So the boat ride to Roatan was a little rough..... well it was a lot rough. Despite all odds though, none of the 4 of us got sick..... several others did though - the wonders of Dramamine! When we did finally arrive we were hoarded by a huge number of cab drivers, still with a dodgy belly, this was a little overwhelming but we managed to find a nice local guy who took us to the West End, via the shop and liquor store, to the sweet sounds of very loud Reggae!
We got to the west end and the place we wanted to stay at, The Mariposa Lodge, was full, so after a short trek we arrived at the 2nd choice, Chillies, and an awesome 2 bedroom cabana right at the back of the property, seemingly in the middle of the Jungle. We went out to explore and get some food and some cash and investigate the diving situation.
We arrived back at the lodge 2 hrs later, with no cash, all the ATMs were down, sore feet and a PADI course booked the next day with the Native Sons, starting at 830 am. So we opened up the rum! Several cocktails later we had walked down the beach with Angela and Ulla to a Reggae bar and were dancing away. 830 am came around a little too early!
Instead of it being just the 2 of us, 3 others had joined right then but fortunately our diving course started with a video. Our instructor, Andrea, was great and after a quick set-up tutorial, somehow, we found ourselves in a boat, suited up and ready to go. 3 - 2 - 1 and we were over the side backwards and in the ocean. Without really knowing what we were doing we ended up kneeling on the ocean floor (at least we were - not everyone had too much control!) and purposefully filling our masks with water and other fun stuff!! Despite the initial anxiousness and slightly dodgy feeling, it was awesome and we got to have our 1st experience of breathing under water, the reef, the little fish, the big fish and the general awesomeness of SCUBA - at least that is what I thought!
Who knew learning to dive took so much studying?! We watched more videos and read more chapters as the days progressed. We did "confined" water training in the bay and managed to stay out of the pool and everyday we had an open water dive. The reef in Roatan is dubbed as the 2nd best in the World, I have no basis for comparison, but would have to agree! As each day went on we both fell more and more in love with Scuba and the reading wasn't that bad!
Tuesday night was the last night for Angela, Ulla and Claudia (now that we had finally found her)so we all went out and had a few to drink, and then a few more! We also found out that Obama was the new President, so we had a few more!! Yay!! On Wednesday we woke up much earlier than we wanted and had our 3rd open water dive in the morning and came back for lunch, after which we took our final tests, and passed.... yay!! Only our 4th open water dive and we would be away!!
That afternoon things got messy..... I got ill and the power went out - no running water, no flushing toilet! And there was civil unrest on the Island. We stayed in! Come Thursday, still under the influence of a stomach bug, I was unable to dive but Jen went out and finished her course and came back a certified Open Water Diver! To celebrate we had lunch, and I kept it down... woooooo! Another quiet, powerless evening lay ahead and in the morning I was able to take my final dive and Jen had her 1st fun dive. Before lunch I was certified too and with the power back on we were even able to get some cash, pay our bill and get back on the road by lunch.
The boat ride back to La Ceiba was no where near as bad and we were able to enjoy our books and arrived safely on mainland Honduras, ready for a full 2 days of travel! We jumped on a bus and started our journey to Nicaragua, first stop Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.
6 hours later we arrived and took a cab to the hotel there, where we even had a TV! But no remote! Come morning we trotted over to the TICA bus office for the 9am bus all the way to Managua, Nicaragua. It was full. So the journey began. A cab to the other bus station, a chicken bus to El Paraiso, another to the border. Another chicken bus (chicken buses are old US school buses, made for little kids, most Central Americans fit into these seats. I, however, don't.) to Ocotal and then a bus from Ocotal to Managua. We had a cab take us to the other bus station were we finally arrived in Granada, Nicaragua around 730pm last night. Long day! We met a friendly Aussie girl and Coast Rican guy who led us to the hostel, we wished however we had taken a cab as after 45mins of walking with our packs, we were a little hot!!
After getting a room we needed to eat and desperately wanted a beer. Just our luck, no alcohol may be served here for the 3 days we are in towne due to the election..... what are the chances? Early to bed it was!
Today we are exploring here and deciding where to go next before we head to Costa Rica, maybe stay here, maybe to the beach to surf and chill, who knows??
Till next time....
I'm gonna get ya little fishy...........
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