Musings on Central America

We're still in Utila. As I mentioned last time, there isn't that much to do other than diving, so I haven't got a huge amount to report. We did go diving again yesterday, and once again, the water was amazingly blue and warm, and everything was very pretty.
Still no whale shark, but we did tick a few more things off the 'must see' list of Utila diving. A turtle, a trumpet fish, a lion fish, and, from the boat on the way home, dolphins. The Lion fish are an interesting story. Lion fish come from the pacific, and are considered a pest here. They appeared in the Caribbean a few years ago, and have been spreading rapidly ever since. Apparently when Hurricane Katrina ripped through the region, someone in Florida had an aquarium with these fish. That aquarium was washed into the water, and the Lion fish never looked back.

Anyway, in the absence of having done anything to write about, I thought I'd take the chance and just record some general thoughts about Central America and the trip so far.

The Weather
There is no other way to describe the weather in Honduras - it is fucking hot. Most of our days here revolve in one way or another around the quest to escape the relentless heat. The thing is, the air temperature probably isn't that hot. I haven't seen a weather report, but I would estimate that its around the low 30s most days. But the humidity makes it unbearable. It feels like a sauna when someone has just poured more water on the coals. You lose buckets of sweat. The only time you stop sweating is when you are so dehydrated that there is nothing left to sweat. I've actually taken to carrying a towel around just to wipe sweat from my face every few minutes. You probably didn't need to know that. The worst part is that it doesn't get any cooler a night. And in a country where electricity costs seven times what it costs in the USA, air conditioning does not come cheap, and is not widespread. After enough sleepless nights though, eventually Kate and I couldn't do it anymore and coughed up for the room with air con. Best choice we ever made.

The money
Other than electricity, and rooms with air conditioning, things are seriously cheap over here. A standard meal and a beer amounts to 4 or 5 dollars. Most of our hotel rooms have cost around $10 to $15 for the night. Other than that, Honduran money is notable for having, as far as I've experienced, the lowest value note in the world. One US dollar is worth 20 Lempiras. And they have a one Lempira note. That's five cents. Even after you adjust for purchasing power, that's about a 10 or 15 cent note. Most of the one Lp notes are so worn and filthy they simply look like a dirty piece of paper. I've been looking for one to keep as a souvenir, but haven't yet gotten one that looks like it wouldn't disintegrate on being exposed to daylight.

The Food
On the whole, the food in central America has actually been really good. That came as a pleasant surprise, because I had been expecting something similar to Peru and Bolivia, and, while I loved those countries, so food was not great.
Inland there is a pretty strong Mexican influence (or at least I think of it as Mexican, its probably just as much native to Guatemala and Honduras) so a lot of nachos, fajitas, tacos etc. Less good is the ubiquitous tortilla, which pretty much substitutes for bread and comes with everything you order. The tortillas here aren't quite like the ones you get in Sydney. They are about as thick as an iphone and made from corn, and seem to be stale, even though they are served still hot. Eating one feels very much how I imagine eating cardboard must feel. And not flimsy beer carton cardboard, but that thicker cardboard that expensive gadgets come packed in. The rest of the food is good, the tortilla, I'm not so sure about.
Here on the coast its either seafood, fresh from the reef and generally very good, or fried chicken, which can never really go that wrong.

Other Travellers
As always happens when you travel, we've met some memorable characters, good and bad, along the way. One stand out was an Australian on the bus. I could tell he was Australian because, instead of a day pack, he had his gear in one of those green coles bags. He was also wearing his prada sunglasses, arguing with a taxi driver about the fare. The driver wanted to charge him 40 lempiras, or 2 dollars, for the 10 minute ride down to the wharf. Here is a man, aged in his mid thirties, wearing a $400 pair of sunglasses, but too cheap to buy a back pack, arguing over 2 dollars. And, given the most he could hope for was to get the driver down to about 25 lempiras, really, he was arguing over less than 1 dollar. Honestly, if you can't pay two dollars for a taxi, stay at home.
In Copan we met a guy who I would estimate was in his 50s. His name was Russel, but he preferred to be known as Raul. He has been living in Honduras for 10 years, before that he lived in Thailand. Doing nothing. "I'd like to work, but I just can't find the time". He actually said that. He informed us that the way he did this was to live an extremely cheap life, costing no more than $2500 a year. Where those $2500 come from, we never found out. He did mention that he thought he needed a back operation, but this was beyond his budget. Its just my opinion, but if you never go home, and you never get a job, you are not really a traveller anymore, you are just being a bum in different countries.

The litter
This is one heart breaking aspect of travelling around Honduras. There is litter everywhere, and in huge amounts. There are stretches, before and after towns, where you would struggle to walk across the area by the side of the road without stepping on rubbish. And its no wonder. I was watching the locals on the bus. When they finish a drink or a pack of chips, they simply throw it out of the window without a second thought. I know that the country probably has bigger problems to worry about, but it's such a shame, because it's such a beautiful country. And as its mainly plastic packaging that's not going to decompose, you have to wonder what it will look like in 10 years.

The roads
Anyone who has been to a developing country knows that road rules tend to be seen as more of a guide than as actual rules. I certainly remember in Thailand, driving on the left means swerving that way when you face oncoming traffic, but not staying there the rest of the time. On the whole, its a little better here. We took quite a few buses, and on most of them I didn't really feel like we were in mortal danger. In Utila however, things are different.
As I said, its a small island, and the town is even smaller. You can walk from one end to the other in about 15 minutes, and there is really only one road. That road is about the width of a single traffic lane, and has no footpath, so its shared with pedestrians. Cars aren't that practical, so most people have found alternate vehicles. There are, of course, a lot of scooters and motor bikes. There are also a few people getting around on 4 wheelers, and most surprisingly, a large number of petrol powered golf carts. Where they got golf carts from is beyond me, but they have them. I saw one today that had been raised like a monster truck!
And all of these shoot up and down the single lane with very little caution, and only beeps of the horn to let pedestrians know that its time to get out of the way. It actually makes strolling around this little Caribbean paradise pretty stressful.



The Locals
Finally, a quick word on the people here. One this count its similar to Peru or Bolivia. Tourists are by no means a novelty here, but the locals still seem happy to see foreigners, and don't appear to have that jaded attitude to tourists that you sense in South East Asia. There is generally not a tourist price and a local price, people will help you without asking for or expecting a tip, and there aren't very many people waiting at bus stops and taxi stands to swarm you with hotel and tour offers. All this adds to to make it feel like a very friendly place to travel through.