Scuba Dooba Doo

Sorry for the lack of posts in the past few days - I've been very busy learning to scuba dive, and haven't had time to get to a computer during the hours the internet cafe is open. So today will be a bit of a catch-up post.

First, back to Copan, since I now can post some pictures. The Copan ruins were absolutely stunning, with really intricate carvings and hieroglyphics.


Intricately carved stone "stella" representing and documenting the life of one of its rulers

And the best part? The place was pretty much completely deserted. Other than a few other travelers we occasionally glimpsed, the only other people were groundskeepers. And boy did they keep those grounds pristine.


The grounds at Copan


A Mayan temple at Copan

After our day at the ruins, we were early to bed, since we had a 5 am bus to catch (with one transfer) to get us to La Ceiba, where we were to catch a ferry. Seemed simple enough, and we were booked with a luxurious busline that was going to be air conditioned with a movie and refreshments. Too good to be true however, because there was a "problemito" and the 5 am bus was cancelled. But we couldn't wait until the next bus at 10:30, because we'd never make it in time to catch the ferry to the island.

We ended up getting our money refunded (thanks to the teenaged busline employee who, lacking a manager with a key, jimmied open the cash drawer with a screwdriver and a hammer) and hoofed it to another bus station to catch a much less fancy "Pullman bus" (greyhound Bus circa 1960, little maintenance done since its glory days) to another city, where we had to run 6 blocks to another bus station to catch a bus to La Ceiba. We finally arrived in La Ceiba around 3 pm in time to catch the 4:30 ferry to Utila (if the ferry to Roatan, another nearby island, had left any earlier we would have gone there instead, we were so sick of traveling).

So now, Marcel and I are here on beautiful Utila, a small Honduran island about 1 hour away from mainland by boat. Angelica and Signe (my friends from San Pedro) met us at the dock, and took us to Underwater Vision, the dive shop they'd chosen to take their scuba course at. They also provide free accommodation to their students, but Marcel and I opted for a much nicer cabin with the best AC I've ever experienced. Here's the view from outside our door:



I signed up to start my open water certification course starting the next day, and that's what I've been up to for the past 3 days. Although Utila is the cheapest place in the world to get certified, the course is extremely rigourous, and Marcel has been amazed by how much more we've done than when he did his course. Really long days though...yesterday we went from 7 am to 8 pm! The first 2 days were theory and shallow water work, but today I took my first two open water dives.

It was spectacular. So many fish and other creature on a gorgeous colourful reef. Today I saw a stingray, a green moray eel, a pufferfish, and we had dolphins swimming at the bow of our boat. No whale sharks, although they are seen fairly often at the north side of the island. Tomorrow I do two more dives in the morning to finish my course, and in the afternoon I might try to get my 2 free fun dives done as well with Marcel. We're leaving here on Wednesday morning, so it's my last chance. 4 dives in one day will be exhausting, but hopefully worth it!

I'm loving having Marcel here - and not only because his Spanish is about a million times better than mine. He did one day of diving so far, and today rented a bike for some island exploration. On Wednesday the two of us head back to Guatemala, this time in the north, to see Tikal, some more Mayan ruins that are meant to be spectacular in a totally different way from Copan.