Honduras, Guatemala, & Belize - Greg & Tana Irwin

We are in Rio Dulce!

Greg & Tana Irwin — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Sorry we have not kept the blog up. I uploaded pictures and got a blog entry typed but by time I got ready to save it, the internet went down. That was on the 21st. We went and looked at a boat later that morning. Came home took a nap, took a walk through the neighborhood, and then came back and watched Eddie & Salamun knock coconuts out of the tree. We watched how to machetti them into a flat bottom and flat top so you could get the milk out and then set them down so they wouldn't spill. We also opened 3 of them and ate the coconut out of the inside. It was delicious! Not long after, I ended up running a fever, throwing up, and felt absolutely aweful!!! I remained sick for 4 days. Finally broke my fever after the 2nd day and stopped throwing up. My stomache is still giving me problems, but I am happy just to be alive! Greg has been having stomache problems also. We were told by the locals that I had "Panamanian" flue. Whatever it was it is NASTY!! The family that we are staying with helped to take care of Greg; feeding him and keeping him busy so he wasn't worrying about me. I am thankful for them being here!

Life here is a little different from home. Not only are we living on the water, but the house is totally open (look at the pictures). We have been encountering some strange animals that we are not used to at home too. For example: little geckos (they are our entertainment at night when there isn't anything else to do), trantulas (silver dollar sized), cockroaches (also bigger), and then there is the elusive ring tailed cat (or monkey we aren't sure...just saw a tail going out the door in the middle of the night). It keeps taking food from our counter top. First it was tortillas, then a loaf of bread, and then a bag of sugar. I finally put everything we have food wise in the refrigerator.

The internet was just not there. We found out that the cable had been stolen. The last time the theives took 5 kilometers of wire. They melt the outside off and then sell the inside copper. It takes days here to get everything fixed. Not like the US. Modern conveniences are just that...CONVENIENT! You don't really appreciate them until you don't have them.

We are going to start looking for boats this morning..Now that I am able to stay upright for more then 10 minutes. We are excited!! Will be leaving for Tecal on Thursday so don't have much time left here. Will try to blog at least once more before we go. If not, I will at the next place we have internet. (By the way..we are not really at Livingston. The site won't let me put Rio Dulce which is an hour west of Livingston inland. But you get the general idea)

Montana de Caleque Waterfall

Greg & Tana Irwin — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

What an exceptional day! We left about 7:00 this morning. Caught a tuck-tuck (taxi made out of a 3 wheeler) to the visitors center and then started hiking. We left the bottom of the mountain from the visitors center at 8:00. It took us 2 1/2 hours to climb to the "cascada" waterfall. We didn't even make it all of the way. We went as far as we dared to go without knowing the area. We ran out of well marked trail so we rested (much needed rest!) ate a bite, took some beautiful pictures, and then headed back down the trail. We were discussing what it would be like if you weren't in some kind of physical shape. We would have died I think!!!!! It was so steep. The biggest part of time we were on what they call "switchback heaven". If it weren't for those switchbacks, I don't know if it would be possible to hike up in places. The hike was definately worth the work that it took to get there. Aftr dinner is over it will be time for bed and then we are leaving tomorrow morning back to Copan Ruinas so we can cross the border into Guademala then on to Rio Dulce. Will cach the site up when we get to another place with internet.

To the mountains!

Greg & Tana Irwin — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

We have made the trip now from Utila to La Ceiba to San Pedro Sula to Copan Ruinas and back to La Entrada to Gracias. It has been fun though! We traveled by bus...so many connections. We are getting better with our spanish although today I think we hit overload. Spent 2 days looking at 2 different ruin sites in Copan. They are totally amazing! Hooked up with a "stalker" that wouldn't leave us alone until we agreed to let him guide us to one of the ruins. We had an amount settled and then when we paid, he said we needed to give him more. We learned our lesson with this guy. Hope we don't run into the same situation again. It wasn't a pleasant one...lol. Other then him, the people here have been very helpful and for the most part polite. Again the language barrier can be somewhat of a problem at times. Good thing the people are patient with foreigners. We are getting ready to stroll the town of Gracias and get to know the situation with the hiking here. We want to climb to the waterfull on the mountain. We will be hiking in Parque Nacional Montana de Celaque. The scenery here is fabulous! Not anything like home! Downloaded some more pictures....take a look if you have time. Will update again soon......

Just an update!

Greg & Tana Irwin — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

It has been very exiting here! We are trying to be as much of the culture as we can be. We have been to baseball games, (not so different from the ones at home but more fun!), been to 2 different churches and participated in a Harvest Festival here in Utila. Have not been diving in a few days because there are 60 some odd students and staff at the resort and it seems to be a bit difficult to get equipment. We have been offered a job here helping at the Monkeytail Inn. We would be innkeepers I guess. We are torn as to whether to stay here for a bit longer, or move on the Copan and Rio Dulce. We will have to make a decision soon. Any advice anyone???? Have added a few more pictures to the blog. Hope you enjoy them. Will update when I get a chance......

Diving in Utila

Greg & Tana Irwin — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

We finally made it! Our flight from Miami was delayed, our flight from San Pedro Sula to LaCieba cancelled, our backpack didn't make the trip until 2 days later and no reservations for us (made over a month ago) but we made it! And we are so happy to be here in Utila. We are staying at the Coral Beach Dive Resort. We stayed here last October and it is still just as wonderful! Snorkled yesterday right off of the dock. The reef is absolutely amazing! Went diving thismorning. At 70' it is hard to imagine that there is a totally different world down there. We are going to enjoy whatever happens. There is a lesson to be learned with all that we experience. We have a month to get from Utila to Belize City, Belize. I will try to keep the blog up to the current events, but the intenet isn't the best here. What do you expect from a third world country!
Adios por arora!