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Raj and I went to Utila, Honduras, to scout out the area for Raj's Spring Break trip 2007. 1/17/06 - We flew from San Francisco to Miami, ate lunch through a 3 hour layover, then flew from Miami to San Pedro Sula. We had dinner at Larson's Restaurant and spent the night at Microtel Inn in San Pedro Sula.
1/18/06 - We got up just in time for the continental breakfast at the hotel, ate, then went back to our room for showers and naps. We headed to the airport at 1, bought tickets to Utila on Sosa then flew in tiny planes to La Ceiba, then Utila. The Utila Airport is a paved area in the middle of the jungle. There are no buildings or lights or anything. Wacky. One cab made 2 trips to take everyone from the plane to their hotels. We checked into our very nice deluxe cabin at the Mango Inn and had a tasty dinner at their restaurant. The restaurant is basically a large covered patio with a couple of cats and dogs running around. The cats beg way more than the dogs, but they're all pretty cute and entertaining. The menu has a large selection, lots of vegie options for Raj, and they're known for their brick oven pizzas which turned out to be very delicious.
1/19/06 - We got up at 11, showered, then wandered down to the Utila Dive Centre to talk to John and set up our week. We had lunch at Mermaid's (plates of beans & rice for both of us and 2 beverages for about $3.50 - wow!) then wandered around a bit more. Then it was to the hotel for reading, history channel and naps. We got up at 6 to check our email and had dinner at the hotel restaurant.
1/20/06 - We made it to breakfast at 6:45, then on to the dive shop and onto the boat. Our first dive was at Black Hills and the second was at Moonhole. After diving we showered, got lunch at the hotel restaurant, took quick naps then headed off to the Iguana Station. The Iguana Station is very cool - super nice and knowledgeable folks doing tours of the station and cages full of baby iguanas. Dinner was at the hotel restaurant again - what can I say - it's really good and convenient!
1/21/06 - I didn't sleep very well - up constantly rubbing After Bite on my itchy legs - so I slept in and Raj went diving. I got up at 11, showered and read on the patio until Raj returned. After he showered we headed downtown to Bundu Cafe (another very nice restaurant with good food and a large, friendly patio with a view of town) for lunch, then we walked down to one end of town. As soon as were were away from everything, it started sprinkling. I put on my raincoat so my camera would stay safe while Raj laughed because it was "just sprinkling". We walked on a little more and it started to pour. Totally pour. Raj was soaked immediately. We headed back to the hotel (it poured almost the entire way), got changed into dry clothes then sat on our patio and read and napped. We were going to have dinner in town but didn't want to brave the rain, winds, thunder and lightning so we had dinner at the hotel.
1/22/06 - We got up at 7:15 (we slept with the fan on so we slept through the roosters!) then headed down to the dive shop. We dove on the north side of the island, don't remember the name of the first site but the second dive was at Stingray Point. After diving we showered, Raj napped, then we had lunch - falafels at Ultralight. We checked out one of the other dive shops then walked in the opposite direction as we had the day before. We wandered around for awhile, then headed back to the hotel where I read and Raj napped. I woke home up at 8 so we could go to dinner at La Piccola. Raj wasn't feeling well but thought a walk might help so we headed down and ordered dinner. He felt worse, so we got our dinner to go and headed back to the hotel. Raj spent the evening throwing up - I think it was dehydration, he thinks it was the falafel.
1/23/06 - We woke up at 9:30, showered, then Raj took a nap. When he woke up we headed to Munchie's for lunch. He wanted fruit salad but they were totally out of fruit - one of the problems with being on a small island. We headed back to the room and Raj napped while I read. He said he was feeling better when he woke up, so we toured the different types of rooms at the hotel, went to the Iguana Station to schedule a bat cave tour, checked out one of the other dive shops on the island, then visited the Mango Tree Gelateria - yum! - gelato was something Raj thought he'd be able to keep down. We had dinner at Bundu Cafe then went to WSORC to see a presentation on whale sharks.
1/24/06 - We woke up at 9:30, showered, then headed back to Mermaid's for lunch. Raj got a giant plate of beans & rice - he was definitely feeling better. We went snorkeling at Bando Beach (a private beach with a $3 entry fee) and saw a frog fish and a bunch of little fish. We spent a couple hours there then went to Utila Dive Centre to pick up our gear, then Cross Creek to check out their accomodations. We headed back to our hotel, played in the pool, took showers and lounged around. At 7, we checked our email then went to dinner at La Piccola - yum!
1/25/06 - We got up at 8:30, then headed to Utila Dive Centre to settle our bill (about half the trip was comped so it was complicated). It started raining while we were walking to the shop, continued raining while we were at the shop, and rained more as we walked to Bundu Cafe for breakfast. It rained off and on while we ate, shopped for souvenirs and checked in with the airline for our flight the next day. It had stopped raining by the time we made it to the Iguana Station for our bat cave tour. We changed into jeans, then hiked out into the forest on wet and muddy paths. We got super wet and muddy, but it was very cool - our guide told us about all of the stuff we walked by. The rain held off while we were on our hike; it didn't start raining again until we were back at the hotel in the shower scraping off the mud. We were going to go to the hotel restaurant for dinner, but they were closed, as was the Jade Seahorse. We ended up at Munchie's for dinner. It was pouring on the walk home from dinner - most of the streets had turned into rivers and there was water flowing everywhere. We made it home, packed, and set our alarm for an early wake up.
1/26/06 - We headed over to the airport at 5:30am (ouch!) and flew from Utila to La Ceiba to San Pedro Sula. They were short flights (with a long wait in the middle) and we were only half an hour late to meet Luis, our tour guide for Copan. We checked into our hotel, Microtel Inn, picked up the rest of our group at their hotel, then were off to Copan on a tour organized by our hotel. The drive took a couple hours through Honduras - it was beautiful, and very different from what we're used to. Lush forests, tiny handmade houses, fields of tobacco, horses pulling wagons, kids and the occasional giant gas station. Driving was a little crazy - the road was mostly windy and one lane in each direction, and passing slower cars is encouraged. We arrived at Copan and Luis toured us through, explaining everything to us. He knew a lot about the ruins, and the tour was fantastic. Then he took us into town for an incredible lunch (piles of fajita fixins, insanely good guacamole, fried plaintains, soooooooo good!) and a little shopping. Then it was back into the van; Raj and I napped and watched the scenery on the ride home. We made it back to our hotel to pack, check email, and relax.
1/27/06 - Flew from San Pedro Sula to Miami to San Francisco. We hit the grocery store to pick up some hydrocortisone (my legs were all itchy and driving me insane). It was very nice to be home! |
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