1. Sand flies are everywhere. Bring lots of deet-filled repellent and use it often.
2. Your social life will likely revolve around whichever dive shop you choose. We dove with Alton's Dive Center and I would definitely recommend them to others. I'll be writing a post about my experience learning to scuba dive so look out for that soon!
3. You'll hear lots about the Skid Row Challenge and you'll see the tank tops everywhere. What is the challenge, you ask? Skid Row is dirty little bar on the main strip that offers a free shirt if you pay 10 bucks to take four shots of moonshine-like liquor. The bar is small and dank with a rowdy and kind of tough crowd, but the challenge is notorious. So many people are sporting their tank tops on this island and I just don't get it. I'm reminded of Macklemore's lyrics in Thrift Shop -- "having the same shirt as six other people in this club is a hella don't." Plus, I already have enough clothing to carry as it is.
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| Picture of Skid Row, courtesy of Trip Advisor |
5. Things aren’t quite as cheap as you may have been expecting.
6. The ferry gets cancelled whenever the waves are deemed too rough, which seems to happen fairly regularly. We ended up flying over to the island because of bad weather (despite keeping our fingers crossed for the cheaper option!).
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| Getting ready to fly to Utila on a single prop five seater plane |
8. Hondurans on the mainland speak Spanish, but locals of Utila actually grow up speaking English. Spanish isn’t taught until they reach grade school. Despite the fact that it’s English, I only understand about 60% of the dialect. The Utilan accent sounds similar to a Barbadian one.
9. There are very very few stop signs (suggestions, more like it) and no traffic lights on the island of Utila.
10. There aren’t any posted road names. I have a lot of the respect for the postal workers and food delivery men around here!
I love the photo of you guys in front of the plane. You look so blissful and relaxed :)
ReplyDeleteToo funny because that's not exactly what we were feeling... Anxious and excited for our first privately negotiated flight is more like it!
Deletemy aunt works for an international health logistics company that does work in honduras, and i went on a trip to set up HIV warehouses with her when i was 12 -- i'd never been anywhere so beautiful. it looks like you're having a fun time - now you're just going to need to find a way to get some of those delicious bananas :)
ReplyDeleteWow, what an amazing humanitarian experience for you to have at such a young age. The tropical environment is stunning, isn't it? On mainland Honduras fortunately I found bananas aplenty (they were keeping all the good stuff here)!
DeleteThese seem like great things to learn. I'm living vicariously through you so keep the posts coming!
ReplyDeleteI just got internet again, new posts coming soon!
DeleteI feel like I would get lost and in a wreck in Utila without the stop lights and few street signs. It's great to experience your journey, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI just had to google map Utila... embarassing? Yes. But it looks beautiful! Great tips too. I love how you guys are hitting up some remote destinations. Your last pic with the signs is gorgeous. I'd like to put it up in my apartment lol! xoox
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