Utila diving dreams

A lot of people told us it was stupid to go to Honduras. The drug war was too fierce, the peace corp had just been pulled out because someone got shot etc. etc. We met so many people who were fine we decided to go for it. After a surprisingly relaxing boarder crossing involving changing boats in the middle of a river, having the boat stop and demand money before letting us onto the shore, we were over. Honduras is like Guatemala but hotter, muggier and a bit cleaner.

A typical honduras street modelled by Jade

We got to Utila straight away where we would spend the next week diving. Utila is a small gringo town on the Bay Islands where the ‘national language’ is English. 

Loving the beach again

The only hazard on this island, other than the tourists, is the crabs. These guys are the goats of the place. I left some underwear to try on the balcony and it was missing later that night. I searched and it was gone. The next day I noticed the hundreds of holes with crabs ranging from my pinkie to dinner plates. In their holes I found everything from small fire trucks a pair of shoes, shirts and a razor! No underwear, a sacrifice to utila crabs.  

Damn crabs

Our dive school was the most relaxed place ever, ecomarine gunthers dive shop, a place of stilts on the ocean with numerous hammocks overlooking the water for relaxing and a dock with the clearest water. Jade and Nick were doing their open water and I decided to do my advanced to re-skill after my little incident in Belize.

What a yappie

It was an awesome week, diving on the second largest reef in the world. The stand out dives included the full-moon dive in the black velvety water, spotting crayfish, shrimp and eels, and the wreck dive in the multi-storey ship. At the bottom was a shrine saying ‘Jesus was a pirate, leave an offering to the sea’. I left a bobby pin then got tangled in some electrical cords and managed to cut my wrist on the rusty door trying to get out. Lucky there were no sharks around.

When night diving one must watch out for were-dolphins

Our greek dive instructor Thanasis

My dive buddy Olivia

I had a few days to chill while Nico and jade finished their course. These days mainly involved lying in a hammock or drinking iced coffees at rio beans, the coolest cafe ever. Picture a tiny little coffee stand by a shaded dock with the clearest blue water to float in and the best high altitude coffee.

The most perfect cafe in the world

Utila had some crazy night life. Treetanic was a crazy alice in wonderland where someone who loves collages had tripped out and gone crazy. 

Collaging on acid

Bottle collages, bridges, caves and arches made this place. We spent an hour just exploring the different levels and ended up on a tower  on the roof overlooking the full moon and the island-very cool. I also got to go to my first full moon party which, of course, was crazy, on a dock with swimming, drinking and salsa.

Full moon drinkies

Nico and Jade loved diving and are now proudly proficient divers. Their last dive must have been the best dive n history: caves, turtles, eagle rays and so much more! They're already planning the next dive trip to Indonesia!

It was sad to leave this relaxed, chilled out place. Especially when we realised it was 2 days of travel and we’d have to spend a night in one of the highest murder rate cities in the world. Tegucigarpa is  dangerous and dirty city. The most dangerous area, where it is advised not to walk around day or night, is closest to the bus stop and so it was here we booked a room. It was probably one of the most tense places I’ve been, everyone has a gun! We took a few stupid risks walking with a lot of money to the bus terminal but we survived and actually had a good time. 

We stayed in a dodgy hotel with a TV and hung around watching sex and the city in Spanish. We darted across the road to a dodgy, cheap comida for a feed and the food was really decent. Every 10 minutes walk-in musicians would come and serenade us- Que Bueno! It was a good way to bond, being forced to hangout, and it was actually an awesome way to see out the dangerous and unstable Honduras.

Our awesome little dive shop

Weekend getaways: love Guatemala

Common weekend getaways in Guatemala

1. Volcano Pacaya: One of the most active volcanoes in Guatamala, only a 1 hour drive outside of Antigua. A short walk up(45 minutes) through shrub leads you to a desolate, steaming black landscape akin to the moon. From 100m below you can see the beautiful volcano fuergo smoking, villages and mountains stretching out as you enjoy roasting your marshmallows, toasted banana bread and homemade smores on the coals provided by the volcano. Be warned, two years ago Pacaya exploded and flowed with lava rivers in a very unpredictable manner, this unpredictability is predicted to occur again at some point in the near future.

A morning stroll up a volcano

A morning snack

Conquered

Una buena vista

2. Laguar Atitlan: said to be one of the most beautiful places in Guatemala, if not the world, this lake features a number of unique villages surrounded by volcanoes.  Take a kayak out for some exploring or lie in a hammock for an afternoon. Head up oe of the most beautiful and difficult volcanoes-Volcun San Pedro, but be prepared for 3 hours of stairs. Lucky there’s a beautiful view at the top! Afterwards, village hop looking for the most perfect swimming place only to get lost in a jungle in a yoga-meditation town devoid of people. Also, eat some of the best tacos in central, making it a perfect get away!

Chilling

Taking on the lake

San Pedro

Morning 

Getting ready

Nariz

Reward banana bread

Our guide left us half way up the volcano, saying he had to pick up people and would meet us at the summit. He never showed up but a guy with a machete did. Hearing plenty of machete robbing stories we were  little nervous but luckily he loved tourists and even taught us a bit of spanish!

Conquered

3. Earth Lodge: A short 20 minute ride out of Antigua up a hill brings you the perfect getaway for the yappies of Antigua: an eco friendly avocado farm. Perched on the side of a hill, overlooking the volcanoes and the beautiful colonial city, are a number of tree houses and cabins among an avocado plantation. Activities include chilling out on the deck chairs, listening to live Guatemalan music, drinking cocktails and hiking through the hills around Antigua. The ultimate relaxation.

3.       Rio Dulce: A longer 5 hour ride away, this river is picturesque ad perfectly conducive to relaxing. The town, Fronterier, isn’t much to look at but you can stay in a hostel on stilts in the water. Be warned, the dorm is expensive and likened to a prison with about 50 beds in one room, rats, cockroaches ad showers and toilets in a flimsy cubicle in the corner.

Fronterier

From this town you can go to the coolest place ever. A waterfall as hot as the hottest showers. Take the best shower you’ll get in central America, relax behind the waterfall in the natural sauna or bathe in the crystal clear water of the cool pools below. Just beware of the large group of engineering students known to inhabit these waters as they can trap you behind waterfalls for deep discussions about nothing. Not to worry though, these students are open to hitchhikers in their university bus and can make the trip a lot cheaper(free).  

The most amazing waterfall in the world!

The real place to stay, however, is on a finca along the rio. Catching a boat in the afternoon you can stay in any place along the river- all isolated places of relaxation. Complete with rope swings, hammocks and a loft with beds you will be serenaded to sleep with the sounds of the jungle. 

Chilling after a hard day of swimming

Dinner is a communal affair, family style around the dinner table with delicacies such as carrot soup and potato bombs. Kayak 3 hours to the nearest town, Livingston, on the carribean coast if you feel like some reggae beats or garifuna culture. 

The beginning of the most epic journey

Coco locos!

Not a bad place to get stuck for a day if you forget your passport in the last town and need it delivered by boat before a border crossing.

5:30 am o our way our a boarder crossing

The life of an art student

Studying Spanish is cool but frustrating. I feel like I’m 3 years old and trying to learn English. We stay with a family that only speaks Spanish, study Spanish with teachers that don’t speak English and do optional activities in the afternoon in only Spanish. 

Salsa Classes are available free twice a week and we made the most of them

There is so much to learn and I don’t know how we ever learnt English or how it rolls off the tongue so effortlessly.

Travelling in a group of five for a short time has been so much fun. It literally just feels like an awesome, relaxed version of uni but in Guatemala. We study, catch up for drinks and coffee, gossip, exercise, shop in the markets, frequently visit the chocolate shops and bakeries and go out to the cool bars for drinks. 

Having a fig cheesecake at La Ceniciente

I feel like I did when I moved to Broome. Staying for a month allows us to settle into life, really get to know Antigua and just enjoy being students.

Antigua rooftops

We love being art students-it is the life! Our sole purpose is to have fun while learning and there are no consequences for not doing well at school(other than not speaking Spanish well). Antigua is the perfect environment for our new lifestyle. In the morning, after having an amazingly healthy breakfast made by Dona Ana(our mother), we walk in to class at 8.

My desk

For 4 hours we have one on one lesson where only Spanish is spoken and taught. My maestra is Elsa, a tough teacher but a good one who frequently fries my brain with the 7 rules of how to use por vs. Para or the 12 exceptions to future tense of a verb. One month most definitely won’t be enough.

Our Maestros!

Zamora Academia

Afterward, Nic and I usually go to the gym we joined. This is like no gym I’ve ever been to. It is a building with a huge open patio on the inside with all the equipment set out and a huge tarp covering it. It has many plants and is beautiful. The music blaring is like the music blaring in all the supermarkets, buses, clubs and pubs-latin mixed with club music, all dance worthy. I went to a dance class once-I thought it would be zumba. There were the usual group of middle aged women and me, the only foreigner. The instructor was an incredibly manly, buff guy. Latin music started and all of a sudden it was like a zumba class on speed. They danced like professional salsa dancers and constantly yelled out at different times. The steps were crazy, the music crazy and the dancers crazy and it was a struggle to keep up. It was in the very centre of the open gym where everyone could watch and men and women would jump in at different times to shake it and go back to their sessions. It was so much fun! Best of all, the instructor was improvising-amazing! This gym is just better than others. It has TV’s everywhere with only Spanish subtitles(there is no access to TV in my house), it is a beautiful environment and no one is embarrassed.

After a very healthy lunch, Nic, Jade and I can be found at a cafe like La Cenicienta or Rainbow cafe(where we get free wifi) studying and drinking the famous Guatemalan coffee. A chocobanana or cake usually happens in this time also(1.50 for the most amazing cake you’ll ever have). If not, we can be found at the many activities; ziplining over a lake, exploring ruins and museums or visiting macadamia farms. 

Novios! Lovebirds cruising on the lake

We visited coffee and macadamia farms: amazing free samples!

One afternoon Jade and I travelled with her maestra Sara to a the church of San Hermano- a saint who brings luck and is partial to tobacco and quetzalteca rum. He is represented with a cigar, gun, hat and a bottle of spirits. 

The bus station: monster trucks

Afterwards we headed to a little village specialising in boot making and had the most fantastic time meeting bootmakers ad trying on shoes. For $30 I got a pair of handmade leather Guatemalan boots and I got to meet the maker! We looked damn good drinking our organic mojitos at Por Que No? (our favourite cute bar with a theme of bikes and really beautiful staff).

Por Que No? (Why not?)

Organic Mojitos at Por Que No

Once Annie and Bernie left we met our new housemates who loved to party. We spent nights at pub quizzes and salsa dances. One night we ended up at a Dutch party of the many Holland girls in our school. Everyone was dressed in orange and would occasionally wave their arms around manically singing. We ate bitterballen and listened to bad 80’s music. At the end there was a raffle that we each had a ticket for. It was the craziest raffle ever- over 20 prizes of amazing gifts it took about an hour. We were leaving at 9am the next day but I won 150Q of food at one of the tackiest, most expensive restaurants in town. We grabbed our friend Zana and ran to the place at 11:30 pm with 10 minutes of kitchen time left. We ordered almost every desert: cinnamon nachos, chocolate brownie sundaes, onion rings and fries. It was a crazy, unexpected and luxurious feast at midnight and a good way to finish our time here.

After way too many mojitos, all nighters and too much cake I was ready to hit the road again. One month is not enough to learn Spanish well but it is enough to have a decent chat with cute guys in various jungle and beach locations-what a motivation to practice.                  

Pinky: our resident pet