Fast-tracking it

3 countries in 2 days = not bad! I've been on boats for the last 5 days in my travels... I've had all kinds. 1 sailboat, 2 long & skinny speedy boats and 1 ferry.

Yesterday morning, I decided to set off for Punta Gorda, where I was thinking I was going to spend the night. I hoofed it to a dock, took a 20 minute boat ride (with a welcome breeze), then I hoofed it to the bus station and waited for the bus to Punta Gorda. On board the bus, an Australian guy sat down next to me and told me about his plans to head to Guatemala by boat that evening. I decided that if Punta Gorda didn't pique my interested, I would join him and a Swiss girl he'd met the night beforehand at his hotel and head on over to Guatemala.

We arrived to Punta Gorda at about 3:15pm, which meant we had 45 minutes to make the ferry. I took a quick peek around and decided to head on. I'd be in the water and diving faster if I moved on. We took care of the immigration stuff and hopped on board after I found a woman to give me a plate of rice and beans to go before boarding the boat.

What a ride! I have been on rougher boats, but for the hour it took to cross the ocean over to Guatemala, most of us just braced ourselves for the next pounding by the waves.

We arrived safe and sound to Puerto Barrios, which is a sketchy town by an Guatemalan's standards. I wouldn't head there by myself and spend the night, so I'm glad I had the Aussie dude and the Swiss girl along. We found a hotel and decided on sharing a room and each forked over about US$6 for our beds. We settled in, then we were off to explore town! Not much going on around town, and we were back about 45 minutes later after sorting out bus tickets for the other two. As we'd gotten off the boat, a guy asked if any of us were headed towards Honduras because he was driving a van there at 7am the following morning - so I was already sorted with my transport.

The three of us settled in at our hotel's restaurant for some grub, then we went back to the room. It was only about 8, but we were tired. We put on a movie (40 year old virgin) and I think I was passed out by about 9. I needed some good sleep!

This morning, I did some bus surfing (van, border, bus, mini-bus, bus, taxi) and then arrived at the ferry station in La Ceiba, Honduras about 10 minutes before the ferry took off for Utila. Whew! I went to my old dive shop (Utila Water Sports) to see if the old deal of free diving for 7 years if you'd done your divemaster with the shop, and it is indeed! In addition, my bed only costs $3 a night, so you can't beat that! Hopefully I'll get my own room in a few nights, but for the moment, I'm sharing with someone else.

That's all for now - I'm hoping to go out diving tomorrow afternoon. And I hear that they've spotted whale sharks in the last few days on the North Side of the island, so I'm very excited about the possibility of maybe seeing them! I missed them by a day the last time I was here about 2.5-3 years ago.