At the landing strip in Utila:
The pilot politely rushed us out of the plane, wanting to take advantage of the remaining daylight to return to his search. At the air strip, we clambered into the bed of the pickup truck you see by the plane, which took us to the pier where we caught the dive-boat to Utila Utopia Dive Village. Like I said... a looong day!
Here is Richard on the boat:
Karen is sitting next to Debbie, one of the owners of the lodge.
We were greeted at the lodge with a delicious rum punch, and dinner was scrumptious snapper with vegetables. The hospitality of all the staff is awesome!
The weather is sunny and clear, with some clouds and a light breeze. The lodge is very nice, with all the amenities, including excellent air conditioning. Our room has an oceanfront view, as you can see from this picture of our balcony. Richard went diving at Jack Neil Beach, Black Coral Wall, and in the afternoon did a shore dive on the House Reef. The coolest thing he saw was a seahorse!
Monday, May 18
The weather has been perfect for lounging on the beach, and that's about all Karen did today. She has been enjoying reading books and newspapers on her Kindle 2, and highly recommends this device! She also attempted some watercolor painting, with marine themes. Richard went diving at Radal Reef, Little Bight, and a night dive at the House Reef (again, another shore dive). Chef Hugh prepared his special fish & chips, with his own secret tartar sauce (with capers) for us today, and it was amazing!
Tuesday, May 19
The photo below is the bar, which has a wonderful location on the beach, but the sand fleas get ya on the ankles when you hang around there too long! Karen sat there for 2 hours at sunset and has the bites to prove it (about 100 on each ankle). Amazingly, most of the guests were out there frequently during the day and almost every evening. Richard dove today at Spotted Bay and Stingray Point.
Here is the dining room, and main lodge:
Wednesday, May 20
Wednesday, May 20
In the morning, Richard went diving at the Black Hills, where he saw an awesome toadfish. He also went for a dive at the appropriately named Aquarium. In the afternoon, we went into Utopia Town. Frankly, there's not much to see there. The main street has been recently paved. We shopped around a little and visited the Jade Seahorse, a lodge, restaurant, and gift shop. Especially fun is the Treetanic Lounge - a bar perched up in 3 mango trees - watch your alcohol consumption up there! This photo does not even begin to do justice to the elaborate and extensive mosaics on the property:
After that, we hung out at the pier of the Tranquila (Chill Out) Bar, where we witnessed the arrest of a young bikini-clad American woman who had escaped from the local jail. She jumped into the ocean to evade capture, but she was eventually cajoled into coming out. The opposite of tranquila!
The two photos below are of the main street in Utila Town. What the photos don't show is the continuous, loud traffic of pedestrians, motorcycles and ATVs along this strip!
Karen enjoyed visiting the Utila Whale Shark Research Center here, and plans to sign up for an excursion with them on our next visit.
Thursday, May 21
Another perfect day in paradise. Richard dived Halliburton Wreck, Airport Caves, and the House Reef. He and his dive buddies (Veejay and Julie) enjoyed watching the "dance of the reef squid." They explained that they swam face-to-face with Caribbean reef squid for a very long time.
We had a typical Honduran breakfast and lunch today. Breakfast was similar to huevos rancheros: eggs, white cheese, corn tortillas, salsa, and refried black beans. Lunch was chicken with black beans and onions, flavored with coconut milk, lime, and cilantro.
The three women who own the lodge - Debbie, Kyle, and Angelika - could not be kinder or more accomodating! We felt as if we were at the home of friends during the time we stayed there! The women are all from Austin, Texas, and most of the other guests were also. There were only 9 guests during the time we were there -- and 5 of them had an Austin connection. Everyone was delightful.
Friday, May 22
Richard did a dive this morning, but had to stop after that because we will be flying home tomorrow (there are restrictions on how soon you can fly after diving). Today he finally saw a turtle! He has enjoyed all his dives in Utila, with the excellent divemaster, Juan Carlos. Juan Carlos is a real trooper - diving every day in spite of a foot injury he acquired while firewalking!
Saturday, May 23
Karen has on her happy face at being on a boat again (yeah, right!). Today we returned home to Phoenix, with all the travel connections done in reverse: we took a boat to Utila Town, a truck to the airstrip, a small plane to Roatan, and Continental Airlines to Houston then Phoenix. Once again, we were lucky with our connections, and only encountered a slight delay in Houston.
