power but I was unable to call the fire inspector since the phones didn't work either.
Aside from that, getting through Honduras was uneventful. I passed through Nicaragua staying overnight in the capital, Managua without issue. I decided to forego any sightseeing in Nicaragua not because it isn't worth it but because I had spent a week and a half there already for a friend's wedding a couple years ago and figured I could not out do that trip especially by myself.
Once across the border in Costa Rica things felt different in a good way. I headed straight to San Jose, which is the capital in the middle of the country, to take a few days and figure out my plan for things to see and do here since I had no plan of what I was going to do once I arrived except get to San Jose. I am currently down south doing some treks through the jungle then plan to head back up north to do some diving and hopefully stay put for a while on the Pacific side.
Hope everyone is well and I hope to have some great photos from the jungle for my next post.
It's always good to hear from you.
Cheers,
Jay
