American Vagrant: October 2012

With my time on the Bay Islands ended, I returned to the mainland and headed for the Caribbean town of Tela. Generally I travel alone, but for a change I instead met up with a friend I'd made in Nicaragua. As an independent music journalist from the U.K., she is working on some pieces about the music in Central America, and for this reason our time together had us going to some places not quite as ordinarily traveled to by backpackers. For instance, La Ceiba is generally only used by backpackers for transit to the Bay Islands, but because it also has a large Garifuna (read her blog at http://rovingradio.wordpress.com/ for an explanation) presence we spent a few days there.

So first up was Tela, a small town located between San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba. For anyone interested in seeing it, it's easily reachable, as any bus going between these two cities will pass Tela. Just tell your conductor and he'll inform you when to get off. I opted to take a chicken bus to try and save money, though I don't think it did. Unlike the other countries in Central America, using chicken buses in Honduras does not seem to be financially advantageous over using private lines when traveling within the country. When traveling across borders however, it may. While in Tela we explored the town a bit and visited the nearby village of El Triunfo de la Cruz. This place has a heavy Garifuna culture so we had hoped to find subjects for interview, but to no avail. We had however heard about a local radio station in town, and decided to go there for an interview with some of the hosts. Once there we were greeted warmly and quickly told that we'd be going into the broadcast room for a (what was intended to become) two-way on air interview. I should mention that whenever I tag along for these interviews it's assumed that I'm also a part of this project, thus my getting dragged into this scenario.

Anxiety immediately beset my friend, not because she isn't used to being on the air, but instead because neither of us have perfect spanish, and she was worried that her words may fail her (I having less refined spanish than hers would be of no help). Fortunately (or unfortunately, as I'm sure comedy would have ensued) a couple of the real guests who were scheduled to be interviewed on air showed up early, and we were exonerated of humiliation. The host offered to defer the appointment but our schedules did not align, and we were forced to return to Tela with nothing to add. The next day we moved on to La Ceiba.

While in La Ceiba we moved about both within the city as well as to the nearby villages of Corozal and Samba Creek. In Corozal we meant to witness an authentic candle-light vigil but the fun was rained out by the newly arrived rainy season. We waited for a couple hours in the wet darkness before calling it quits and returning to La Ceiba via taxi. For anyone interested in traveling to Corozal, a taxi costs 60 lempira to and from the town (about $3 US). Many taxi drivers will quote you much more and refuse to do it for less, but 60 lempira is the local rate, and I'd advice the thrifty traveler to hold out for an honest driver.

In Samba Creek we met with Omar "Babkle" Suazo, a relatively well known Garifuna artist who, after living in the U.S. for some number of years, has returned to his home to help run a living cooperative for his community. After my friends interview with the artist, we watched him conduct an outdoor meeting with his community, where they discussed land rights and plans for the construction of their new housing segment. It was interesting to see the way local business was conducted, and Omar's leadership with his people.

I can't say La Ceiba was my favorite city to be in, but while there we did get to witness much of the Honduran culture, including local Independence Day celebrations as well as a show put on by some local Garifuna performers. Plus the food was delicious as always...I've got nothing bad to say about the place. If you're looking to be amused by tourist attractions such as museums however, you ought to look elsewhere.

Our final destination on the Caribbean coast was Trujillo for some real relaxation. Trujillo is the furthest town east on the San Pedro Sula/La Ceiba highway. Best known for it's castle that (unsuccessfully) meant to defend from sea-borne threats, the town is also enjoyable simply in lieu of it's atmosphere. It's also quite well known for having good seafood, as these seaside villages generally are - but as budget travelers we were outpriced from trying it. The local hostel we stayed at, which had just been taken under new management, was an xtremely easy going way to spend a couple days. The (new) name of the place is "Tranquility Bay Beach Resort". It requires a bus (or cab) ride to get to, but was worth it. We mostly ate our own food or dined in town however, as the food is not cheap by local pricing standards.

Following Trujillo we boarded an overnight bus (approximately $18 US if I recall correctly) and headed on (or back I should say) to my next blog post, Tegucigalpa.

"The perfect place for imperfect people". This might be a show-stopper for those seeking perfection. (La Ceiba, Honduras)

Independence Day celebrations. (La Ceiba, Honduras)

Samba Creek isn't commonly sought by foreigners, but is packed with locals.

Samba Creek, Honduras

In case you were unaware, a public service announcement advising you not to feed alcohol to your baby. (Samba Creek, Honduras)

The Organization of Ethnic Community Development (ODECO) put on a show for us to demonstrate their local craft. (La Ceiba, Honduras)

La Ceiba, Honduras

Cemetary in Trujillo, Honduras

The view from atop the castle in Tujillo, Honduras

A model of the castle and it's pristine beachfront property (Trujillo, Honduras)

Within the castle, turned museum (Trujillo, Honduras)

I want to update you on where I've been for the last few weeks, but first I'll offer some advice for travelers looking to live and work on either Utila or Roatan for a bit (or any latin American island really). These were my impressions from many people that I met on the island who were working and living semi-permanently. Following, I'll compare these two islands for those who are deciding between them.

Work is generally not difficult to come by if you are a good bartender, Dive Master or teacher. Just don't go there planning to have income from mid-September through the end of November in the tourist industry. That's the wet season, and it's so slow on the islands that many businesses close down for these months.
Be prepared to be bored. If you enjoy drugs, then you'll enjoy your time here. If not, you may find the atmosphere unsuitable. If you're going to be diving a lot (i.e. working on your Rescue, Dive Master, etc.) then you ought to stay busy. Otherwise there is little to do. Some people can sit on the beach for hours and days in a row, I'm not one of those people.
If you're serious about finding work/extended living, consider getting your residency. You'll be eligible for legit jobs such as those found in the resorts. It's a process that can cost a couple thousand dollars, and you must use a lawyer (hint: island lawyers are astronomically priced, get one on the mainland) (hint 2: english speaking lawyers charge extra, having a friend help with translations will save hundreds)
Don't go unprepared. If you can arrive on the island and have enough money to be good for a couple months ($1200-1800-ish), then I reckon you'll be fine. Stay for some time, try and stabilize your finances, and if by the end of the two months you aren't self-sustaining, buy your plane ticket and go home. I met people who weren't able to get their finances in line, and had to scrape money together from back home to just get back to the States. Rent in an apartment is about $300/month for a room. Food is a bit expensive (relative to other places in Central America), if you spend less than $6/day you're pretty damn good at budgeting, and are cooking your own meals.

Which island to go to?

I stayed on Roatan for about 3 weeks with one visit to Utila. Both cost about the same from La Ceiba to get to, the ferry to Roatan being $55 round trip, and to Utila being $50. Based on my impressions from others who have lived on these islands, as well as what I gathered during time spent on them, my thoughts are this:

Roatan: Known for being more expensive (it is). I dove once for $25 and that was cheap, and even though the site was in the same bay as the dive shop, I still had to cut a deal by bringing someone else on-board. If you're on a budget, you'll want to be in West Bay. There is a hostel I stayed at known as "Tina's Backpackers Hostel". It was eccesntric, safe and well located. It wasn't entirely comfortable. The rate was $8 for a dorm bed or $15 for a two bed private (no singles). You can survive off of $20/day here, but that's barebones. On the otherhand, the island offers more for free, such as nice sandy beaches and the availability of coral reefs right off shore...so if you have your own scuba gear (or rent from vendors on the sand) then you're well off. The best resorts are also on this island, so if you want to live and stay for a bit, you'll find good work at them (if you have residency). Nightlife is good here (in West End), with a club, karayoke bar that's always packed, and various other bars that are generally well frequented.

Utila: A much smaller island, without any free public beaches. You can dive cheap here, especially if you want to get certified, as many dive shops provide you a room for free if you're in their program. On the other hand, the nightlife is generally known for not being as good. There are certainly bars and some that are frequented, but my experience was that they are on a smaller scale. If either you are mostly interested in diving, or your budget makes your decisions, then this is your place. If you want to spend some time on beaches, snorkel freely and have some more options for socializing, then head to Roatan.

Okay now that that's out of the way. I'll begin with my travels. While on Roatan I met a group of Texans one drunken night who were staying in a condo resort on the island, and had themselves a sail trip planned. One thing led to another, and next thing I knew I was tagging along with them. It was quite an epic diversion and I can't thank them enough. We sailed with the well known Captain Dave on his Catamaran (http://www.sailinginroatan.com), first going to the beautiful islands known as Cayos Cochinos. Along the way he told us that his friend had, in those waters, found a suitcase full of money (something along the lines of $500,000). Apparently it's more troublesome to be caught with loads of unaccounted for money than to be caught with the drugs. Once at Cayos Cuchinos, we first did some snorkeling off the boat, followed by lunch on a local island (one of 15). We had somewhat of a buffet that consisted of locally caught fish (about the only possibility of income, other than the occasional tourists like us) along with rice, plantains, coconut bread and some fresca. Following our time on the island (small enough to circle on foot in about 5 minutes), we loaded ourselves back on the boat and headed for Utila, which involved much more lounging and boozing.

Along the way I began to see fish jumping out of the water and flying through the air. And knew neither then nor now what species they are, other than they belong to the family of fish properly dubbed "Flying Fish" that encompasses 64 species according to Wikipedia. Anyway, by the time we had arrived at Utila we were fully prepared for our next feast, and feast we did. At a local food joint on the water, Captain Dave pulled the Catamaran straight up to the patio where it would be docked for the night. We all ate until we were grotesquely full on what was some of the best food on the trip. We went on to check-in to our rooms and then hit the bar, drink adequately and passed out for the night. The next morning brought us back underway headed for Roatan. This time, we were joined by a group of dolphins that swam alongside the boat for about 10 minutes. More flying fish, rum punches and a sit down at the helm with the captain and we were eventually back in Roatan territory. We snorkeled, did a drive-by dolphin feeding show at a local resort, planned to snorkel again only to rush out from the dense population of jelly fish, then actually did get to snorkel again after changing locations, and finally docked the boat back in West End. The trip was over, and it was a great time. Thanks to Captain Dave, his crew and the Texans!

Shortly after I returned from the sailing trip I came to find out things had changed signifcantly since I'd been gone. One of my roommates had left his job due to issues with the boss, the other wasn't able to get the job she was vying for at the dolphin resort unless she had her residency. Already tired of island life and with diminshing budgets, they had decided to pack up and head back to the States. This was not a problem for me, as I had already decided I wasn't going to be staying much longer on Roatan, so about a week later I was off the island (and them as well a few days after). It was a fun trip, with highly varied experiences...not that I didn't enjoy it, but I'm not eager to go back to any Bay Island. The atmosphere was seedy, mixed in with latent violence, profuse amounts of drugs (and users), a derogatory male population and poorly treated female one. A friend on the island told me that 1 in 7 people living there was HIV/AIDS positive. But not to sound completely morose, as the tourists rarely see that reality (another issue I had with the place). Roatan really is a rather unique location as far as my travels go, as it truly is more of a weekend or week-long vacation destination rather than a backpackers haven, and places like that are usually ones I try to avoid.

On September 10 I traveled from Roatan to Tela, a town on the mainland. I would continue to then travel to La Ceiba followed by Trujillo, Tegucigalpa, Lago Yajoa, Copan Ruinas, and then El Salvador, but tales from these adventures will be saved for subsequent entries.