DEVIL RAYS AND GUARDAIN ANGELS

Hawksbill turtle


Whale Shark



11-19-06

I caught the ferry to Utilla out of La Ceiba. The Volcanic island of Utilla is about 18 miles of the coast of Honduras. It is tiny flat island with a small volcano on one side and on the other a little village made up of mostly diving outfits and small hotels and a lot of bars. Seems like there are two things to do in Utilla dive and drink.
The diving is very good and very cheap. For about twenty dollars you can go on a two tank dive to some incredible sites. I stayed on Utilla for five days and did ten dives. The reef that makes up the island is the second largest in the world, it extends up past Tolum where I was at last month. The highlight of my dives occurred on the last day of diving. The area is the habitat of the elusive whale shark the largest fish in the world. We were diving at a wall that dropped from 20 ft to around 150 ft loaded with various tropical fish and coral. Out of the deep blue a large dark figure started to take shape as it got closer. It kept on getting bigger and bigger it finally came clear about 100 feet away. The whale shark was the size of a school bus. It swam parallel to the wall as it approached us. It opened its huge broad mouth that you could easily parked a car in and slowly swam by, it was a brilliant blue and covered in white spots. Myself and Jessica the other diver I was with swam underneath it and tagged along about fifteen feet below its belly for about five minutes. It was amazing to be swimming so close to such an enormous beast. The gigantic fish than turned and swam back into the vast blue abyss as were left mesmerized at the wall. A few moments later two large spotted rays came soaring past with wing spans of about eight feet. We swam over the wall and started back toward the boat when we encountered a group of turtles that joined and swam along with. When we got back to the boat Jessica and I just sat there in silence smiling I can’t imagine a better dive.
The last night on Utilla a magnificent storm rolled in. We were sitting on the deck of the Tranquilla Bar that sits on the harbor enjoying a cocktail and reliving our incredible days dive as well as watching the incredible lightning storm light up the sky as it approached the island, for several hours the sky light up in a celestial firework show. Bolts of lightning reached from the heavens and pounded the horizon line. The storm finally started to blow inland. First the winds kicked up followed by waves starting to rip through the once peaceful harbor, soon the waves were breaking up over the decking of the bar and sheets of rain were coming down almost vertically. All the locals did not appear to be worried the party seemed to be getting more festive they seemed to be welcoming the storm as it were an old friend coming back to the bar after a long absence.
The storm only slightly let up the following morning as I stood in the rain at 6:00 a.m. waiting for the ferry back to mainland. The seas looked pretty rough I defiantly had second thoughts about getting on the boat that day for the hour ride. As the ferry left the safety of the harbor it started rolling and pitching, about half the passengers were soon throwing up. I am very prone to sea sickness so I was just waiting for my stomach to start protesting the ride. Surprisingly I was fine, I didn’t even fell the least bit queasy. After an hour we soon found the safety of the harbor of La Cieba and I happily set foot on solid ground.






Giant Spotted Ray



Reef Shark

















shots from top side

view from my room at Rubis Hotel






I left La Cieba early that morning with the intent to get as close to the Nicaraguan border as possible. Late in the afternoon I approached the capital of Honduras, Tegucigalpa a large nasty city. It was Friday around five and the traffic was at a standstill. I was trying to find a hotel before it got dark. From the road I couldn’t find a hotel and I was not making any progress into the city, the hotel district is located in the center of the city, I was not going to leave my bike in this hell hole of a city and search on foot, so I made the decision to try to push around the city and try to find a place on the outskirts on the way out of town. My G.P.S did a great job of helping me get back on the highway and around the city, due to the gridlock I did have to ride on sidewalks through a park and the wrong way down several streets but I was getting desperate to get out of the city before dark, Tegucigalpa is one the most dangerous spots in all of Central America and I was desperately trying to get out. The outskirts of the city were even scarier it was as if I was on the outskirts of hell itself and it was starting to get dark. I finally saw a hotel up ahead it was off the road and had what looked like garages under each of the rooms, it looked like a safe place. I pulled into the entrance and as I was getting off my bike and was immediately greeted by a man carrying a nikel plated assault shotgun he had two nine mm pistols stuck in his belt and one strapped to his ankles. I looked up on the roof and there were several men with automatic weapons patrolling on the roof. My heart was in my throat and I was thinking what the hell did I just stumbled into. The man introduced himself as Angel and as it turned out he just may have been one. I explained to him that I was just trying to find a room for the night before it got dark and I would gladly turn around and be on my way. Angel who turned out to speak perfect English told me as a man of God he could not let me go back on the street at this time of night, it was way to dangerous. I asked him if I could get a room for the night and he explained he only rents rooms by the hour for $10.00. It was quite an operation; the garages were so men could bring women to the hotel and hide thier cars in the garages while they were there. The customer pulls up and than pulls into an open garage parks and goes up the stairs that leads to the room, no one ever sees the people in the cars. I jokingly said it was odd a man of God would be running a whore house ( *note to myself, in the future do not joke with an angel carrying four weapons). He got a little mad at me and explained that God gave man free will and they themselves make their own choices and he does not supply women just the rooms. Angel explained to me that Friday was his busiest night. It was now 6 p.m. and dark it would not be light for another 12 hours. I was not happy with the prospect of paying $120.00 for a nights stay but what choice did I have. Angel brought me to a room, it really wasn’t too bad and very clean I was sure to bring my sleeping bag, there was no way i was crawling into the bed. He told me I could have it for $25 and explained to me he would lose money not having it for the night but God has told him to watch over me so that was what he was going to do. I was very grateful to have such a heavily armed angel to guard me and bike for the night. As I was sitting in my room starting to get hungry there was a knock on my door, Angel sent me up a chicken dinner, and warned me if I was to leave the hotel I would surely be robbed and killed on the street. I had no intention of leaving the safety of the room which was built as solid as a bunker. As I sat in my room enjoying my dinner I turned on the T.V. the only selections were various porn videos and CNN, I had a hard time following along in Spanish, the news that is, the porn was pretty easy to understand.
The place was hopping all night at one point there was a waiting line of cars forming for the next available open garage, and there were about thirty or so garages/rooms. Several time througout the night I was awoke to gunshots, thankfull none very close.
I woke early the next morning it was a tough decision but I decided not to stay a few more nights in this lovely resort. Angel greeted me early in the morning; I thanked him and his staff for guarding myself and my bike throughout the night and hit the road. After about ten minutes I started to leave the nasty slums behind they gave way to a beautiful mountain roads that lead me to the Nicaraguan border.

The border crossing was not as easy as my previous crossings, getting out of Honduras was easy but entering Nicaragua was not, it was very hectic, lots of crooked border guards, kids running around looking for a hand outs and shady looking characters eying up your every move. As I approached a crowd gathered around my bike. Hands were coming in form everywhere touching my bike, boxes and myself, I had to push everyone back, I told one teenage kid who seemed to have an honest looking face to watch my bike and I would pay him on my return. He happily accepted the job. It was a huge pain in the ass dealing with paper work, after about an hour in various lines in several different shacks arguing with multiple unscrupulous guards looking for bribes and false fees I finally got my papers in order, I kept on glancing over at my bike and my young guard seemed to be doing a good job of keeping the wolves at bay. My last stop was the police shack, after once again refusing to pay several false fees I was cleared to enter. I got back to my bike and paid my young motorcycle guard what I thought was about three dollars which he happily accepted with a wide smile, as I was driving down the road doing the math in my head, I had at he border converted my Honduran Limpers as well as my remaining Guatemalan Quetzals into Nicaraguan Córdobas at a good rate of 18 to the U.S. dollar but I had not given my young guard four dollars but about twenty five dollars, no wonder he had such a big smile on his face. Oh well I think he was the only person at the border who didn’t try to rip me off and he ended up with my money.
I am now in Granada, Nicaragua a small colonial city on the shores of Lake Nicaragua. The past has not been forgotten here. The city’s streets are packed with richly detailed colonial buildings, cathedrals and convents that make it Nicaragua’s most architecturally interesting town
Tomorrow I am taking a four hour ferry ride to Isla de Ometepe. Ometepe, was formed by two volcanoes Conception (5285 ft) and Maderas (4573 ft) that rose out of the water side by side. The volcanoes tower menacingly over the island’s villages that sit on the shores and shadows of the volcanoes.