SO MUCH has happenned since I left Patagonia,  although I have not blogged or written much in my journal.  This tends to happen when I meet up with other people.  It is almost 2am here in La Ceiba, Honduras, so I will try not share too much right now.. but since I am staying at a hotel with free wi-fi I figured I would take advantage of the opportunity to give a little update:

I left the fabulous owner Augustin of "La Casa De Viajeros" (the house of travellers) in El Bolson Argentina on February 23 at 7:30am.  One taxi and two buses later, I was in Osorno, Chile, begging for space on a bus to Santiago, along with EVERYONE ELSE, since it was the last week of summer and all tickets were sold out for the next two days.  Using all I had (my persuasive skills and "charm", and just enough Chilean pesos) I scored a seat on a luxury bus, and arrived in Santiago February 24 at 8:30am, exactly 14 hours before my flight out of town.  I checked my bags at the bus terminal, "skyped" my new Chilean friend Berni, and met her at a salon where I got a much needed manicure & pedicure in advance of my trip to Mexico to attend Nadine's wedding.  Berni & I shared a hostel room at Erratic Rock in Puerto Natales and quickly hit it off.  I walked, bussed and trained around town, finishing up at a bookstore where I finally bought a new book, and met at guy from Chicago(!)  We shared a beer before I headed back to the bus terminal to get my bags and take a shuttle to the airport.  A happily uneventful trip to Cancun via Miami eventually led me to the Omni Puerto Aventuras, where I met up with Nadine, Adam and their families for the wedding festivities.

In short, the wedding and all the activities surrounding it were TONS of fun.  An intimate group of 40 enjoyed eachother's company and the beach wedding ceremony and the great food and lengthy, daily breakfast conversations.  Oh, what generous friends I have!  Although I felt like a travelling mooch, I slept on balconies, in hammocks, extra beds and couches for half of my nights in Mexico... which greatly reduced the blow of spending over 10x the money per night in our luxurious resort accomodations (my usual hotel stay is $10-20/night max).  Of course, it was worth the cost, sharing this special weekend with them, and spending 2 nights there with Matt... (his trip was unfortunately shortened due to bad Chicago weather).

While in Mexico, my friend Greg unexpectedly decided to accompany me to Belize!  He and my friend Shawn have a very good friend, Israel, who grew up there, and was heading there with his wife Jen the same time I was planning to be there!  What a fun and funny adventure we had, taking 3 buses from Mexico to Belize.  When the headlights stopped working on the second bus, we were shuffled onto a local (school) bus.  As the bus sailed between cities, passing wild, junglely mangroves visible in the moonlight below the star-filled sky, the driver turned off the interior lights, turned on a disco light synchronized to music, and played among other songs the popular "whistle song" I heard all over South America AND the ultra-popular "I Kissed A Girl, and I Liked It"... totally trippy and surreal. 

We were greeted in Belize City by Israel and his cousin Yelmar, and taken to his aunt's house where Yelmar's wife had spent the day fixin' "Stretch Me Goots" - homemade dough pockets with sugar on top, filled with an incredibly flavorful mix of ground steak and spices.  YES, I am still a fish-eating vegetarian... but I clearly could not refuse the hospitable offer she had worked hard to prepare.  And, I am amazed to say, I Ate Some Meat, And I Liked It!  The next day, cousin Ivar - the passionate conservationist and guide - took us caving at Actun Tunichi Muknai. We hiked through the forest and three river crossings before we walked, swam and waded through the huge "ATM" cave, with stalactites and stalagmites, beautiful rock formations and unforgettable Mayan artifacts in their natural state... including pottery used for offerings to the gods, and calcified bones of sacrificial young adults!  Powerful stuff.  Outside the cave, we dove into the sparkling waters, where I was attacked by minnows!  What the F???  I could not believe these little fish were trying to nibble me!  I swear, wherever I travel I am hounded by insects... and now, fish.  Luckily the sea creatures were relatively less interested in me in the nearby island of Caye Caulker.

The four of us enjoyed our first day there RELAXING on a hammock and at a picnic table partially submerged in the water at the Lazy Lizard Bar, enjoying the sun, the breeze, the water, the sunset... oh, and about 12 hours of Belikins and tasty food.  Early the next morning, Greg and I endured the scariest boat trip of our lives... 10 divers, 3 snorklers and the (3) dive staff, in a 20ish foot, re-purposed Colombian drug-smuggling boat barreling through waves well over 10 feet tall.  The euro & american tourists were passing around the motion-sickness pills and the garbage can until we made it through all three deep-sea crossings between the atolls.  It was a memorable three hour journey to the Blue Hole which I found amusing and exhilirating - if a bit scary at times - and altogether worth it.  The Blue Hole was discovered by Jacques Cousteau and has stalacites like you have NEVER SEEN.  They look like huge Greek columns, meters and meters long.  They are covered with greenish-brown mossy stuff, but there is not enough light for much aquatic life  The formations are really cool though, AND, about five minutes after I reached the lowest point in the dive, the deepest I have ever gone (130 feet), guess what we spotted?  SHARKS!  Blacktip sharks, four of them, one after the other, circling in that scary looking way they do in movies, with almost a mechanical flip of their tail.  The started circling higher and higher, possibly interested in our movements.  It was SO AWESOME.  But you don't get a lot of bottom time at that depth, so we had to start going up and away from them just three minutes later.  The next two dives were also great (Half Moon Caye and the Aquarium), with rays, barracudas, a turtle and more.  Riding back, the last hour, on the top of the boat in the calmer waters, was a relaxing and refreshing finish to the day.  I VERY HIGHLY RECOMMEND visiting Caye Caulker.  It was great fun, so chill, good prices for decent accomodations, great food (conch fritters and ceviche to die for), relaxed bars and good people.  I already look forward to returning... and bringing more friends with me. 

From Caye Caulker we took a wet ferry ride (sitting in the back of the boat, what were we thinking?) to Belize City then travelled with family to Orange Walk.  We were welcomed into the the house of another of Israel and Jen's "tias" (aunts), and treated to homemade tamales & fried jack, fresh ceviche and more Belikin beer.  Israel and Jen were incredible hosts, and their family could NOT have been more hospitable, generous and fun.  Their cousin, our guide and friend, Ivar, his father Yelmar, who drove us EVERYWHERE, all the tias and their amazing cooking, cousin Leo, the incredible singer and most popular guy in Orange Walk... and so many more...  for me, Belize was was a memorable and special place where I truly felt like family.

So - I left Orange Walk and caught a bus from Belize City that was supposed to connect to the luxury "Linea Dorada" bus line in Flores, Guatemala and continue to Guatemala City.  I didn't realize until after I boarded the bus - which arrived 1 hour late - that it was from the "San Juan" bus company - notorious on travel forums for crappy buses.  Sure enough, our bus was on its last legs.  It broke down on and off, and the 4 1/2 hour bus ride ended up being 7 1/2 hours, including driving at least a mile in reverse with no lights on in order to get in cell phone range to call a minibus to finally come and rescue us.  Ugh... a long journey that actually made me relieved to reach the roach motel where I slept that night.  On the plus side, Flores is a cool little island in the middle of Guatemala... so I am happy I ended up having the chance to explore it a bit, and enjoy a good breakfast there before hopping the next bus to Honduras.  With help from the drivers of the bus destined for Guatamala City, I made a plan to get off early and take a short-cut to the Honduras border, thus getting me to La Ceiba before dark.  It was fun:  First, 20 minutes in a "micro" (minibus just like the dala-dalas in Tanzania), my butt balancing between the edges of two seats.  Then, while awaiting another micro to take me to the border, I encountered two clean-cut men heading the same direction, so we decided to spend a little more and share a taxi.  Luckily I wasn't smuggled or sold.  It was a questionable decision but I felt safe.  These Guatemalan men took a different taxi than I across the actual border... riding in the other taxi behind them, I discovered why:  They have no passports, so when their taxi driver passed by the guardia civil with their AK-47s, he placed a HANDFUL of money into his hands.  Interesting...  so, after crossing the border, I changed what was left of my Guatemalan Quetzales for Honduran Lempira and hopped in another taxi with the nice illegal guys to Puerto Cortes (40 minutes, 120 LPS/$6), then an "express" micro (fast,  clean, comfortable, with Bob Marley blaring and driver talking and laughing with passengers the whole time, 1 hour/40 LPS/$2) to San Pedro Sula, then a luxury bus to La Ceiba.. arriving at 9:30pm.  So, the delay only cost me nine hours and one extra night at a hotel... I splurged and paid around $27 for a oceanview room with the "works" (A/C, TV, nice towels, hot water, breakfast I think).  Needing some food and a cold beer STAT, I walked to the nearest bar, where the barmaid had a regular customer escort me to buy some bean/cheese tortillas from a street vendor, as I discovered it is not that safe to walk alone here.  I bought his (Rudy from Roatan's) dinner also, and enjoyed a couple Salva Vidas (national beer of Honduras) before heading back to the hotel to research my next moves on-line.

I will leave in the AM for Utila, in the Bay Islands.  It is Whale Shark season, so I am hoping for some incredible snorkeling with them, as well as some of the best and least expensive diving in the world.

Sorry for the babble... it's been a while : )   I promise that as soon as I can upload my pictures I will share some with you.

Love to you all!  ~steph