28 May - 3 June 2014
Hello! We are currently living it up on the island of utila and there is diving and hammocks and yoga to be had so I'm going to make this post quick and entertain you with pretty pictures instead.
So, we left the lovely Antigua and had a relatively simple bus ride across the Guatamalan border to Copan, where we stayed for two nights, followed by a very long and hideous array of buses and ferries and taxis from Copan to the island of Roatan. Gah. Thankfully, the thirteen hour journey was worth it...
The highlights
Copan Ruinas
- We only stopped by Copan to see the Mayan ruins. Which were totally worth it by the way. We had a private guide named Julio who showed us around the sites of cities built atop of cities, by kings outshining kings. I very much enjoyed Julio's account of Mayan history and culture. He was great. Damo was more interested in Julio's stories of the beheading that took place after an ancient ball game (I can only describe it as hackysack with a medicine ball) to the unlucky player from the losing team. Damo had a lot of questions on the matter and very much enjoyed Julio's torturous stories.
- We also liked Copan for its yummy coffee and tasty frozen banana treats and extremely cheap local markets and tipico meals. I don't think I'll ever get sick of chicken with refried beans, avo, salty cheese, salad, plantain and a healthy dousing of hot sauce. That stuff is delicious!
- We didn't like Copans dodgy buses though. We had a near miss with a pair of hijackers on one bus and were frisked on another. Honduran buses are shady business. Good thing we are super street smart.
- Ive learnt on our travels that people in this part of the world love music. Which is cool cause I do too. But I usually listen to mine on my Ipod, with my earphones in. People here however like to listen to their disco party times music without headphones. At all hours of the day and night. So at any given time on the bus you might hear 6 different types of music all at once. It's pretty interesting. Eclectic. Anywho, in Copan, the hostels cleaners son also liked music. Techno music. And he liked to play it at the hostel whilst doing his homework, via two 6x9 inch speakers!?! Definitely keeps things interesting.
Roatan, Bay Islands
- The best part about this place was that we met up with one of our oldest and dearest buddies - Andrew Halliday! The duo becomes a trio! It was a good day. And for Andrews friends and fam at home, rest easy knowing he's happy, healthy and as brown as ever!
- We went diving together. It was the best diving I have ever done. Never have I seen so many colourful fishies and coral before! I spent most of my time flipping about like Ariel, following turtles and scoping out lobster and being surrounded by schools of fish and peering in at little kingdoms of coral and the life bustling inside. The grooviest part was checking out a 35m deep wreck that was split in half by a hurricane and swimming through port holes and caves that were often pitch black inside. Very, very cool. Big thanks to dive master Halliday for all the pics. The photos don't do the colours justice though.
- And aside from diving, the three of us entertained ourselves in Roatan with cards, a trip to pretty West Bay, sundowners at sundowners, street tacos and baleadas, scotches in the pool, lots of habanero Burt Ritos, snorkelling off the jetty, and hours of chat, sharing travel stories and discussing future plans. Brilliant.
The Summary
Weather: Hot. Gone are the chilled sunny days of Antigua. Back to sunburn, sweat and noon high lethargy for us! Ha.
Surf: surfing has now been replaced by diving. And the diving at Roatan was goooood. Sites just metres from our hotel and onsite dive shop, clear waters, deep diving (35m), small groups (once just the three of us), incredible service, lots of support crew and so much to see!
People: met another Canadian couple in Copan who were cool, as well as the quiet Brit Mike. And then of course Halliday! He's cool. We like him.
Food: Lots of tipico food from little rusticos or street vendors. Eggs for brekkie or chicken / pork / fish for dinner. But always with avo, tipico cheese, beans, plantain, rice and in a burrito, quesadilla, taco or baleada. They don't like to over complicate things here.
Beverages: Frozen cocktails, imperial beers, scotch and more cask wine for me. Happy days.
Accommodation: Copan's hostel was cheap and sleepless. I haven't figured out if A = B yet. With a private bathroom, aircon, balcony, on site dive shop and a hammock, Seagrape at Roatan was the business.
Budget: Broke perfectly even!
Overall: Awesome to get a feel for Mayan history in Copan, along with some of the counties 'dangers and annoyances', as outlined by my lonely planet book on the Honduran buses..! Great to do some Caribbean island living in Roatan, to meet up with H and to enjoy some seriously good diving. So far so good in Honduras!
That's it. It's G&T time before we head off to a BBQ at the local dive shop.
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