Maybe some of you already knew... but I wanted to do my PADI Open Water Diver Certificate in Honduras. Until the very last chance I did not really know whether I would go to Utila (small, cheap backpacker-style) or to Roatan (bigger, nicer, more expensive but with many beaches). Those are 2 of the bay islands and everybody should have seen at least one of them.
But first, I had to leave Copán. I chose the cheaper option which turned out to be a chicken-bus (old american yellow school bus) to San Pedro Sula and from there an express (supposed to be more modern, but well... supposed!!) bus which was definitely older and less comfortable than the chicken bus to go to "La Ceiba". There I finally had to decide and opted for Utila. I bought the ticket for the ferry and then had to wait.
Some really unfriendly man told us to pack our luggage on a small waggon so that it can be transported to the boat (they needed to transport it on the huge distance of 5! meters). The ferry itself is nothing special, it's small, completely closed and blue. It stinks inside... but at least I did not get seasick... I only felt a bit strange.
Arriving in Utila, about 10 people wanted to convince me, that their - and only their - diving school is the best one. I went with a guy who told me that his name is "Berlin" which I still do not believe and stayed at "Alton's". All the schools have more or less the same offer... come and stay, you have the first night free, so that you can "shop around" the next morning and decide for a school. Arriving at the school, I was greeted by a lovely instructor named Chris who told me everything about the school, how classes work, that they are the best because... blablabla....
Originally the plan was that I stay there for the first night and go find my school the next morning. But I was just so tired and the people seemend nice, the school was recommended in Lonely Planet, Sunset was perfect and the school was also recommended to me in Copan... so I just decided to stay there and get my certification there.
So on monday evening i already ment Wendy, a woman from Canada, who is working as a freelance-instructor with the school. Wendy isn't the youngest person anymore, but she is really lovely and caring and very experienced. We did some paperwork and then she told me that the next morning (Tuesday) I would do my first dive in the morning and then some theory in the afternoon.
So I started my diving lessons with - well, diving. We met at 9 am, got our gear, learned how to put it together and to put it back again, and then started diving... in the ocean. The school has a nice dock with calm water and there I did my first moves below the surface. And what can I say... I just loved it. And I still do love it very much. We did very much "skills" like going down, inflating our jacket, using alternate air-supply... such things. But in the end, we did a short little "dive" just swimming around and seeing the fish
In the afternoon, I had to catch up with the theory, as the other 2 in my class, Erica and Jeremy, had started with that already. I watched 5! PADI-Videos. But they were surprisingly little boring. On Wednesday we did some more skills and trying and getting used to diving in the morning in the shallow water of the dock. And in the afternoon we had our first 2 Open Water Dives. Well... the others had 2, I only had one, because I got so awfully seasick that I could not get in anymore.
On Thursday, we did our final test in the morning... I scored 92% hurray!!! And 2 more dives in the afternoon. I took some "Dramamin" which is against the seasickness and what can I say... it really helped - when being on the boat. This time I got really awfully seasick again... while floating on the surface of the ocean. I got down on the first dive, but did not feel well all the time, and had to ascend earlier than the others... and then I had to feed the fish and even needed help to get back to the boat. But thank god, we also had a group of "Rescue-Divers" on board who could have helped me... but Wendy was fully in charge and took me back to the boat.
Being back on the boat I felt much better, but not good enough to do the second dive of the afternoon. At least I had a good entertainment-programm with the rescue-class. They did a "diver lost his buddy, let's search for him and help him" session and it was really great fun watching it... and of course I also learned a bit just watching.
Today I had my last 2 dives... and finally I really could make 2 dives... they were great... we went down 18 meters (which is the max as a normal Open Water Diver) and saw many different fish... I really do like to blue ones... all of them. We saw the Rainbow-Fish and of course we also found Dora (I am still searching for Nemo).
And of course I am certified now... finally.
And now I know the trick how not to get seasick either on the boat or in the water: take the Dramamin about 2 hours before the boat leaves, don't eat anything before diving, don't drink anything with bubbles in it (like coke) and stay out of the sun and heat.
Knowing all this, the next dives are already planned... tomorrow I will start my 2 day journey to Nicaragua. I will use Managua as a hub... visit Granada and Leon from there and then, as soon as possible, depending on the weather forecast, fly out to the Corn Islands (small Islands in the Carribean). On little Corn Island I plan to stay one week... hopefully do the Advanced Open Water Diver (you need to do 5 adventure dives to be advanced) and chill at the many deserted beaches.
Oh... what I almost forgot to mention... today is "Bergfest" of my trip through central america. This means, I am right in the middle of it... 5 weeks over, 5 adventurous weeks ahead.
I will keep you posted... but I tend to be really chilled out right now... rather lying in a hammock and enjoying the breeze than sitting somewhere and updating my blog.
Freitag, 20. Mai 2011
Antigua and Copan
Hey Guys,
I'm still alive... I just had some "challenges" concerning the internet. First it did not work in the hostel anymore, then my laptop did not want to connect for more than 10 seconds at a time. But some days ago, I "reseted" it to before the last "very important" Windows update... and here it is again, on and working.
So, what happened?
In Antigua nothing much happened. I spent my last week there, finished spanish classes with Plusquamperfecto del Subjuntivo (I know how to write it but have no idea when to use it) and then went off to Copán, Honduras, to see the ruins there.
So I went on a bus on a Saturday, it left at 4 o'clock in the morning and we arrived in Copán at 10 am. And it was sooooooo soooooo hot. Antigua was great because it cooled down in the evenings, but this never happened in Copan. There I met 2 nice british girls - Imogen and Zoe. In the afternoon we went to "The Pool" which is just a really small pool and belongs to a disco.
The next morning, I went to see the ruinas. They are not far away from the town itself... it's just a nice stroll along a nice shadowy path. The entrance fee is really expensive ( US $ 22 for the ruinas and Museum for foreigners). I am still not sure if it was worth it, as the pyramids are nothing, compared to Palenque or Tikal. But the museum was really nice, and cool.
In the afternoon, Imogen and I went to "Macaw Mountain" which is a bird park. They care for stressed parrots, gve them a home and time to recover. It was really nice, we saw many different birds, took lots of pictures and even had the chance to hold 2 parrots.
And that's it... the next morning (now monday) I went on the bus to La Ceiba and then on the ferry to Utila... but more on this in a separate post.
I'm still alive... I just had some "challenges" concerning the internet. First it did not work in the hostel anymore, then my laptop did not want to connect for more than 10 seconds at a time. But some days ago, I "reseted" it to before the last "very important" Windows update... and here it is again, on and working.
So, what happened?
In Antigua nothing much happened. I spent my last week there, finished spanish classes with Plusquamperfecto del Subjuntivo (I know how to write it but have no idea when to use it) and then went off to Copán, Honduras, to see the ruins there.
So I went on a bus on a Saturday, it left at 4 o'clock in the morning and we arrived in Copán at 10 am. And it was sooooooo soooooo hot. Antigua was great because it cooled down in the evenings, but this never happened in Copan. There I met 2 nice british girls - Imogen and Zoe. In the afternoon we went to "The Pool" which is just a really small pool and belongs to a disco.
The next morning, I went to see the ruinas. They are not far away from the town itself... it's just a nice stroll along a nice shadowy path. The entrance fee is really expensive ( US $ 22 for the ruinas and Museum for foreigners). I am still not sure if it was worth it, as the pyramids are nothing, compared to Palenque or Tikal. But the museum was really nice, and cool.
In the afternoon, Imogen and I went to "Macaw Mountain" which is a bird park. They care for stressed parrots, gve them a home and time to recover. It was really nice, we saw many different birds, took lots of pictures and even had the chance to hold 2 parrots.
And that's it... the next morning (now monday) I went on the bus to La Ceiba and then on the ferry to Utila... but more on this in a separate post.
Sonntag, 8. Mai 2011
1 week in Antigua
Wow... I've been here already for one week. Those days passed so fast.
I started with my Spanish classes on monday. My teacher is Rita, and we get along quite well. So apart from learning the grammar, we are also talking quite a bit. But about that later more.
Originally i planned to take 6 hours of classes every day. But as I was quite sick at the beginning of the week, I could not make it this week. I did not only burn my shoulders on Saturday, but I also got a light sunstroke and catched a really bad cold in the evening, as it can get quite cold in Antigua. Adding all this to my still existing (but not very bad) stomach problems, it was just too much.
So I went to the Spanish School in the morning, had 4 hours of classes and then went back to the hostel. I even made it back to the school in the afternoon to take part in the first activity, but being there, I just gave up. I went back home to my hostel, also skipping classes in the afternoon and went straight to bed.
I needed 3 days to more or less recover. So on Thursday, I finally participated in the my first activity. We went to a coffee plantation. There they also have a coffee museum and a museum about the Mayan music instuments. We had guided tours in both museums and it was quite interesting. But being me and being totally addicted to coffee, I liked most all the explanations about coffee. And of course, in the future, will be more careful about which coffee I will buy (the one from Brasil, obviously ;-) is really bad quality and all about money).
My Spanish classes are quite interesting as I am talking a lot with my teacher about the lives in Guatemala and Germany. She is going to university in the evening to become a lawyer, so this is also quite interesting for me. But what really totally shocked me: the students there were told to read "Mein Kampf" in order to understand the concept of nationalism. And they really like the book, think that it is interesting and has quite some interesting concepts and ideas. How can this be possible? First of all, how can anybody like this book, and second of all, how can a teacher officially tell his students to read the book for university?
This of course led to an interesting discussion about German history and the History of World War II.
Apart from that I realized that i am just used to go a much faster pace in learning in studying. But this would completely overwhelm my teacher, or all the other teachers I happened to know. So I decided to spend only one week more in Antigua and then finally head to the beach in Honduras, after spending 2/3 days in Copan ruinas.
Yesterday, I went hiking. Yes, you are not mistakten, Heidi went hiking without being forced. Of course nobody told me how high up we would go and how hard it would be, so I thought it should be okay. I went up the Volcano Pacaya. The views were great, sometimes it even was fun, but I was so so happy, when we finally reached the end and had a nice bread there were some of the others tried to roast some Marshmallows. Of course this was kind of impossible as there was no lava and no heat, but still it was fun.
The sad part of it was, that we just did not have enough time to enjoy the view and take really great pictures.
So at this time I have to declare my neverending love to my new camera. It just is the best. And it makes just great pictures (because it still is not me who makes good pix). So, when I come back, the fist thing I have to do is to get it professionally cleaned. All this volcano dirt is now on my camera and it really looks very used now.
Btw, you can find all the interesting pix of the last days on Facebook, it just takes too much time to upload them here and I do not like the way they are embedded in the text.
One last thing I would like to talk about today:
on Friday, I spent some time sitting in the Parque Central and watching the people. There are so many tourists, of course. But what I am really wondering about: why do people think, that they do not have to dress nicely/ normally when being on holiday? Really interesting what people think is clothes.
And why on earth, do especially female travelers who are way past their thirties think that they do not need to comb their hair, wash their faces and - worst of all - do not need to wear bras? This is really something nobody wants to see!!!!
(for Sebi: I am using the ctrl-C trick now)
I started with my Spanish classes on monday. My teacher is Rita, and we get along quite well. So apart from learning the grammar, we are also talking quite a bit. But about that later more.
Originally i planned to take 6 hours of classes every day. But as I was quite sick at the beginning of the week, I could not make it this week. I did not only burn my shoulders on Saturday, but I also got a light sunstroke and catched a really bad cold in the evening, as it can get quite cold in Antigua. Adding all this to my still existing (but not very bad) stomach problems, it was just too much.
So I went to the Spanish School in the morning, had 4 hours of classes and then went back to the hostel. I even made it back to the school in the afternoon to take part in the first activity, but being there, I just gave up. I went back home to my hostel, also skipping classes in the afternoon and went straight to bed.
I needed 3 days to more or less recover. So on Thursday, I finally participated in the my first activity. We went to a coffee plantation. There they also have a coffee museum and a museum about the Mayan music instuments. We had guided tours in both museums and it was quite interesting. But being me and being totally addicted to coffee, I liked most all the explanations about coffee. And of course, in the future, will be more careful about which coffee I will buy (the one from Brasil, obviously ;-) is really bad quality and all about money).
My Spanish classes are quite interesting as I am talking a lot with my teacher about the lives in Guatemala and Germany. She is going to university in the evening to become a lawyer, so this is also quite interesting for me. But what really totally shocked me: the students there were told to read "Mein Kampf" in order to understand the concept of nationalism. And they really like the book, think that it is interesting and has quite some interesting concepts and ideas. How can this be possible? First of all, how can anybody like this book, and second of all, how can a teacher officially tell his students to read the book for university?
This of course led to an interesting discussion about German history and the History of World War II.
Apart from that I realized that i am just used to go a much faster pace in learning in studying. But this would completely overwhelm my teacher, or all the other teachers I happened to know. So I decided to spend only one week more in Antigua and then finally head to the beach in Honduras, after spending 2/3 days in Copan ruinas.
Yesterday, I went hiking. Yes, you are not mistakten, Heidi went hiking without being forced. Of course nobody told me how high up we would go and how hard it would be, so I thought it should be okay. I went up the Volcano Pacaya. The views were great, sometimes it even was fun, but I was so so happy, when we finally reached the end and had a nice bread there were some of the others tried to roast some Marshmallows. Of course this was kind of impossible as there was no lava and no heat, but still it was fun.
The sad part of it was, that we just did not have enough time to enjoy the view and take really great pictures.
So at this time I have to declare my neverending love to my new camera. It just is the best. And it makes just great pictures (because it still is not me who makes good pix). So, when I come back, the fist thing I have to do is to get it professionally cleaned. All this volcano dirt is now on my camera and it really looks very used now.
Btw, you can find all the interesting pix of the last days on Facebook, it just takes too much time to upload them here and I do not like the way they are embedded in the text.
One last thing I would like to talk about today:
on Friday, I spent some time sitting in the Parque Central and watching the people. There are so many tourists, of course. But what I am really wondering about: why do people think, that they do not have to dress nicely/ normally when being on holiday? Really interesting what people think is clothes.
And why on earth, do especially female travelers who are way past their thirties think that they do not need to comb their hair, wash their faces and - worst of all - do not need to wear bras? This is really something nobody wants to see!!!!
(for Sebi: I am using the ctrl-C trick now)
Sonntag, 1. Mai 2011
From Mexico City to Antigua (Guatemala)
So, what did I do the last days?
I spent some wonderful last days in Mexico City. Especially the last night out with Paty, Carlos, Dani and Alex was really great. We went to a nice restaurant, had great food and a bottle of Tequila.
On Wednesday then I had to catch my plane to Viallhermosa and then the bus to Palenque. And there (in Palenque) it was so hot, I just had forgotten about that. On Thursday I of course first thing went to the ruins of Palenque. They were great as ever and i am quite sure, I will come back again, as I will definitely come back to Mexico.
Here are some pics of Palenque Ruins:
I spent some wonderful last days in Mexico City. Especially the last night out with Paty, Carlos, Dani and Alex was really great. We went to a nice restaurant, had great food and a bottle of Tequila.
On Wednesday then I had to catch my plane to Viallhermosa and then the bus to Palenque. And there (in Palenque) it was so hot, I just had forgotten about that. On Thursday I of course first thing went to the ruins of Palenque. They were great as ever and i am quite sure, I will come back again, as I will definitely come back to Mexico.
Here are some pics of Palenque Ruins:
The Plan was to go directly from Palenque to Antigua. But I had to realize that this was impossible. There is just no way around San Cristobal de las Casas. So I went there again, the third time now. Good, that it's just a lovely small city in Chiapas.
So I bought a ticket for the bus on Friday morning at 9. Of course I was at the bus station on time (a little past 8) in order not to miss the bus. At the bus station I met a nice german couple who also wanted to go to San Cristobal. 10 min before 9 I was trying to find out if our bus was already there... well, I was told that there was a little problem and the bus would not come at all. But there is another one, which should leave at 9:10, buuut... this one is late and is supposed to come betwenn 9:30 and 10:00 a.m. So we waited and waited and chatted and so on. At some point there was a lady going round the busstation asking all the people where they wanted to go. We told her our destination, but no reaction at all.
At 10, I tried to find out about this other bus. The lady at the counter told me that she would tell me when it arrived. Okay for us. Suddenly this other lady who was asking about our destination told us, that there was a bus leaving at 10, but there were only 2 seats left, so we can't go.
I followed her to tell her that I can also travel alone and would really like to be on the bus... so I got a place and left for San Cristobal 1 hour late.
The journey was 5 hours, which I tried to sleep most of the time in order not to get sick of the driving style.
Arriving at the bus station in San Cristobal I went to the very first travel agency I saw and got my ticket to Antigua for the next day (Saturday). This travel angency "happened" to work together with a hostel and as it was a cheap and supposedly nice one I decided to take this hostel (especially as they were even paying me the taxi to the hostel). So using this blog, if you ever travel to San Cristobal, I just can recomment Planet Hostel. It's not very far from the Zocala, it's cheap and clean and Alex, the guy who is working in the travel agency is really nice.
I did a little bit of "sight-seeing", but I did know the city already, so there was nothing new to see. I spent the evening watching THE royal wedding with some other girls and - of course - meeting some German people in the hostel.
At the next morning (Saturday now) I was picked up at my hostel a little past 8 by the van and the journey to Antigua began. I was told that it would take 9-10 hours...well that wasn't exactly the truth. The journey took 12 hours and I arrived in Antigua at 7 p.m. As Guatemala is not using daylight-saving-time, I am now 8 hours behind Germany and it was already totally dark when we arrived.
The bus driver stopped at the Convent Santa Catalina and we all had to leave the bus. I asked him if he could tell me where my hostel is and help me get a taxi. He was very "helpful" and told me that it's muy lejos (far away) and that a Taxi would cost me 30 Quetzales (3 €) and that he would take me there for 25.
Well, today I was walking through Antigua a lot, and I realized that my hostel is only 10 minutes walking distance from the convent. So he made good money with me (ums auf Deutsch zu sagen, er hat mich voll abezockt).
My hostel is really nice, i have private room, but shared bathroom. Still the bathrooms are really clean and spacious and have real hot water. But the best thing about it is the rooftop terrace with its bar. The view there is just great and I just don't want to miss it. That's why I decided to stay there for the next 2 weeks - if they change my matress. Daniella, who runs the hostel promised me to change it tomorrow. We will see.
The mission for today was finding a language school to start my spanish lessons. The bad thing was that it's May 1st today - labour day even in Guatemala so most of the schools I wanted to see were closed. But one was open, the people running it are really nice and they promised me, that they will have a suitabel teacher for me. So starting tomorrow at 8 a.m. I will be a student again doing some serious studying. I will have 6 hours of studying every day and 2 hours of activities (like seeing the sights in and around Antigua, going to a macadamia nuts farm, coffee farm, learning to make tortillas...) we will see if I like them or not.
So the day was pretty good today. The only bad thing - I got my first sunburn. Until today I was pretty careful about using sunscreen and avoiding too much sun, but today... I burnt my shoulders and the top of my nose... looks a bit funny. I didn't realize it until I was back at the hostel. So I hope it's not too bad.
And I bought a sombrero - Panama style, to describe it. I'll try and post a picture of it soon.
So the next days will be pretty busy for me learning spanish and getting to know Antigua. It's a really small place so I guess I will see every single part of it. My objective is, to make many great pictures of the well known and also not so well known places of Antigua.
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