Roatán...

I have a lot to catch up on from the last 3 weeks:

Part 1

I left for Roatán on Friday 3^rd February, for what was supposed to be a 5 day trip that turned into a 20 day holiday! I ended up taking the bus to La Ceíba on my own, as the others (Sarah, Moa and Daniel) were late and the bus was full. It was actually perfect; I hadn’t sat on my own for such a long time! I’ve always hated to be on my own, and I still prefer company, but after 3 weeks of never being able to read, listen to music or watch films in silence, the 8 hour bus journey was amazing! I sat next to the window, listened to all the new music Allie had given me, and watched Honduras go by.

Amanda and Theresa joined me at El Progreso. The weather forecast for the weekend had been awful, but the sun had been shining the whole way...until we reached El Progreso! You could see the division in the sky – blue, cloudless skies, where I’d come from, and grey, cloudy skies, where I was headed! It then started to rain. Amanda was convinced that Roatán in the rain would still be amazing...I was less convinced. Memories of our first trip to Macaneta came flooding back! Luckily, it rained the night we arrived and then not again until the day I left! By the time we reached the ferry port, it was pouring with rain! They hand out motion sickness pills when you buy your ticket and sick bags as you board, as the ferry is notorious for sea sickness! The waves were big on the crossing but fortunately I was fine.

We spent ages when we arrived looking for a hostel; the hostel we’d agreed on, $5 a night, wasn’t up to everyone’s standards! Some of the girls wanted to stay in a $16 a night place, which some us thought was a little much. It would have been fine, if everyone had been willing to half the group, but they weren’t! It’s times like this that I hate group travel! We finally found a great place called Hillside Garden Cabins, in West End, for $11 a night. That night we went to Booty Bar and ended up in Nova...and that’s where it all went downhill...in a good way.  We met a group of Aussie guys; Jake, Jake, Paddy, Johnny, Joe and Rory who had been in Mexico for a friend’s wedding. These guys are part of the reason I ended up in Útila and also in San Juan and we had some brilliant times with them.

The next morning we walked along the beach to West Bay, which is the most built up beach, but still beautiful. Daniel, Theresa and Amanda spent the day making Copán out of sand. There is a coral reef 10-20m from the shore, so Amanda and I snorkelled. It’s really shallow and as we were sharing a snorkel, the one that couldn’t see would often get stuck on a piece of coral; highly uncomfortable! At one point, to minimise damage to the coral...and myself, Amanda had to tow me off a particularly sharp piece of coral by my feet! We caught one of the water taxis back which meant we got to the see the more of the coastline. We went back to Booty Bar that night and Theresa and Johnny were nearly arrested for public disturbance...nothing like a good misunderstanding!

On Sunday we only made it as far as the pier in front of our hostel! Paddy and Jake left that morning to surf in Nicaragua, Jake, Joe and Rory left to dive in Útila and Johnny stayed with us. Friends of the boys, Koo and Luke arrived and stayed and Bree arrived, and promptly left to join the dive boys. This was the morning that I discovered Rudy's coconut smoothies, blended coconut and a little added water, the best drink in the world! It came up later that Luke and I had both been to Mozambique...we raved about it for ages before we realised that we had been in Tofo at the same time, and had actually met – Luke had been trying, unsuccessfully, to take a malaria test. Everything shuts at 10pm on a Sunday and the night off was very much appreciated! (1^st night off)

On Monday we decided to go to Camp Bay, as Theresa had been told it was the most beautiful beach on the island. It is beautiful and unspoiled...probably because it is a million miles away at the other end of the island and few tourists attempt to visit it! We took a bus to our first stop, Punta Gorda, a Garífuna village. We had been told that there were buses to Camp Bay every 20 minutes...a lie. We started to walk; we love to walk at mid-day when every other sensible person is lying in a hammock. It was hot! Eventually another bus passed us and dropped us at the start of the dirt road that leads to Camp Bay. The sign said Camp Bay, 11km. We eventually managed to hitch a lift in the back of a truck that was going to the quarry. When it dropped us off, we thought we must have covered at least 6km...We had covered 3km and so still had 8km to go! We started walking and after a while, managed to get a second lift with another truck. The walk was, apart from being hot, good fun and we got to see a lot more of the island. So finally, about 5 hours later, we arrived at Camp Bay! It was beautiful and we were the only people on the beach. The sand is made up of tiny fragments of shell and the water’s really warm. Our ride decided to wait for us, which was great...although I did think we would never leave; they were very keen to have one or two of us sit in the cab on the way home...we suggested Daniel but they weren’t taken with the idea! Apparently the police don’t look kindly upon 6 in the back of a truck, but 4 or 5 is ok! That evening we had an amusing little cabin party.

I’d decided by this point that I was going to go to Útila to do my Open Water course, as it made sense since I was in the Bay Islands anyway and it meant I would know people there. I left on Tuesday and as I’d bought a return ferry ticket, went back to La Ceíba and then caught the ferry to Útila. I tried to persuade the others to join me but couldn’t.