Belize, Honduras, and Nicaragua

Our biggest day in Belize was hiking for 45 minutes, wading across three rivers and swimming into a cave only to hike and swim some more in order to find skeltons, and 1500 year old pottery, etc. The next day, we floated down a river in innertubes going through three more caves. It started out ominously enough as big poisonous snake decided to swim the river right in front of us. So our guide simply took along a big stick and kept hitting the water to keep it away from our butts. It decided, after about half an hour, to go somewhere else. Just after the second cave, we got out and went exploring a fourth cave on foot. In this one we found more 1500 year pottery and got to handle it. So, if you get to Belize, be sure to go caving.

Then it was on to Placencia, Belize. A lovely beach town with the narrowest street in the world. Bascially it is a sidewalk that is over a mile long but it is the street that connects the town together. It was real hot and even the wind that came up in the afternoon didn´t help much. Four days of hot and muggy was enough and so we headed for the Island of Utila in Honduras. We ended up taking scuba lessons for beginning and advanced as it had been 35 years since we last dove and the technology had really changed. It was the best week ever as we got in 13 dives and saw some great sealife. A couple of the instructors were real sick so the others were chipping in to help. Our instructor was great and really helped us ´´old folks´´ get the hang of it. It is very interesting to always be so much older than the other tourists. This form of travel is almost exclusively for the 30 and less crowd.

The downside to Utila was Dengue fever. Turns out Mike got infected the first day there and Mary about two days later. Because seven days later, just after we left and were in the town of Trujillo, Honduras, Mike got a horrendous fever and ended up in the hospital in the capital city of Tecucigalpa. They tested for Malaria but it was Dengue. There is no way to prevent and no cure other than Tylenol. So for the next four days, we were both taking 750mg of Tylenol, three times a day to keep the fever down. Then it is over but swelling and itching and headaches linger a bit longer. It really knocks your system down and we are still not totally back to speed.

So, rather than spend time in the captial, a rather ugly non-descript city, we took the bus to Granada, Nicaragua for the time to recuperate. Got a room with AC and a TV and took refuge and waited for the fever to break so we could continue the trip. Granada is about 20 years behind Antigua, Guatemala but will look the same when it is fully restored. Nicaragua is an adventure compared to the other countries. We have not had one day without either water or power being out at one time or another. But, we feel very safe here as opposed to Honduras where there were armed guards in front of ice cream stores, hardware stores, etc.

They say the people here are reserved but passionate. We found that to be true. Once they open up and start to meet you, it is hard to get them to stop talking about how much they love their country. We found that in Belize also. We met a retired university professor who invited us to his island home for a month but we said no, we had to move on. We stayed on Ometepe Island, which it turns out is the sister island to Bainbridge Island, Wa. We met the folks there from Bainbridge and found out we knew some of the same people. Small world. Now we are in San Juan del Sur, the southern most beach city in Nicaragua and home to some of the best surfing on the west coast. It is now the rainy season and it rains every night with a great lighting show last night. So, we´ve gone from hot and humid to wet, hot and humid. Some change huh?

On our last day in Nicaragua we went to the much fabled surfing beach Playa Maderas. We are not surfers but it is supposed to one of the best on the west coast. We rode a truck/trolley sort of think way out to nowhere and were dropped off at Playa Matilda. From there is was a 20 minute walk to the surfer beach and a beachside palapa for lunch. There were about 30 surfers in the water but within 30 minutes or so, the curse of the rainy season was upon everyone with thunder and lightning. We ate and waited for a good moment to walk back to the spot for the return ride. We were about half way back to Matilda when from behind we heard the word "dinero". We were being robbed. The fellow had about a 10" knife and was nervous and only wanted todo su dinero - all our money. Well we gave it to him, rode back to town and reported it to the local police who were very nice. Kind of a bummer way to end a trip. The next day was less eventful - got the bus to Granada for a total cost of $4. Spent the night at a place with a pool ( a first!) then the next morning to the airport for the trip back to Mazatlan, Mexico via Miami and then Los Angeles.