Wednesday 1/12/2010 was my last full day in Copan. I was quite sad to leave. Everyone was so incredibly nice, the town is so charming and quaint, the food and licuados are beyond tasty, and I'll really miss my new friends from school and in my family. I am very grateful for my time in Copan. :)
At 4:40AM yesterday, Danilo picked me up in his tuk tuk and took me to the Hedman Alas bus station so I could catch the 5:15AM bus for La Ceiba via San Pedro Sula (city I flew into). I had polled a lot of the locals as well as other tourists, and everyone recommended Roatán, the largest of the Bay Islands.
Map of the Bay Islands, which are located in the Caribbean Sea north of mainland Honduras. Roatan is the largest of the Bay Islands as can be seen above.
I arrived in La Ceiba around 1:30PM or so only to discover that the ferry to Roatan was not running due to the inclement weather (learned the word "inclement" in Portland jeje). At the time of our arrival, it was raining, and things only got worse throughout the night. The wind was blowing ferociously and seemed to be tearing through the palm trees. The waves were equally loud as they crashed upon the shore. I was thankful to meet a very nice Swedish couple. The three of us learned that all ferries were cancelled for the day, and we decided to stay the night in a hotel recommended by Lonely Planet (blanket 'Thank You' to LP for all the great recs!!).
After unpacking a little, I headed to the only banks that were open, those located in a mall about 10 minutes away by cab. Besides successfully changing my traveler's checks, the most exciting thing was seeing the logo of the Banco Atlantida:
Go Blazers!! :)
Later, the Swedish couple (Simon and Christina) and I went to dinner at Pupuseria Universitaria. The food was great. I got Honduran tacos and ordered water. "Una bolsita?" my server asked. "Sure," I responded. In my head I was thinking "I believe that means little bag..." but didn't really know what to expect. I waited with bated breath until the following arrived:
Mi bolsita de agua
Simon, Christina and me at Pupuseria Universitaria
Less waste than plastic bottles I suppose...though far less convenient! Oh well, a lot of surprises along the trail during this Honduran adventure. :)
After dinner, we came back to the hotel and crashed, utterly exhausted from our long day. I woke up a few times during the night because the wind and waves were so loud. I woke up the next morning and it still felt like Pirates of the Caribbean during the storm scenes when the Black Pearl was approaching. Sadly, this meant that the ferries would again be cancelled.
I headed to a hostel that was more central and decided to stay the night there and check again tomorrow on the ferry status. As I was sitting there typing on my comp, the gentleman at the front desk said, "You know you can take a plane right?" I had forgotten about this option and had assumed it to be far more expensive. As it turns out it was not much more than the ferry (around $35--can this be for real?). I am so thankful it all worked out! The man said "There is a flight leaving in one hour, so if you hurry you may be able to catch it!" He called a cab for me and we raced to the airport (15 min away). As it turns out, there was a flight leaving in 10 minutes(!) and the kind workers helped get everything in order for me so I could catch this flight. There were 9 passengers in total; we were taking a small plane. Fun! They let me sit next to the pilot and pretend to be co-pilot. I, of course, touched none of the buttons and levers. ;) But they did let me put on the headset and take a few photos.
Our plane from La Ceiba to Roatan. Are they loco for letting me be co-pilot? Affirmative!
We landed safely in Roatan and I cabbed it to West End, the area where most tourists hang out. I am counting my blessings that I was able to come to Roatan and that I was able to find lodging. Everywhere seemed to be booked, but luckily a newly renovated place called Splash Inn had some dorm rooms available if you take one of their diving courses. I don't usually like being underwater, but diving is the "the thing" to do here. "When in Rome..." It's considered the #2 diving spot in the world because of the reefs here. They have "Discovery Dives" for people who want to try diving once, so here goes nothing!
I'm sitting in my dorm room and am so so grateful that things worked out. I was kind of down yesterday and was kicking myself, wishing I'd never left Copan, especially with the poor weather here in the north. But tomorrow's supposed to be nice, so knock on wood we'll have have some blue skies and sun! Please don't judge me, but I'm also really excited to have wi-fi in my room. And the newly refurbished rooms are immaculate and have hot water yay! I'm quite tired from all the traveling these past 48 hours and look forward to a hopefully calm evening. I also look forward to studying some medical Spanish and reviewing some medicine. I meet up with Dr. Schott et al. in two days and we're pretty much hitting the ground running as we have afternoon clinic the day of their arrival.
Half Moon Bay in West End where I'm staying (image from Google)
Well, I best shower now (pretty filthy) and then grab some din din! Till next time! :)
Oh and I almost forgot --> Mosquito bite count: 16. Out. Of. Control. Voy a morirme por mosquito!
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