I haven't posted a blog in a couple days because the plan has deviated wildly from it's initial course, and therefor been chaotic. Saturday afternoon, Nico and I decided to head to Utila, an English speaking island off the coast of Honduras. Famous for it's reefs, it boasts some of the best and cheapest scuba diving in existence. Nico and I had every intention of diving, but Nico came down with Tonsillitis and they won't let me dive until I have my asthma tested further. That being the case, we'll stick to snorkeling in the shallow reefs around the island. It's not as good as diving, but it will be lots of fun, more relaxing, and about $450 cheaper total.
Besides is famous diving, the island of Utila is notorious for making people "miss" their planes home. Nearly everyone who works here has the same story. "I came for a 2 week vacation, it became a 2 year vacation." And I can see why. I'm going to have to drag Nico by her kicking feet to get her to leave this paradise. I can't deny that the temptation exists to get a bar tending job and stay here longer with this international fun loving crowd. Jobs are easy to get, and no one cares about Visas. It really is a community you can join anytime, hassle free. Did I mention there are no police here? That's right. The only security force I've spotted on the island is at the bank. And that's a plump, jolly private security officer with a holstered revolver. To put that into perspective, there's less security at the bank here then at corner stores in the mainland. Maybe that's because there's no where to run on this tiny island.
For you motorcycle lovers, this place would be incredible. Everyone rides a motorcycle or scooter. And I mean everyone. I realized this when I spotted a girl who could have been no older then 12 or 13, in fully fashion-conscience teenage garb, carrying her friend on the back of her scooter, tearing down a street past pedestrians. Old, young, man, woman and child all ride motorcycles or scooters. Entire families pack onto motorcycles to get around the island. The most people I've seen on a motorcycle is 5: Dad driving, mom clutching a baby and 2 kids piled on behind and between them. Now that's fuel efficiency.
The nightlife here is amazing too. Last night I met an Israeli man in his 20s with whom I discussed political philosophy over drinks at a bar that is quite literally in a tree house called Treetanic. There are so many bars, each one packed to the walls most nights. And despite food being more expensive here than elsewhere in Honduras, alcohol is the same low price. I get the feeling it's because the local government doesn't tax and fee the crap out of bars like they do in the states. The most expensive drink I purchased the whole trip was a pina colada for about $2.
On a side note, I've also become totally enamored with the Brits we've met. They're super nice, wicked smart travelers, who just love to chat it up. Nico and I did narrowly avoid something disturbing though.
The Brits who were going to follow us from San Pedro to Tela (a costal city where we stayed for a night) happen to show up at their hotel one morning to find a police officer standing near the body of the young man who worked the front counter. He had been shot several times. The officer suggested that the Brits leave for an hour or so while the police clean up. Apparently it happened right before the brits returned, a snuff job or personal vendetta, the police said. This was an important detail to those of us who fear random acts of violence in an unfamiliar country. So they got to see a dead body, we got to miss it. The worst part of the story was that the woman who worked/lived at the hotel witnessed the whole thing, and needed to mop up the blood before her hands could stop shaking. It was very heartbreaking to hear about when we met up in Utila. Woah.
Anyway, that's pretty much the gist of what's been going on, email me if you have any questions or want pictures of anything specific.
Last note: There's a lot of this one type of spider here; yellow and black, about 3 inches long, and looks deadly as hell. If someone could google those facts and let me know what it's called and if they are dangerous, I would really appreciate it.
There's a colony of them in a public garden nearby. It's this large area of plants covered in a communal spiderweb with those black and yellow horrors evenly spaced through it. Running through that would be straight out of Indiana Jones.
And with that, I'm off to take a shower. <3
Take eh eezy mon,
Fritz
*Note: Turns out, those yellow and black horrors are banana spiders, a harmless, and very common spider in Central America and the Caribbean. Thanks, dad.
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