Hotel Monserratte La Ceiba

... a few days, it gets pretty annoying living out of a bag and the **** that goes on at hostels, so it was good to have a normal encounter with someone and made me feel abit homesick at the same time. Its so easy to slip into traveller mode and you dont really have to use half your emotions or large sections of your brain! So it was good to get to know someone abit deeper mentally, emotionally and physically for once.<br><br>15th July<br>Woke up at 5am and sent Julie ...

... cut through a cacao farm and then we walked through the river in about knee deep water to reach the park. <br><br>The guide pointed out Tambor trees (used by the Garifuna to make drums), vines that are used as anti-inflammatory, some plants that heal cuts and some that are like acid. He also pointed out the monkey ladder trees and vines that strangle other trees. <br><br>The hike was definitely a work out! We were dripping with sweat by the first waterfall but held off on ...

... ci de l`année donc ca ne brassait pas trop! On a aussi remonté la rivière à pied pour descendre quelques rapides sans raft, on a sauté d`une roche de 6 mètres etc. Belle expérience! Vraiment nice, le lodge était juste sur le bord de la rivière, on est resté une nuit de plus juste pour profiter de la place!

... four of us ended up getting a bed in the dorm there. We stashed our gear and went out looking for something to eat. Simon from London, Charlotte from Denmark and Ernesto from Columbia, and I had a great meal and good conversation at an atmospheric restaurant that served really good kabobs. We got back to the hostel at about 10:30 and...someone was sleeping in my bed! Huh? I went downstairs and talked to the very ...

... and biting insects) and trees from everywhere tropical. I had no idea bamboo could grow so tall or that it was thorny. La Ceiba, where I am now, is a strange place (most places in Honduras are a bit strange though). My hostel is called Banana Republic and it's been pleasant hanging out for a couple of days with gringos. It was a week since I'd a conversation with a native English speaker!

... time..I decided to enjoy there restaurants..they were great...Utila is full of people from all over the world...and so is there cuisine. Priced from a pizza for $6.00 to Lobster at $8.00. Beer..$1.50. I guess this gives u somewhat of an idea of why I was there..LOL There is horse back ridding, jungle tours, all water and beach fun that u can imagine... Buying or renting property in Utila is still a bargain.. And for people that ...

... talent: her drawings. These are truly fantastic works of art. She can create drawings ranging from birds (especially hummingbirds) to trees to flowers. The Christmas cards that she drew were also amazing. She has an entire album of all sorts of her drawings. Her creativity is quite outstanding. This is all exceptional even just on its own but what completely blows me away is the fact that she draws all of this free-style (without a stencil) with her mouth. On my last day there ...

... stay with a local family during my entire time here. It's a good routine that I've been able to fine tune now that I am into my third week here. There really is nothing to complain about except for the fact that it's my final week here. I feel good about the time I'm spending at the orphanage. And I do get the feeling that they are enjoying having me around as well. This past week I seemed to be arriving later than usual at the orphanage. I was feeling bad about this so ...

... It would be something that seemed more like a shotgun. Perhaps they had a pistol holstered as well but it was hard to see past the shotgun. Most of these guards sported uniforms of some kind but it was hardly uncommon to see some one outside a store in seemingly regular clothing carrying a menancing looking gun. This kind of security was not present only at nice stores but even stores that couldn't possibly make that much money in a given day would have one of these watchmen at ...

... Adventist or some sort of Evangelical. Town shuts down (except for the heathen establishments) on Friday afternoon until Monday, and the local women bake the most amazing cookies daily that are sold in the shops. Most wonderful was Monday morning when the cinnamon roll lady sells her limited edition treats. People actually stop her when she´s walking to her house to the store to buy her rolls. <br><br>When not eating cookies, I spent ...