Zoe Harrison Travel Web Site

It was a gruelling 4am start for the bus to Copan, Honduras but full of 'enthusiasm' we were joined by two school friends Nic and Fleur for the 6.5 hour trip. The journey turned into an endurance test when we were subjected to the moans of a mad American woman for the entire trip, the driver falling to sleep and a few near misses with lorries on blind corners.

But nothing could beat our experiences with the Guatemalan border control. Mmmmm ... 'corrupt' springs to mind. It is completely illegal to charge an exit fee from Guatemala so how strange that everyone was being charged (and were happy to hand over) 10Q (60p) to pass? Now with thousands of people coming through that border every day it doesn't take a mathematician to work out that these 'officials' were making an absolute fortune and it was all going into their back pockets. I, being a Harrison and having principles, refused to pay the fee unless I was given a receipt. It was all very embarrassing for them and to avoid a scene they took me to one side, stamped the passport and waved me through - with my 10Q still safely in my pocket. Dad would be proud!

Aguas Termales and Copan Ruins 5th - 8 th August 2004

After the journey from hell and checking into our fab new hotel ViaVia Hostel, (www.viaviacafe.com) we headed for the hot springs, about an hour from Copan, for some R&R. Just what the doctor ordered - a hot bath and a couple of beers.

Some other friends from school, Tim, Todd and Rachel, arrived the next day and we all walked to see the Mayan Ruins at Copan. Incredible to think these were built around 1500 years ago, with bare hands!

Qualified Divers! 9th - 15th August 2004

Our real reason for coming to Honduras was to get our PADI open water certification for diving - and to pick up a good bargain at the same time. Honduras is just about the cheapest place in the world to do the course - only $165 compared with around $350 everywhere else!

After settling in for a day or so we joined up with Ocean-Connections Dive Centre run by an English guy called Phil. Our instructor, Chantal, was just fantastic. She was so calming and patient, which are the best qualities to have when you are trying to teach someone to remove, replace and clear their mask under 12 metres of sea water! After all the skills tests and written exams were done (and a big sigh of relief) we did a fun dive as certified open water divers!

Diving has just been the most incredible experience. Diving at the reefs off Roatan was like passing through an aquarium - visibility at 20 feet and as well as the coral we saw trumpet fish, a 3 foot barracuda, queen angel fish, parrot fish and loads others. Can't wait to do more of the same in Belize, Mexico, Fiji, Australia and SE Asia!!!

Returning to Belize 15th August 2004

After a week on Roatan we took a ferry to get back to the mainland and La Ceiba, and then 2 buses on to Puerto Cortes. Puerto Cortes, tucked away in the north east corner of Honduras, isn't exactly somewhere you would want to spend your holidays and I'm convinced must be another distant relative of Immingham Docks. Needs must though and after a night in a rather seedy hotel we took the weekly boat crossing to Placencia in Belize.