To the Bat Cave!

I have been on my share of spelunking adventures. Climbing up to the Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; checking out stalactites and stalagmites in the Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains, Australia; "black water rafting" in the underground rivers of caves in Waitomo, New Zealand. But none were quite like the impromptu caving adventure I went on the other day.

John Wayne and one of his friends took me, Caitlin, and Lacey to some small caves near the airport. There is a dive site called Airport Caves which is under the OLD airport, which they shut down when they realized it was built on top of a cave system. The new one is close, but I guess this time they did their research before building. We went local style, 3 of us on an ATV and 2 on a small dirt bike. Whole families here pile onto either type of vehicle, so I guess we were being conservative. After the paved road ended, and then the dirt track ended, we hopped off and went the rest of the way on foot, through jungle and the densest mosquito population I have encountered.

The caves are full of freshwater- the coldest water I have found on the island, including from bottles of refrigerated drinking water. It was chilly, but the only respite from the bugs. We brought masks and snorkels and looked around, but the passages underwater looked way too spooky to enter. We agreed to check out the other cave close by.


We had passed by the entrance on the way in but didn't even notice the 3'x3' hole close to the ground. John Wayne had a packet of candles, the white taper kind you buy to light in church. We each got a candle and climbed in. If the opening was small, the rest of the cave was tinnnnnyyyy. We were able to crabwalk for a bit, then kind of scootch along, and finally it was crawling and almost slithering through a low passage, candles aloft, until we reached the main part of the cave that opened up. There was a deep water pool, but none of us were feeling brave (or crazy) enough to jump in. Bats were swooping around us, no doubt woken by our light and noise. On our way out, on my hands and knees, one flew inches from my head and I could practically feel its wings pass my face. I like bats, but this was a bit too close for comfort.

Once we had braved the mosquitoes and bumped back down the road, us girls jumped off the second story dock of the bar next door and into the harbor. While we all agreed the water was pretty dirty, we figured it was cleaner than the mosquito blood and bat shit we were covered in. Another awesome day in Utila.

Swimming with Dolphins

My course is complete and I am now an Advanced Open Water diver! Since I had the best instructor at the shop everything obviously went well :) We did our night dive on Friday which was cool in a kind of spooky way. We went out in the boat at dusk so there was still a little light when we got in the water. We brought down bright flashlights and it was a totally different experience than normal. Most creatures are asleep but Caitlin spotted us 2 octopus, 1 sleeping and partially burrows in the sand and another crawling on the coral.

On Saturday morning we went to the Northside of the island which is a little less busy than the harbor where all the dive shops are located. We had a couple of really nice dives. The water was super clear and we got to do our deep dive- down to 100ft (30m)!!! Because it was so clear it didn't feel weird being so far down, though you can definitely feel the increased pressure. There are lots of reef walls that drop really far down and it is cool being able to go deeper and see some different creatures.

On our way back to the dock Caitlin and I spotted a pod of dolphins! There were about 100 spinner dolphins in the pod including a number of small juveniles and they were jumping out of the water and playing near the boat. One even leapt and did a corkscrew flip before diving back in! Our captain Danito caught up with them and we all got to jump in and snorkel with them. It was incredible being surrounded by dolphins and hearing all their clicks and chirps in the water. They seemed relaxed about us being close to them and a lot of dolphins stuck around to check us out. They were so close I was almost able to reach out and touch them! What a fantastic experience, especially as an unexpected bonus to an already great day!

Island Time

I've been on Utila for a week now, and I'm not entirely sure where all that time has gone! It is so hot and humid, and life moves pretty slowly. My biggest decisions so far have been whether I am motivated enough to walk to the beach (about 15 min away) or just nap in a hammock in the shade at the dive shop. I've been snorkeling a bit and on a couple of dives, but the wind has picked up and I got sea sick the last time I went out, so I am hoping things calm down before I start doing my advanced open water course tomorrow :-/

I went on a day trip to Water Cay, a small uninhabited island about 30 minutes away from Utila. There were about 20 of us who went out together, and it was a wonderful day sitting on the beach, lounging in the water, and hanging out under shady palm trees. The boat ride back was a pretty wild ride. Our captain, John Wayne (love the name!) told us to "fasten our seat belts and say our prayers" but expertly drove the Luna back, and it was like a crazy version of Splash Mountain. Half the people were wearing their scuba masks, and absolutely everything got soaked.

I've also been spending some quality time with Ruckus, Caitlin's dog. She is super sweet, if a little bit special. She loyally follows Caitlin absolutely everywhere she goes, including behind the bar when she is working. Ruckus loves the beach and playing with other dogs.

The nightlife on the island is pretty great, as is to be expected. Unfortunately the Honduran tax enforcement arrived the same day as me, and have since shut down about 80% of the businesses here for not paying their taxes on time. They put giant yellow signs across the closed doors and windows that say "I BROKE THE LAW" or "I DID NOT PAY MY TAXES". It is slightly humorous, but makes for slim pickings for going out to eat or drink. Everything should be back open Saturday, at which point I can go to the internet place and upload photos!!

Utila

I made it to the island of Utila Friday morning. I successfully slept through the hour long ferry ride on the Utila Princess, or the Vomit Comet as it is affectionately known. Luckily it was a calm day on the water!

It has been great to see my sister again after over a year! I've been meeting all her friends and seeing what she's been up to these last 9 months!

Utila has been living up to expectations so far. It is a small island in the caribean and oh man is it HOT here! Hot and humid. It has both the mosquitos and lush vegetation to match. The first day we went to the beach. The water is clear and warm- pretty wonderful really. But then I was bit to death by mosquitos and sand flies when I laid on the beach.

Yesterday was my first diving day! I did a "tune up" with Caitlin, going over different rules and safety issues then doing a mini dive off the dock and practicing things like losing my mask and getting my air turned off. Hopefully things that will never actually happen! Caitlin is a great instructor though and it all went well.

In the afternoon we went out on the Virus, her shop's dive boat. The first site we swam through these incredible partial cave formations. We saw a giant stingray which swam right under me and lots of coral and beautiful fish. The second dive we encountered an enormous scorpion fish and a row of squid swimming along in a perfectly straight line. They seem to be looking straight at you as they go by. A little disconcerting, but I really enjoyed them.

I will start my course for advanced open water soon! In the meantime I'm planning on exploring the island more- there is a beach with shade trees and hammocks calling my name!

Central America!

Hard to believe that time goes by so quickly, but it has been almost 6 months since I have returned from South America, so it seems like a great time to be heading to Central America! I meant to finish up my blog posts from the end of my trips in Peru and Southern Chile, but I guess that can wait a little longer- hopefully I will be better this time around!

I arrived in Honduras today, after a long but (luckily) uneventful trip. 3 hours to Houston, 3 hours in the airport, 3 hours to San Pedro Sula, 3 hours waiting for the bus, 3 hour bus trip to La Cieba, which is where I am staying tonight. Tomorrow I will take the early ferry over to the island of Utila where my sister has been living for the last 9 months! She is a scuba diving instructor now, and I fully intend on taking advantage of the perks that come with that! The plan is to spend a couple of weeks there and then travel through mainland Honduras, down through Nicaragua and finally a couple of weeks in Costa Rica before flying back home from there.

Not a lot to report so far. My first taxi driver of the day became very chatty after I said I was from California. He had a lot to say about Arnold Schwarzenegger's infidelities, and then asked about the other senators who solicit sex online and Tiger Woods and all his disasters. He explained that here that is unconscionable, but upon further reflection shared that a lot of leaders here are caught stealing money or misplacing funds, and locals don't always see that as a deal breaker. Pick your poison, I suppose.

I opted for the expensive bus today after doing some online research and discovering auto accidents are a huge problem here, and this company apparently has a much better safety records than the others. That seemed worth the $12 ticket compared to the $5 the others cost! Plus it was gloriously air conditioned and they gave us free snacks. We drove through a lot of agricultural areas, mostly palm and banana plantations. Things here are lush and green, though the livestock are all on the emaciated side. Everyone I have encountered so far has been very nice and helpful (except for all the people working for Continental Airlines in SFO! So unnecessary!). The first person I met at the hostel is from Chile and we had a nice chat about what has been going on there.

It is humid and sticky here. I bought an ice cream and a pineapple juice for dinner. Am really looking forward to making it to Utila tomorrow and seeing my sister!