We successfully made it from Copan to our next destination, Gracias. Due to recent internet troubles, we were not hopeful in regards to the internet we would come across in Gracias, so I do not happen to have my journal with me at the moment which includes all the little things I was supposed to blog about.
I will fill in what I forget a little later, perhaps tomorrow, or for sure by the end of the week.
Copan was a beautiful little town and the people were extremely friendly. We were in Copan for three nights, two full days, I believe. On the first day we walked about 30 minutes to Macaw Mountain, a wonderful bird reserve. More on that when I have my detail book.
On the second day in Copan we went to the see the Copan Ruins. I can try to describe it, but I wouldn´t do it justice. Look for pictures when we return. Nick would be angry if I left this detail out, though: We were the very first people at the Ruins. Ever. We basically discovered it. Or we were just the first people through the gate on Sunday. Either way, it was awesome seeing all the structures without all the people. The only problem was that we had no idea what we were looking at. So, after spending about two hours exploring on our own, we hired a guide to walk us through and explain it all to us. It was fascinating to hear all of the rituals they had, such as killing the person who performed the best at their ball game (sending him to the God´s, apparently). Our tour guide, Antonio Rios, was quite the character with all of his jokes.
Besides all those touristy things, the best thing in Copàn was their licuados, a type of fruit shake (although instead of ice cream, it is made with milk and ice). Banana and chocolate seems to be one of my favorites, though who am I kidding? Any flavor shake is my favorite. I like them so much that, for the first time, I went into a licuado store by myself (impressive, since I´ve been pretty reliant on Nick´s spanish) and orderd my own licuado, in Spanish, by myself! That´s how bad I wanted one.
Today we left Copan and five hours, three buses later we arrived in Gracias. We will be here until Friday. From Wednesday to Thursday we will be climing a mountain right outside of Gracias.
More details once I bring my little journal with me to the internet cafe!
Monday, June 27, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Diving, Bus Rides, and Hammocks
Okay. Finally in a town where internet is readily available. I have 40 minutes to write down what we have been up to for the past week!
On Monday, June 20th, we left the island of Utila. Before jumping to the next destination, here is the breakdown of our time in Utila (Thursday the 16th to Sunday the 20th):
Thursday: Watch a couple of scuba videos. As our instructor, Oliver, would say, "They're cheese." We then had to take quizzes on what we watched (or, what we had read in the books they gave us the night before. Nick and I were good students and read ahead like we were supposed to). After all the boring stuff, we learned all about the equipment we would be using and how to put it together and take it apart. We then went just off shore to do our confined water skills. We spent almost 2 hours underwater, watching Oliver demonstrate the skill first and then repeat it back to him one at a time. (There were three students: an English guy, Kieran, Nick, and me) We all passed.
Friday: More videos and quizzes. Then our first open water dives! We did two dives in the afternoon. They bring out two tanks for each person, so that you dive once, come up, exchange tanks and dive again. Each dive lasts about 45 minutes. Between these two dives we saw a barracuda, some squid, an eel, and countless amount of fish and coral. It was amazing!
Saturday: We had two more open water dives in the morning. Saw about the same in terms of underwater life. (Nick and I were hoping so badly to see any of the following: dolphins, whale sharks, eagle or manta rays, turtles, any shark, really, and an octopus. Sadly we didn't see any of these....so I guess we'll just have to go diving again!) We also had our final exam to finish the course. Nick had the highest score in the class. At night we sat on the top (it was a 2-story pier) of the pier and had some beverages. Something caught Nick's eye, and upon further investigation, was decided that it was an Eagle Ray! It was huge, swimming so swiftly through the water. We watched it for about five minutes until it swam off into the dark sea.
Sunday: Part of the price of the scuba certification package included two free fun dives. So, we went out one last time with Oliver, searching for the great beings of the ocean. Unfortunately it wasn't the clearest of conditions on this day, so we didn't see anything new. It was still fun, though. And as Nick later pointed out, diving is one of the most peaceful activities. You don't think about anything other than the coral and the fish. There is no worrying about jobs, school, where we'll be next, how we'll get there. Nothing. Occasionally I would think about the best way to de-smudge my mask while underwater, but that was the most stressful thought. (If you are curious, to take care of that problem I decided to flood my mask purposefully and then clear it out by tipping it slightly open at the bottom while blowing air out of my nose. Belinda, you are probably the only person reading who will probably vividly enjoy this description.)
Other things we did while in Utila when we weren't scuba diving included: eating baleadas, the staple food of Honduras (a tortilla, filled with a combination of meat, eggs, beans, cheese, sometimes sour cream, and any other delicious things they decide to put in it), sharing a bungalow with our friend Penelope the gecko, walking to find a place called Pumpkin Hill that was supposed to be a good lookout spot but failing miserably to find it, and eating a lot of PB and Jelly. A lot. We bought a loaf of bread and a jar of each and consumed it all in the days we were in Utila.
Monday, June 20th: Most of the day was spent traveling. First the ferry back to the mainland (taking Dramamine before was one of the best decisions of my life) for one hour, taking a bus from the port city of La Cieba back to San Pedro Sula's bus terminal for about 4 hours, and then a bus from San Pedro to Lago de Yojoa. Once in Lago de Yojoa we made our way to Cortijo del Lago - a peaceful, quiet, beautiful place set right on the largest lake in Honduras. It was like being up north, only better, due to the mountains in the background. The place is in the middle of nowhere, so we slept, ate, and hung around their property for two days. We saw the biggest toad in the world. It seriously was about the size of a grapefruit.
Tuesday, June 21st: Woke up to birds chirping and then spent an hour or so reading in the hammocks in the sun room. After breakfast we napped for two hours. Why? Because we can. We are not on any set schedule. We don't have to be at any specific place at any specific time (except, of course, for our flight back to the US). After our nap, we read some more in the hammocks (I finished Water for Elephants and loved it). The afternoon consisted of renting a canoe and paddling around lake for about two hours and more reading in the hammocks. There must be something in the water here (well, obviously, which is why we don't drink it) because what I believe to be grasshoppers are also gigantic. We have been taking pictures, although I won't be posting any until I am back on my own computer. Look then for proof.
Wednesday, June 22nd: We hopped a short bus to a new hotel, still in the same area of Lago de Yojoa. This one was called D & D Brewery (which you can google, if interested). We got off the bus in the main area of town, and had to take a tri-wheel taxi to the Brewery. We walked to Bio-P-Argue, or "Paradise" as the sign says. There we walked on trails for a few hours. This place is part coffee plantation, part lime tree orchard, contains big trees and rivers and streams. Back at the Brewery I had my first beer in years...and LIKED it! It was an apricot ale.
Thursday, June 23rd: We took a bus from the Brewery to Pulhapanzak Falls - a huge waterfall. We stayed there for a couple of hours before heading back to the brewery. On the walk to catch the bus I asked Nick if we could stop for ice cream. Then, out of nowhere, is an ice cream truck! Fate!
Friday, June 24th: We woke up early and caught a bus from Lago de Yajoa back to San Pedro Sula. Our last time being in that bus terminal, which we are not even the slightest bit saddened by. We then took a bus to Copan, which is where we will remain until about Monday. So far, from what we have seen, this city is really cool. It has cobblestone streets, red tiled roofs, and a central park. Some poor soul is doing our laundry tonight and we pick it up tomorrow. On the agenda while in Copan includes seeing the Copan Ruins, going to Macaw Mountain to see a bunch of colorful birds, and anything else our little minds come up with!
The food is good, I don't mind the temperature, and it seems to rain every night (but the rain hasn't affected our plans ever). We will be on again before leaving Copan.
Off to make Macaroni and Cheese. We decided to buy some food at the supermarket to try and save money.
On Monday, June 20th, we left the island of Utila. Before jumping to the next destination, here is the breakdown of our time in Utila (Thursday the 16th to Sunday the 20th):
Thursday: Watch a couple of scuba videos. As our instructor, Oliver, would say, "They're cheese." We then had to take quizzes on what we watched (or, what we had read in the books they gave us the night before. Nick and I were good students and read ahead like we were supposed to). After all the boring stuff, we learned all about the equipment we would be using and how to put it together and take it apart. We then went just off shore to do our confined water skills. We spent almost 2 hours underwater, watching Oliver demonstrate the skill first and then repeat it back to him one at a time. (There were three students: an English guy, Kieran, Nick, and me) We all passed.
Friday: More videos and quizzes. Then our first open water dives! We did two dives in the afternoon. They bring out two tanks for each person, so that you dive once, come up, exchange tanks and dive again. Each dive lasts about 45 minutes. Between these two dives we saw a barracuda, some squid, an eel, and countless amount of fish and coral. It was amazing!
Saturday: We had two more open water dives in the morning. Saw about the same in terms of underwater life. (Nick and I were hoping so badly to see any of the following: dolphins, whale sharks, eagle or manta rays, turtles, any shark, really, and an octopus. Sadly we didn't see any of these....so I guess we'll just have to go diving again!) We also had our final exam to finish the course. Nick had the highest score in the class. At night we sat on the top (it was a 2-story pier) of the pier and had some beverages. Something caught Nick's eye, and upon further investigation, was decided that it was an Eagle Ray! It was huge, swimming so swiftly through the water. We watched it for about five minutes until it swam off into the dark sea.
Sunday: Part of the price of the scuba certification package included two free fun dives. So, we went out one last time with Oliver, searching for the great beings of the ocean. Unfortunately it wasn't the clearest of conditions on this day, so we didn't see anything new. It was still fun, though. And as Nick later pointed out, diving is one of the most peaceful activities. You don't think about anything other than the coral and the fish. There is no worrying about jobs, school, where we'll be next, how we'll get there. Nothing. Occasionally I would think about the best way to de-smudge my mask while underwater, but that was the most stressful thought. (If you are curious, to take care of that problem I decided to flood my mask purposefully and then clear it out by tipping it slightly open at the bottom while blowing air out of my nose. Belinda, you are probably the only person reading who will probably vividly enjoy this description.)
Other things we did while in Utila when we weren't scuba diving included: eating baleadas, the staple food of Honduras (a tortilla, filled with a combination of meat, eggs, beans, cheese, sometimes sour cream, and any other delicious things they decide to put in it), sharing a bungalow with our friend Penelope the gecko, walking to find a place called Pumpkin Hill that was supposed to be a good lookout spot but failing miserably to find it, and eating a lot of PB and Jelly. A lot. We bought a loaf of bread and a jar of each and consumed it all in the days we were in Utila.
Monday, June 20th: Most of the day was spent traveling. First the ferry back to the mainland (taking Dramamine before was one of the best decisions of my life) for one hour, taking a bus from the port city of La Cieba back to San Pedro Sula's bus terminal for about 4 hours, and then a bus from San Pedro to Lago de Yojoa. Once in Lago de Yojoa we made our way to Cortijo del Lago - a peaceful, quiet, beautiful place set right on the largest lake in Honduras. It was like being up north, only better, due to the mountains in the background. The place is in the middle of nowhere, so we slept, ate, and hung around their property for two days. We saw the biggest toad in the world. It seriously was about the size of a grapefruit.
Tuesday, June 21st: Woke up to birds chirping and then spent an hour or so reading in the hammocks in the sun room. After breakfast we napped for two hours. Why? Because we can. We are not on any set schedule. We don't have to be at any specific place at any specific time (except, of course, for our flight back to the US). After our nap, we read some more in the hammocks (I finished Water for Elephants and loved it). The afternoon consisted of renting a canoe and paddling around lake for about two hours and more reading in the hammocks. There must be something in the water here (well, obviously, which is why we don't drink it) because what I believe to be grasshoppers are also gigantic. We have been taking pictures, although I won't be posting any until I am back on my own computer. Look then for proof.
Wednesday, June 22nd: We hopped a short bus to a new hotel, still in the same area of Lago de Yojoa. This one was called D & D Brewery (which you can google, if interested). We got off the bus in the main area of town, and had to take a tri-wheel taxi to the Brewery. We walked to Bio-P-Argue, or "Paradise" as the sign says. There we walked on trails for a few hours. This place is part coffee plantation, part lime tree orchard, contains big trees and rivers and streams. Back at the Brewery I had my first beer in years...and LIKED it! It was an apricot ale.
Thursday, June 23rd: We took a bus from the Brewery to Pulhapanzak Falls - a huge waterfall. We stayed there for a couple of hours before heading back to the brewery. On the walk to catch the bus I asked Nick if we could stop for ice cream. Then, out of nowhere, is an ice cream truck! Fate!
Friday, June 24th: We woke up early and caught a bus from Lago de Yajoa back to San Pedro Sula. Our last time being in that bus terminal, which we are not even the slightest bit saddened by. We then took a bus to Copan, which is where we will remain until about Monday. So far, from what we have seen, this city is really cool. It has cobblestone streets, red tiled roofs, and a central park. Some poor soul is doing our laundry tonight and we pick it up tomorrow. On the agenda while in Copan includes seeing the Copan Ruins, going to Macaw Mountain to see a bunch of colorful birds, and anything else our little minds come up with!
The food is good, I don't mind the temperature, and it seems to rain every night (but the rain hasn't affected our plans ever). We will be on again before leaving Copan.
Off to make Macaroni and Cheese. We decided to buy some food at the supermarket to try and save money.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Lago (Lake) de Yojoa
This afternoon we arrived safely in Lake Yojoa - the largest lake in Honduras. We`ll be here for another 3 or 4 days before heading to Copan to see the ruins and other sites.
We are both now scuba certified! Utila was a nice first stop, but it will be nice to get more into the Honduran culture for the rest of the time in Honduras.
Will post more details from diving and about the lake in a couple of days. Need to give the computer back to the person we are borrowing it from!!
We are both now scuba certified! Utila was a nice first stop, but it will be nice to get more into the Honduran culture for the rest of the time in Honduras.
Will post more details from diving and about the lake in a couple of days. Need to give the computer back to the person we are borrowing it from!!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Utila - Scuba Certification
We arrived in Utila Wednesday afternoon/evening, after a 3 hour bus ride from San Pedro Sula to La Ceiba, a taxi ride to the ferry, and then a 1 hour ferry ride from La Ceiba to the island of Utila. The ferry was...interesting. I wish I would have taken Dramamine before riding. It's a bad sign when the boat crew passes out plastic bags as the boat leaves. I was fine for most of the trip...and then I started to fall asleep. Bad mistake. I woke up, gagged three times, but managed to keep it all together. Some other riders were not so fortunate. Nick did fine...
We arrived at the dock and were "greeted" with tons of people trying to get us to their dive shop. We hopped in a van (of the dive shop we had already looked into) and got some more information about the shop. We decided to stay at this place called Alton's Dive Shop, and we will be there until Monday or Tuesday.
Yesterday we started our scuba certification. We had to watch 2 videos, and then we did a confined water dive, which is just right off the pier. We had to do lots of skills, such as taking off our mask underwater, putting it back on, and releasing the water from inside the mask, all while underwater! There were a lot of other skills...probably like 20 of them! But we all passed (there are three students - Nick, this British guy, and me.)
Today we started off by watching 2 more videos, and then we went on 2 open water dives. They were AWESOME! We took a boat out to a marked spot and went diving for about 45 minutes. The first dive we went down 12 meters and saw a bunch of coral, a barracuda, some squid, and a bunch of fish. We came up for a break and boated to a new dive site. Down at this one we swam along a big wall of coral, and saw 2 eels!!! They seem less scary than snakes. Tomorrow is our last day of certification. We are going on 2 morning dives and then have a couple quizzes and our final exam. Then we're scuba certified! Part of the cost of the course includes 2 free dives, so we'll do that on Sunday. And, we might even stick around and do one more Adventure dive (maybe go to a ship wreck or something.)
I was a little uneasy at first, trying to only breathe through my mouth in the regulator, but after a couple of seconds underwater I was fine!
No spiders, no snakes, really no bugs at all.
However, the little bungalow we are staying in we share with Penelope, a gecko. And sometimes Penelope's little sister is running around too.
Internet is hard to come by, so this blog may not get as much attention as I had originally hoped.
We arrived at the dock and were "greeted" with tons of people trying to get us to their dive shop. We hopped in a van (of the dive shop we had already looked into) and got some more information about the shop. We decided to stay at this place called Alton's Dive Shop, and we will be there until Monday or Tuesday.
Yesterday we started our scuba certification. We had to watch 2 videos, and then we did a confined water dive, which is just right off the pier. We had to do lots of skills, such as taking off our mask underwater, putting it back on, and releasing the water from inside the mask, all while underwater! There were a lot of other skills...probably like 20 of them! But we all passed (there are three students - Nick, this British guy, and me.)
Today we started off by watching 2 more videos, and then we went on 2 open water dives. They were AWESOME! We took a boat out to a marked spot and went diving for about 45 minutes. The first dive we went down 12 meters and saw a bunch of coral, a barracuda, some squid, and a bunch of fish. We came up for a break and boated to a new dive site. Down at this one we swam along a big wall of coral, and saw 2 eels!!! They seem less scary than snakes. Tomorrow is our last day of certification. We are going on 2 morning dives and then have a couple quizzes and our final exam. Then we're scuba certified! Part of the cost of the course includes 2 free dives, so we'll do that on Sunday. And, we might even stick around and do one more Adventure dive (maybe go to a ship wreck or something.)
I was a little uneasy at first, trying to only breathe through my mouth in the regulator, but after a couple of seconds underwater I was fine!
No spiders, no snakes, really no bugs at all.
However, the little bungalow we are staying in we share with Penelope, a gecko. And sometimes Penelope's little sister is running around too.
Internet is hard to come by, so this blog may not get as much attention as I had originally hoped.
Monday, June 13, 2011
The Pilot Episode: School's Out for Summer!
I would like to begin this blog by apologizing for the poor grammar, punctuation, and overall terrible structure that I'm sure this will end up having.
Almost exactly a year ago Nick and I were driving back to Madison after a weekend in Minnesota when the talk of traveling the world consumed the entire four hours it takes to get from Saint Paul to Madison. I think I remember us talking about either going to South America (back to Chile, where Nick studied abroad) or Hawaii (Nick's friend had plans to move there for Teach for America and we would visit him). After not that long of thinking, we decided on Central America for a few reasons: 1) The countries are smaller, so we would be able to really immerse ourselves in the culture while still being able to travel to a few different countries. 2) It is waaaaaay cheaper than Hawaii. This summer was the perfect choice to carry out a long trip. I have just successfully (more or less) finished my first year of teaching, and Nick finally graduated and has a couple months before becoming a "real person". As a matter of fact, Nick begins his job five days after we return!
Almost exactly a year ago Nick and I were driving back to Madison after a weekend in Minnesota when the talk of traveling the world consumed the entire four hours it takes to get from Saint Paul to Madison. I think I remember us talking about either going to South America (back to Chile, where Nick studied abroad) or Hawaii (Nick's friend had plans to move there for Teach for America and we would visit him). After not that long of thinking, we decided on Central America for a few reasons: 1) The countries are smaller, so we would be able to really immerse ourselves in the culture while still being able to travel to a few different countries. 2) It is waaaaaay cheaper than Hawaii. This summer was the perfect choice to carry out a long trip. I have just successfully (more or less) finished my first year of teaching, and Nick finally graduated and has a couple months before becoming a "real person". As a matter of fact, Nick begins his job five days after we return!
And so we jumped into the exciting months and months of planning. Planning included reading through Lonely Planet books on our Christmas breaks (we actually had days of our break blocked off for this specific task), looking into and eventually purchasing plane tickets (back to the plane tickets later), and multiple trips to REI (my new favorite store). It also included waiting. A lot of waiting.
That brings us to today. The day before the day I have been waiting for. Today was filled with packing, unpacking to make sure I had everything packed, packing again, trying to adjust the straps to my backpack so that it would fit just right, cleaning, printing off boarding passes, and Skyping with Nick to once again confirm that he WILL be at the Honduras airport at midnight tomorrow to pick me up.
Nick arrived in Honduras late last night/early this morning. He has had the day to get situated and will have the day tomorrow to make sure he is at the airport to pick me up... After four long weeks (but actually kind of fast weeks, due to it being the end of my first year of teaching) , we will finally be able to talk in person again!
When Nick and I initially booked our individual tickets to Honduras, the total traveling time for both of us from our respective starting points to San Pedro Sula should have been about 6 or 7 hours. Thanks to Spirit Airlines experiencing unexplainable "mechanical issues" three months before takeoff, each of our trips turned into a 13 - 20 hour ordeal. We both ended up with about a 10 hour layover in Fort Lauderdale. Nick, after having been traveling a lot in the past couple of days, waited it out in the airport. Fortunately he found himself a beer and the basketball game and was able to pass 1/5 of that time. Since I haven't been traveling recently, I do not think I would do well sitting in an airport, by myself, for 10 hours. So I've done some research and have decided to catch a train-ish thing out of the airport into the city of Fort Lauderdale. I will be spending my "trip before the trip" at the Science Museum and will attend a showing of Pirates of the Caribbean 4, 3-D, in the IMAX theater within the museum. I called the museum today to purchase a ticket for the movie, worried they would sell out and aware that I have no backup plan. The lady said I should be fine just purchasing the ticket when I arrive, as no tickets have yet been purchased... After the movie, I will still have five hours to spare until my plane actually leaves. It should be an interesting day, to say the least, and don't be surprised if you receive a call from me during the day tomorrow.
We have been waiting for this day for so long. I can't believe tomorrow is it! My plan is to update this regularly, although I'm not making any promises. If you don't hear from either of us for awhile, it is most likely because we ran across a snake and both had panic attacks.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
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