Have finally managed to tear myself away from the island of Utila one of The Bay Islands of Honduras. Its primarily a place where people go to learn how to dive. I did learn but didn't complete my PADI. All taking too long & got fed up with being good all the time. Oh boy how I wish I had stopped partying earlier! Can & have dived though.
Utila is also the home of the dance music festival Sunjam which is held on a nearby Caye called Water Caye. In order to get there you have to take a local boat which all sounded very pleasant that is until i got on the boat with a bunch of other people including 4 really drunken Irish kids & the wind started to gain force. Well i guess we had been at sea for about 10 minutes before we hit the first swell - i was positioned at the front of the boat ( the prow to the uninitiated) & thankfully found a rope to hold onto. Then the mass screaming started which i have to say didnt really help matters. This continued for the rest of the trip which took around 40 minutes. The longest 40 mins of my life to date i have to admit.
Once (safely) on the island, things started to improve with a few cans of Salva Vida & some decent sounds. Met a great bunch of people including the only guy in El Salvador to own a BMW M3. Gave him some hints as to how to set up the launch control feature - amazing what you can remember when the need arises.
Decided (God knows why) that I should leave at 1.00am. Got on the boat with about 20 other souls & we didn't even make it to the next island before the "Captain" decided that as the boat was taking on water & the swell was enormous that we should head for shore. So having defied death twice in the space of a day I danced until 7.00am when it was a respectable time to get home this time incident free.
It should have taken about a week to recover from that little episode but as Sunjam also means attending the After Party Party a few more causalties were claimed I can tell you. Me included. So having narrowly missed Hurricane Ernesto, cabin fever had taken hold so I needed some social inter-action & then I met a guy from Vancouver via Sheffield. A Dive Master & master of all things bad for your health. At 6ft 2 & very skinny you wonder at his capacity for beer, rum, vodka & chilli cheese chips. We hung out for about 5 days & again I had to leave the island. This time because the Betty Ford clinic was beckoning. Clearly I am an adult & make ny own decisions but I am a hedonist so what was i supposed to do?
So now I am in Panama City. Flew here from Honduras which was a sound investment. Had the most fantastic view of the canal & city as we flew in. That was worth the price of the ticket alone. Seriously impressive. Been on a trip around the city today including the area known as Casco Viejo which was beautiful. Its full of some renovated properties & others that are falling down but the whole place is great.
Now sitting at the hostel drinking an Atlas beer having to take cover from falling mangos. Traveling can be dangerous they told me but I didn't think that I could be in peril from fruit!
Love to all,
H xx
