THE JOURNEY ....
up at 5:30, .... my taxi never showed up, surprise surprise. one of Madi's guests was just leaving and he was nice enough to carry my big heavy bag to the dock for me. ....beautiful sunrise for my journey today.
when i got on the water taxi, i sat next to a woman (50s) who was speaking italian to a couple behind me. she was talking quite loudly, so i put an ear plug in that ear, and tried to sleep.
when we got to Belize City, she started asking me questions about where i was going, and how she could get to Panama !? ... she wondered how the countries were arranged and which ones she had to go through to get there .... i told her i wanted to do that 'trip' someday too, but that i needed a LOT of time to research how to do it .... i guess some people travel like this ...definitely NOT for me!!!!....
oh, she also needed to go find the man who 'robbed' her yesterday when she came into Belize City ... asked me if i could watch her luggage while she went to find him ???? ....and off she went ....
you meet the most interesting people when you travel :)
she returned all smiles ... evidently, she arrived in BCity yesterday and went into a store and exchanged some money ... the man in the store, screwed up the exchange rate and cheater her by HALF! when she got to San Pedro and exchanged more money, she realized what had happened. so, she went back to the man, and he refunded her the difference and apologized for the error ... amazing ! ... she used that money to buy her ticket to go w/me on the Water Taxi.
we talked more, drew some crude maps, and i told her i thought if she got to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, that she should be able to get a bus south .... but it would take her several days to get to Panama. she was surprised by this, but took it all in stride.
she is traveling on a Swiss passport, but has lived recently in Italy ... in Europe, it is common to travel from country to country in a day ... not a week :)
she actually is a lot of fun ... definitely a free-spirit. we boarded our water taxi and went up top with the Captain, some of the crew, and the boat owner. it was fun up there ... sunny, and of course very windy ....
i noticed her shirt ..... Michigan ! .... we are world famous !
i visited with the owner quite a bit. his English was flawless, ...he lived in the US, L.A. for 20+ yrs and then returned to Belize. i've had similiar conversations with other older men, who had done the same thing. 'back in the day' it was much easier to get into the US and live and work. he even served 12 yrs in our Army ! .....this just seems so weird to me .... and he wasn't even a USCitizen at the time ... he became one after he got out. Madi also lived and worked in the US ... and also served 7 yrs in our Army .... i'm sure that doesn't happen today ! ... my how the world has changed .... now we don't trust ANYONE ... much less let them serve in our armed forces .... WoW!
i also took the opportunity to talk to the owner about starting a water taxi service from Puerto Cortes, Honduras (where we were headed) to LaCeiba, Honduras (where i am headed). it would be about a 1hr water taxi ride. it will take me another day to do that trip by land. he thought it was a good idea, and said he would look into it. very nice man !
this is an 'interactive' map of my travels for the day ... you can zoom in, so you can see Caye Caulker, change to Earth, and move it around ...
View Belize to Honduras - 7 Jan 2014 in a larger map
it was a perfect day for traveling at sea. the sun was shining, and the waters were calm. ...
at 9:30 our trip went south for 1+hrs, along the coast and arrived in Dangriga, Belize, ...
we all gave up our Passports (this really worries me) to a guy who would take them, and our B$7.50 exit tax, to the Immigration office and get them stamped. it's much faster than having everyone get off the boat and go in ... but it still makes me nervous to hand my Passport to a stranger, and watch them walk away with it. :(
he returned, distributed our Passports, a few more people (and boxes) got on the boat and we took off at 11:30. still heading south along the coast, looking at the beautiful colored waters and small little islands, scattered all along the coast.
about 1pm, we crossed over the reef, into the 'deep blue', where the waves were a bit larger.
at 3pm we arrived at Puerto Cortes, Honduras. the mountains of Honduras are generally look 'misty' ... the coastline is beautiful ... photos do not do it justice
so, now i'm in Honduras ... what's Plan A ? ...in a perfect world ... we would arrive at 2pm, i'd quickly get on a 1hr mini-bus to San Pedro Sula; then quickly breeze through the bus terminal and get another 3hr bus ride to LaCeiba, arriving just before dark, jump in a taxi and find a place to stay. the next morning, take the 9am Ferry to Utila. ..... but this is not a perfect world ... and ... it's Central America ...
getting off the boat, you are slammed by people/guys, who want to exchange your money into Honduran currency, and of course you think you're being 'ripped off' with the exchange rate, and i can't find the piece of paper i made notes on with the proper exchange rates. there are also guys wanting to give you a taxi ride, rather than let you get to the much less expensive bus terminal. it's always confusing ... you need to secure your luggage when it comes off the boat, but you can't really deal with it now, and the taxi guy is still trying to get you to take a taxi ... it's US$120 to LaCeiba ... for one person, ....or for 4 persons ... a single traveler is at a disadvantage ... Denise and i could share a taxi to San Pedro Sula, but she still doesn't know what she wants to do ... so the taxi driver is trying to hook you up with other people who may be going the same place as you, so the ride will be cheaper .... and then a guy comes around and takes your Passport from you again ! ...
and i thinking i want to get to LaCeiba to spend the night, before it gets dark ... coz i'm scared of the dark in a big strange city :( so i know a taxi ride would be lots faster than a bus. but ... realistically .... we're an hour later than scheduled (no surprise really), and i can see that it's going to take an hour to get out of here because we are now being herded towards the Immigration Office line.... i don't think getting to LaCeiba before dark is possible ...
time to consider Plan B ... i could spend the night here in Puerto Cortes, and do the journeys to San Pedro Sula, and LaCeiba tomorrow, and take the 4pm Ferry to Utila.
the Immigration Officers are really very pleasant here ... (compared to the angry nasty attitudes Belize is known for... i don't know why that is). in Honduras, they want to spend time with you, ... kindly ask you where you are going, for how long, where you will be staying, where you will go next. pretty easy questions for me ... but some, a lot, of people really don't have a set plan; so it takes awhile. my Officer was very nice and said 'he' would give me the maximum visa of 90 days :)
i saw Denise at the Immigration Office, she found out that she could get a bus south out of San Pedro Sula, so she was going to head for Costa Rica ... safe travels to her!
the taxi driver, still working, hooked me up with a couple, Miguel and Jessie, from Chile who also wanted to get to LaCeiba, and then Utila... this is a good thing. but after Immigration, they decided not to try to make it all the way to LaCeiba. Jessie didn't do well on the boat ride and wasn't up to that journey today ... :( i talked with them awhile, they decided to take the taxi to San Pedro Sula and spend the night there. now THAT scared me... spend the night in San Pedro Sula? .... but they are from Chile, and speak Spanish, and said i could go with them. ok ... i feel comfortable with that. we finalized our plans with the taxi driver; US$10 each. the driver found another person .... i should have taken a picture of 4 people's luggage, TIED in the trunk of a regular size car .... :( you'll have to use your imagination.
it was pretty crowded with 3 of us in the back of the taxi, but it was only an hour ride ... and we were on our way to San Pedro Sula, ... but first we had to stop for gas ... wouldn't you think he would be 'gassed up' and ready to go ?????
the taxi driver said he would take us to a place to stay (you know he gets a kickback) ...he said we could get rooms for US$8-10 ... sounds good ... traffic is crazy and so are the drivers, but we arrive without an accident :)
we arrive at Tamarindo Hostel, ....the first thing i see is this darling little puppy ...
ok, i like it here ... how can you resist ? ... :)
it's nice, all colorful .... locked and gated ...
... the woman shows us the rooms, .... they are US$40 .... so much for the US$8-10 ..... i said i couldn't pay that and asked for cheaper rooms ... yes, she had the dormitory for US$15 ... ok. there were 5 bunk beds in a nice room with it's own bathroom/shower; and only 1 other guy there.
i went downstairs to play with the puppy and use the WiFi ...
just look at those blue blue eyes ! .... and white eye lashes ....
while i was down there ... i saw Denise leaving the hostel, ... huh? .... running, something about not having any money, and getting into a taxi ... ?????? ...i didn't see her again .... but ... i might :)
Miguel and Jessie went to the grocery store and invited me to share their dinner.... they invented something new ... sliced cucumbers with BBQ sauce .... it's actually pretty good ... try it sometime :) we also had fresh pineapple and papaya and juice.
i decided to get up at 3:30am and catch the 4:30am bus to LaCeiba to catch the 9am Ferry to Utila. they decided to sleep in tomorrow and take the 4pm Ferry to Utila. i bought my bus ticket from the lady at the hotel and she arranged for a 4am taxi ... explaining it would be US$5 because it was so early in the morning. fair enough. i got to bed about 9:30pm ...
No comments:
Post a Comment