Other newsworthy stuff: In Río Dulce, we hiked to a hot waterfall after bussing to the trailhead. I would say that this may have been one of our better day excursions. The water pooled at the top of the falls and cascading into the pool below was too hot to put your foot in for more than a second. The pool at the bottom was a combination hot/cold, as the result of tiny sulfurous holes in the ground letting hot water escape up along with the water falling from above. There was an additional cold stream that was within rock scrambling distance. We hiked to the top of the small 35 ft falls, explored all the different bodies of water, and then discovered that if you could brave the scalding water for a quick second, you could swim under the waterfall and into a cave below the large rock. We gradually got more and more brave, swimming further back in to the cave and finding little nooks to hide in.
On our hour long collectivo ride back to Río, we got an authentic taste of local Guatemalans. Men wearing cowboy hats would climb into the crammed van, recognize the cowboy sitting in the corner and flick his hat, laughing as he got his attention. The older gentleman leaning against the window had his arm around a lady his same age, making her blush as he joked with her. When the van stopped to pick up even more passengers, a few younger lassies jumped out to make room and finished their ride sitting on top of the van next to the baskets strapped to the metal bars. We were sitting in the back of the van, quietly observing and enjoying these interactions. Guatemalans are really a happy, friendly bunch.
That evening we found street tacos and then split a plate dinner before we headed back to our hotel. Once we settled into bed, thunder and lightning began so we ended up on the roof hoping for a better view. We didn't find it since our hotel was located right behind Central America's longest bridge (3.5 km) which blocked the storm.
The next morning (Saturday), we took a river boat down the beautiful, lush Río Dulce. This served as a bit of a tour with a few quick stops to observe storks in trees, pass by a fort, and a longer stop at a part of the river with hot water. The main purpose of the trip for us was transport to Livingston, a coastal town where the Río flows into the Carribean. We chose a local hotel for the night that also had a pool.... and a slide! We spent the afternoon splashing around and laughing with locals forcing their niño to go down the slide against his will. We walked around town, indulged in more local cuisine for lunch and dinner, and watched english channels on our tv.
We always make sure to add our own decorative touch to the rooms- clothes on line
Sunday morning we were back down to the dock by 9am to catch a water taxi to Puerto Barrios. They wait until the taxi is full before departing, so an hour and 20 people later we were on our way. It was a short 30 minute ride to connect us to the town where we could catch ground transport. Once on land, we quickly found a collectivo to take us the hour+ to the border. We gained a new stamp on our passports, exchanged our quetzals for lempiras ($1 US = 22 lempiras) and found a chicken bus leaving for Omoa in 15 minutes. That gave us just enough time for a plate of chicken with rice and beans at a stand on the side of the road. At that point we'd only snacked on a few pieces of delicious coconut bread, a traditional food in the south Carribean part of Guatemala. We welcomed a short food break.
Another hour and a half on the chicken bus plus a 1.5km walk and we were in Omoa, Honduras. We decided to spend one night on this coast town to break up our long trip to the Bay Islands. We walked towards the hostal we were planning to stay in but found it was closed for the season, so backtracked to another we passed when walking in. Roli's Hostal ended up being a great find; hammock on the porch, clean room with a fan, and private bathroom for 250 lempiras or $12. We changed into our swimsuits, packed a small bag and walked to the dock where the entire town seemed to be. There was one large dock where teenagers stood, some with wet clothes, a smaller dock split from the big one, and numeous people and boats enjoying the sea. We went to the smaller less crowded dock to jump off of but decided it was best for one of us to stay with our bag at all times so we took turns. Dinner was next on the agenda but, since it was Sunday and after 6pm, not many restaurants were open. We finally found a sit down waterfront establishment and Micah ordered carne asada and pescado deditos, the latter which we had no idea what it was. Turned out to be homemade fish sticks to accompany our steak; both were yummy and large portions of food, enough so that we packed some of the plantains in a little to-go bag for our travels the next day.
Showing off his skills to the locals
Monday can be summarized as follows: 3 buses, hitch hiking in back of truck for 5 km, 1 catarmaran and 1 taxi; or Omoa -> Puerto Cortes -> San Pedro Sula -> La Ceiba -> Roatan -> town of West End. It was a long, 11 hour travel day but there were a few perks. The first bus we rode out of Omoa played Michael Jackson's greatest hits the enter 40 minute ride. San Pedro currently holds the award for the most dangerous city in the world with 3.5x the murder rate of Detroit (congrats, Honduras!) and we survived 30 minutes in the bus terminal without being murdered. We opted to walk with a Canadian duo from La Ceiba to the ferry instead of taking an overpriced taxi, thinking it was only a mile or two, but was actually closer to 4. Luckily a truck pulled over and we all happily jumped in the bed, saving us from a long, hot walk. The catarmaran to the Bay Islands was huge, which I assumed meant would smash all those large swells and be a smooth ride but I was very wrong; the boat rocked for 90 minutes and despite holding a barf bag in my hand just in case, I was amongst the group of people who did not lose their lunch on the boat. Successful day, all in all!
At the ferry terminal, we snagged two other travelers that were looking for a taxi to the west end of the island. We shared a taxi with Linn and Klaus from Denmark and were dropped off at the cheapest hostal we knew of. It was after 7pm, so our goal was to just find a place to sleep for the night and then explore better options tomorrow. The hostal that our book said was $15/night has adjusted their prices due to increasing tourism and is now $34/night..... so we walked. After a few stops at mediocre options, we found a three story building with gorgeous porches. A gal from Ohio who has been on the island teaching for 7 years gave us side by side rooms that include a mini kitchen for $30/night. The four of us set out for baleadas from a road side stand. Back at the hotel, we scared a few cockroaches out of our beds before settling in for the night.
Yesterday (Tuesday) morning, I woke up feeling a bit achy and chalked it up to tensing my muscles for 90 minutes straight on the ferry. We and the Danes wanted to check out one other hostal to ensure we had the best one in town (we do) and then found breakfast/lunch. The afternoon was spent chatting it up on our patio and for me, a long nap. At this point I had a fever and was feeling a bit like I had the flu but the group wanted to go snorkel so I joined in. The beach is a 5 minute walk from our hotel and the reef is a 5 minute swim from the beach. We saw an array of colorful fish and Micah spotted a large lobster. We reconvened on the shore for a few minutes before the boys went back out to try to catch the lobster for dinner. Klaus ran by Linn and I to a dive shop on the road to see if he could borrow a spear but instead found out that there's a 3 month period when it's illegal to kill lobster, which happens to be now.
Fish looks like it's wearing eye makeup
After cleaning up, we headed to a restaurant for 2x1 Pizza Tuesday. Our next stop was the Booty Bar to take advantage of their internet and happy hour drinks, and watched music videos with a lot of booty. Had another drink on the patio with the Danes, chased another cockroach out of our room and hit the hay.
Today, I feel like a new person, no more fever. We've decided that I likely contracted malaria, but my system was able to fight it in 24 hours. So now that we've got malaria out of the way, we're making our plans for the week on the island. With our new travel companions, there's been discussion of renting a mode of transport to check out the 50 km stretch of island and find a few other snorkeling holes. Our first two stops today though will be the grocery store to buy food supplies for the week since we have a partial kitchen and back to the Booty Bar to upload this blog for y'all! And maybe watch a booty video or two.
Adios,
Julia
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