It was Dad's birthday today so I give him the Mayan birth symbol necklace I bought for him in San Cristobal & then Lindy & I head to the 'gym' on the fourth floor. It was literally the hottest unventilated room in direct sunlight the hotel has. Decked out with a broken exercise bike, a broken step machine, dodgy treadmill & weights station we make the most of it for half an hour before we give in to the heat.
After breakfast at the hotel and then taxi to the bus station we secure tickets to La Ceiba. By 10.30 we were on the bus & on the way hopefully in time for the 4pm boat. We make it to the ferry terminal by 3pm, get our tickets & then source some empanadas for a late lunch/snack ready to board the boat.
The crossing to Utila was allegedly 'calm' but I must admit it was a tad rough. Looking at dad throughout the journey I could tell he wasn't well. This was confirmed when he staggered out of the passenger area & vomited all over the back deck of the boat. The crew were a little pissed off as they give out sick bags for such instances & as he had messed up the main exit area of the boat. All got cleaned up & no hard feelings although naturally this put dad into a bit of a mood.
The dive school picked us up from the ferry & we had our induction for our advanced PADI course. Our instructor Doug is a larrikin Brit & classmates are two other Aussies - Dave & Caitlin. We met a lovely Irish lady called Trish at the dive school who also became our dorm room buddy once we checked into the mango inn.
We invited her to dinner with Dad & ended up at the hotel restaurant. It was an awkward night and probably not dads favourite birthday day or dinner. I think he was still unwell from the ferry & a bit overwhelmed by it all.
Post dinner we went for a walk & to find dad a bday banana split. With dessert done we called it a night ad we had to be at school by 7am ready to dive.
