I've set up this page to document my adventures in Honduras and to maybe help out anyone who considers a move or long vacation here. After spending lots of time in Honduras, helping run a resort there, and after talking to the people I've met who actually live there, I've come to the following opinions...
NEW - December 2008... I was down in Honduras (La Ceiba) again a couple months ago hanging out with my buddy Rick and have a better understanding now of what apartments cost and what it takes to rent one. For the next trip back, I may be going in on one with him, taking his over or renting my own depending on his/my situation when back down in January 2009.
I spent the month of January 2008 in an apartment located at Sambo Creek outside of La Ceiba. There are three resorts here (Diving Pelican Inn, Hotel Canadien, and Villa Helens) and I put together a “review” of them at the very bottom of this page. I also spent some time at the Hotel Paris in downtown La Ceiba so gave an opinion on that one as well. If interested in staying at one of those places, you might want to check that out. Understand though that everyone has a different take on things and this is just mine!
Also, sometimes I'll be talking about what things cost. The money unit down here is the Limpira and as of writing this it's approx 18.5L = $1US. To make it easy on me, if something is in Limpiras, I just divide it in half and move the decimal one place to the left for approx cost in dollars.
02/06/08 - I'm back in Ohio now and of course the weather sucks. My winter in Honduras ended up being one month. The reason for that being that I spent quite a bit more than I thought I would to “learn” about what it takes to live here. Although I knew I would be supporting two persons, I've never really done that before so it was another of those learning experiences. I had hoped my spending cash would last three months but it was pretty much gone in one month's time. Next time down though, I think I'll know what costs are to go the distance. Anyway, I've been reflecting back on my trip and thought I would note a couple things below that stick in my mind.
1. Honduras is pushing tourism and wants that to be the main source of income for the country in the future. That being said, it's about impossible to find a Honduran that can speak even a little English. I'm not one of those who think everyone should but if you want to succeed in tourism, you need some English. Besides the US, most people in the European Union as well as Canadians speak English which is a fair chunk of the world. That leads me to my final point. If you have a motel or resort in Honduras, why are your signs ONLY in Spanish when quite a few of your customers don't speak it?!! That was the most aggravating point on this trip. I've learned a bit more Spanish now but really would appreciate some English occasionally when it's important for me to understand something. There's not one person that speaks English at the office where I extended my Visa! Now I've vented and feel better!
2. It would be nice if the taxi guys wouldn't constantly screw the non Spanish speaking persons. I hate for government to get involved in anything but maybe they need to make the taxis post pricing so you know what it costs. It's posted in most of the yellow buses so why not taxis? I don't know how many times I was quoted one price then charged another once I got to my destination. In La Ceiba there's also supposedly a cheaper cab running around but I never could find one. I don't know how to tell them apart so maybe they need to be a different color or something!
3. Housing in LaCeiba looks like it's going to be reasonable to rent if I decide to do that when I go back down. They run around $100 a month and up for a concrete house in a decent (I use that loosely) neighborhood. That's totally empty though so you have to buy everything to live if you don't have already. Keeping that in mind, the big problem I see with living there is you have to stay there or hire someone to watch your stuff when away. I was told by quite a few persons that no matter how much you secure your house, if people know you're gone for any length of time they'll break in and steal EVERYTHING. That includes plumbing, electrical and I've even heard about a woman who's roof was stolen as well! When you're talking about a country with this kind of poverty though, I guess that's to be expected.
4. As for transportation, although owning a car there would be nice, the way people drive there I don't know if I could put up with it. Taxis are probably in my future for the time being.
Although I've heard many say they don't like the yellow buses, you eventually find they've never been on one. Aside from the occasional really crowded bus or one where the driver never shifts out of 3rd (really slow!), they were easy to use and cheap. The people riding them were friendly and I will definitely use them on a regular basis once back there since they're much cheaper than a taxi.
I've flown quite a few times between San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba (costs $65 one way) but after using Hedman Alas a couple times, it's well worth the extra couple hours it adds to the trip. Most times I fly, the plane is packed and there's no AC. That doesn't even count the crap you go through getting to/from the airport and through security once there. Hedman Alas uses Mercedes buses that are really comfortable and with a first class ticket for $15, you can tilt the big comfortable seat way back and sleep for the whole trip if you don't want to watch the movie! If you don't want to spend that much, sit in the back of the bus for $8! The AC on the bus works really well though so wear long pants and bring a light jacket (if you have one).
All that being said, Honduras is still one of my favorite places and I've visited many around the world. My plans in the near future are to hopefully start something in the tourism field there and it will most likely be in either Guanaja or Utila but La Ceiba isn't out of the question as well. I have a couple ideas on the board and once I start on one of those, that should be an interesting read as well!
I'm hoping to get back down to Honduras again soon and will post here once I'm on my next adventure!
02/05/08 - I headed out of the motel around 10:30am and flew out of the San Pedro Sula airport with no problems. The weather from Texas to Ohio looked really bad on the news this morning but there were no problems with the trip.
One thing that's worth noting is while waiting for my bags in Houston, a woman's breasts caught my eye (no surprise there). They were making the rounds on the belt after apparently falling out of someone's bag. I grabbed my camera and shot the pic below then others realized what they were too. Those little silicone accessories got quite a laugh as they kept circling on the conveyor!
02/04/08 - I got to see the Superbowl last night but not how I wanted. I was told that it was on ESPN which is in English but it was actually on Fox in Spanish. Understanding the game even though the commentators are only speaking Spanish isn't a problem but all the commercials were for soccer! Half the reason I watch the game when my team (Steelers) isn't in it is for the funny commercials! Now I guess I'll have to watch those on the internet instead.
On another note, it's funny that for the size of La Ceiba, I always seem to see people I know. We ate breakfast this morning in the restaurant at the motel so on the way I saw my friends Rick & Linda eating by the pool and once inside, saw a woman I know from Guanaja walk by. Then later this afternoon I saw another girl that used to work with me at End of the World Resort. Small world here!
I took Margarita to the bus station earlier today and she's on her way back to San Juan Pueblo. I took a Hedman Alas bus to San Pedro Sula and arrived around 5pm. I paid a little extra ($15US total) for a first class ticket which includes soft drinks, food, movie and really nice seats! Pics of the terminal and Mercedes bus interior are below. If Greyhound was set up like these, I would consider traveling by bus in the ‘States as well!
Once in SPS, I checked into Hotel Villa Nuria which actually features fully furnished and equipped suites and is near the airport. The offer free breakfast, free shuttle to town and airport, wired internet, a pool, gym, 24 hour mini mart and restaurant. The room is really large and sleeps up to 4 persons at no extra charge. If you were going to spend some time in this city, even though it's a little pricey at $50US a night the Hotel Villa Nuria would be the one to go with!
02/03/08 - I'm out of Sambo Creek now and just checked into Grand Hotel Paris in downtown La Ceiba for the night. My plan for this afternoon is to hit the poolside bar and put away a few cervezas. Then around 5pm I'm going to head to a TV to watch the Superbowl. I have ESPN in English here and that's the channel I hear it's on.
Earlier today I went with a woman I met (Faye from Cary, NC) down to the beach where she's building a house. It looks like it's going to be pretty cool and wish I had taken my camera. On the way back we met a couple from Seattle (Jeff & wife) and they invited us into their beachside house. It was a really a nice place with a covered outside patio and hammocks. Pretty cool house! They also own a waterfront restaurant on the Pacific coast of Honduras and showed us pics of that area. It's on my list now for a visit sometime in the hopefully not too distant future!
I still am not sure exactly how we're getting out of here tomorrow morning but hopefully a plan will come together then.
Below is a pic of a shrimp & veg mix I put over spaghetti and it was pretty tasty! The green that looks like broccoli is actually a vegetable called pataste (sp?) and tastes like broccoli. I had some leftovers so actually used the shrimp this morning mixed with scrambled eggs and that was really good as well.
02/02/08 - I finally committed to leaving and heading back to the cold. It wasn't an easy choice I'll tell you! I changed my Continental flight and it's now arriving in Columbus at 8:18pm on Tuesday the 5th.
On another note, Margarita and I went to San Juan Pueblo bright and early today to take most of her things to her sisters where she'll be staying while I'm away. While there she decided to spend the night so I'm back at the villa by myself tonight packing up the last of our things for the move to Hotel Paris tomorrow. She's coming back tomorrow then on Monday, we'll take a bus from Ceiba to her town where she'll get off. I'll then continue on to San Pedro Sula where I'll spend the night then catch the Tuesday flight. If anything comes up or changes, I'll post here as usual.
Below is a pic of Margarita packing up for the move.
02/01/08 - We went into Ceiba yesterday and I managed to tie one on good at the tri-weekly gringo meeting at the Bacalau. Those Imperial beers can sneak up on you! After that we grabbed a couple groceries and took the worst bus ride back that I've had yet. The bus was packed with standing room only and took forever. I'll have to make a point of avoiding buses after 4pm in the future to avoid the crowds trying to get home before the buses quit for the day.
I haven't picked a day to leave yet but need to soon so probably will decide today and change my flight. Once I get that figured out, I'll update again.
One thing I'm a little annoyed about is that Jim tells me he can't give me a ride out of here Sunday around 11am when we check out because he has to get ready for the Superbowl that starts in late afternoon. He's given every other guest here a ride to where they need to go whenever they check in/out but not us and we spent pretty good money here. So we have to pay for a Taxi to the Hotel Paris and that's probably gonna cost at least 1000L. Oh well... it's a Honduras thing I guess. I'm getting used to saying that!
01/31/08 - OK... I've got a tentative plan for getting out of here. Here's how it goes...
I can stay here in my apartment at Diving Pelican until the 4th but since the TV is really intermittent and the Superbowl is on the 3rd, we're leaving Sunday morning for Hotel Paris in La Ceiba where I have a room with reliable TV reserved. That way I get to take a swim in the pool then see the game later in the day! On Monday morning, we check out of there and head for San Juan Pueblo where Margarita will stay with her Sister and family until my next return. Monday afternoon, I hope to grab a bus to continue on to San Pedro Sula then get a motel. If I have to though, I can probably grab a bus Tuesday morning as well but that would be cutting it really close since Tuesday at around 12:30pm, I'll catch my international flight out of Honduras back to Columbus, Ohio and it lands around 8:30pm there. This is a rough plan but should go about like it's laid out. If any changes occur, I'll try and post here. I'm sure you can guess though I'm not looking forward to going back to cold and snow at all!
Below is a couple pics of who I'll miss most while away!
01/29/08 - Sorry for the delay but the place I'm staying is having internet problems. Somehow, their security settings were wrong on their router or something and that caused them to exceed their bandwidth limits and get knocked offline. Since they don't know much about security or wireless setup, they disabled the internet for all their customers so now I have to go down to another motel to use the internet. That really sucks since the internet was the main reason why I chose this out of the way place!
Anyway, for some reason immigration only gave me a 30 day one when I entered Honduras and 30 days was yesterday. Since I've heard it's like a $100US fine if it expires, I went yesterday and extended my visa. It was pretty easy extending although it costs 380L (around $20) and you have to pay any gov't bills for service rendered at the bank. As anyone who has ever dealt with a bank in Honduras knows, that can take a while! So I waited in line at Banco Atlantida for about an hour before getting to a teller but got it paid and then went back and got the extension. My visa now expires Feb 28th although I won't need that long. My plan is to leave for Ohio sometime early next week but haven't got it figured out yet. Once I do, I'll post that info here.
On a food note, I made spaghetti carbonara (I think that's what its called) the other night and thought I would show how it's done when you don't have a pot handy. Check out the pics below!
01/21/08 - I went yesterday and checked out the house for rent near town. Although it looked ok, it's totally unfurnished which means I would need to buy a stove, refrigerator, bed, couch, tv and more. Then it doesn't have a fence around it which makes it easier to break into and if you have a lawn chair or laundry out, it will end up missing fast. The biggest negative for renting now though is the fact that in one month I went through the spare cash I had hoped to use all winter. That means I'll most likely be coming home in about a week to make some more so I can play a little more. Since I'm apparently coming home, I can't stick Margarita in a new house with no one around that she knows. She has said she wants to return to San Juan Pueblo and spend time with her family while I'm away so that's what will happen. Since my return ticket I have in hand leaves on the 28th, looks like I have about a week to figure out what to do to get from Ft. Lauderdale to Ohio. Once I get a plan, I'll post it here!
Jim got the pelican finished and pics are below. It turned out pretty cool!
01/17/08 - Yet another boring day in paradise! Not much going on but I'm planning on heading into town tomorrow or the next day to meet up with my buddy Matt who is moving from the West to the East side of Ceiba. He's renting a house for a little over $100 so I'm curious what that looks like.
I don't think I mentioned it previously, but my little villa is across from a place called The Diving Pelican Inn and they hired a guy this week to make them a concrete pelican on a log. He's pretty talented and is sculpting it just with some wire mesh, thin rebar and concrete. I wish I had pics from start to finish but it's pictured today at about half done. I'll try and add more as he gets it done as well.
On a final note and to kill the rumor an apparently drunk friend here decided to start up North, I'M NOT MARRIED OR PLANNING ON IT ANY TIME SOON!!!
01/16/08 - Been away from the internet for a while since we decided to go to San Juan for a day and stayed three. While there I picked up some kind of bug but am finally feeling good today. I'll tell you it will be quite some time before I spend the night there again. I don't know how these people sleep through the constant noise! The fact that I was sick made it even more unbearable. Here's a rundown of a night's “sleep”... Although everyone's still up, since I can't understand most of what's being said I decide it's time to hit the bed. There' two kids and a baby and I had the brilliant idea of giving the kids a couple cheap video games. Although you can kill the sound on them, they don't and do play with them almost constantly. Although the baby is pretty good, it's a baby and does have it's moments as well. Then everyone finally goes to bed at I would guess midnight. For some unknown reason, an alarm goes off at 4am and Margaritas sister and her husband then have a conversation for a couple hours. In between all that you also have the dogs. The occasional pack of barking dogs roams the neighborhood I guess. Then there's the Roosters... I really have no love at all for them unless they're fried. That crowing at sunrise thing is a croc. They crow whenever another one crows. There must be 100 roosters around there because once one crows, the keep it going for hours on end. How people can sleep through it is a mystery to me. Then when I finally get to sleep at maybe around 7am, at 8am someone turns on the stereo really loud to this really bad music. I like most latino music but man this one grates my nerves. So I have paper stuffed in my ears but to no avail. I've spent then night now at both sisters and the experience has been similar so if I have to stay there again, I'm going to have to find some shooters ear muffs first!!
Not much new here but I did run into Brian's girlfriend Cecelia at the Super Mercado today. I also saw another guy from Guanaja I know last time I was there. For a “big” city, you would be surprised how often you have that happen!
01/11/08 - Another boring day in paradise! Not much going on but I'm planning on heading into town tomorrow to meet up with a few other non-Hondurans (gringos) for lunch. It's a good way to learn about this place and what goes on plus I get to meet new people that may help me out with future endeavors down here.
01/10/08 - My nose actually feels normal now and hasn't bled for two days so I decided to skip the clinic and see what happens when nature takes its course. Hopefully it's healing up now! We did head into town today and I grabbed more supplies for the casa (house) and we also did lunch at a beachside bar that had pretty good food.
Life living this far away from things is starting to get to us I'll have to say. The two resorts near us close their restaurant/bars at 6 during the week and 8 on weekends so there's not much to do. Now I'm pretty glad this is only a 1 month rental!
I talked to my buddy Brian (owns the place where my cabana is) the day before yesterday and he wants me to come out and finish the house so he can rent it out but I have mixed feelings about a trip out there right now. I'm waiting for him to tell me he has a rental to pay for my trips expenses out there and he's waiting for me to come out and connect the electric (one day job at most) before renting so we're kind of at a stalemate for now. Not to mention he tells me he's having the worst winter ever so you know he's going to rent his units out before mine. Then there's the problem with my nose and the fact that there's no hospital out there so I may be headed out later rather than sooner. I do have other intentions out there though which include looking at a piece of beach that's for sale so if I can get a week without bleeding, I'll be heading out. While out there, Margarita wants to go back to San Juan to visit her family so that works too.
For those interested, below are a couple shots of where I use the internet.
01/09/08 - I was planning on heading to town at some point today to get some medical attention for me nariz (nose). I also need to grab a couple groceries as well. It turns out though that Jim is heading near the hospital tomorrow and it hasn't bled yet today so I'm going to do the trip tomorrow instead.
My buddy Charley out on Guanaja called today and tells me his brother here in Ceiba may have an apartment to rent in town which may be more convenient. I'll have to give him a call later this week.
01/08/08 - We decided to head to the beach today so walked a very short distance from our villa over to a lot that accesses the beach. That's when I started to realize we should stay on the part where the resorts are. Not that anyone approached up but I've heard stories about people getting robbed on beaches in the past so we headed over to Villa Helens Resort for a beer and beach. The fact here on the mainland is that there's lots of poor people so even if you don't get robbed, you're going to constantly get bugged by kids for money even at the resorts bar. I guess Guanaja has one up on the mainland beaches there!
One more note... Margarita was feeling sorry for a couple kids there so ordered them a hamburger. The owner found out and to say the least wasn't happy with her. I tried to explain that she just felt sorry for them but the owner then explained that if you do that for them, they'll tell their friends and next thing you know, there'll be a line of kids waiting for a sandwich. I guess she has a point but still am glad Margarita cares about people less fortunate than her and also am glad they got to split the burger and fries!
One final thing... although I thought I had the nosebleed thing fixed, tonight after blowing my nose I had a really bad bleed so am planning on heading to a different hospital tomorrow to see what's the deal.
01/07/08 - I'm off to the store today to get supplies for the months stay here in the villa. Getting to the mall where the ATM and market is involves walking about a half mile up the dirt road to the main road so I can catch a bus to town. I like the bus since it costs 12L ($0.70) instead of $15! I catch a bus no problem and hop off at the mall. There I grab some cash then give it to the Super Mercado for a load of groceries. I brought a backpack to carry them but that wasn't gonna do. So I know I can't get all that on a bus so hail a cab. In typical Honduran taxi fashion, I got a really high price of 400L first then came to an agreement of 200L ($10) for the trip. Once at the villa, I then get what I'm used to again. He says now it's 250L and I apparently misunderstood him. I'll bet he took the rest of the day off after getting a fare like mine! Next time I'm bringing a big bag so I can take the 12L bus instead!
01/06/08 - Back in Ceiba we grabbed a bus to Sambo Creek which is near where the villa is. The Sambo Creek bus turned out to be a big pain since the guy drove REALLY slow and stopped about a hundred times. Took over an hour to get to Sambo Creek then I wanted to get off at the big restaurant by the road and get a cheap taxi to the villa but the bus driver said he would get us close and we could walk. I thought that sounded like a bad idea since I kinda know the area and it's quite a walk from Sabo to the villa but Margarita said it was good so we did it. It turns out the gringo knows more than the locals since it was a long walk (at least a mile) which involved also walking over three decrepit old railroad bridges but we got back no problems.
Since we hadn't had time previously to go to the market we had no food so I decided to do Villa Helens Resort for dinner and a couple drinks. Margaritas stomach was upset so passed on that and I brought her back a plate. While at dinner with Jim and Cathryn (owners of my villa), I also met an Italian guy from Massachusetts who lives in El Salvador and has the largest fishing fleet in Honduras. He was a very interesting guy with lots of stories so he and I ended up closing the bar there!
Below are a couple pics inside and outside the villa.
01/05/08 - Checking out of the Hotel Paris today and heading for a Villa I found for rent outside town. It's expensive at $400 a month but it's supposedly totally furnished and next to the beach so worth a shot. The place includes cable, wireless internet in the villa and access to a pool at the resort next to it. It's pretty far off the main road (maybe ½ mile) but the owner says lots of people come and go so no problem getting to the main road and town.
We get a ride to the villa by the owners who own a bed and breakfast across the street. We check the place over and although it's really a small place, I quickly take it since I'm tired of looking for an apartment and we're in a bit of a hurry to get out of town to her family in San Juan. We throw the luggage into the villa and hop a ride up to the main road to catch a bus that will take us to the main bus terminal where we grab another to San Juan. The buses can be noisy, crowded and hot but are really cheap and starting to be my preferred mode of transportation due to the cheap cost.
The bus trip to San Juan Pueblo was uneventful and we hoofed it op to her sister Rosas house where the gathering for her fathers passing anniversary was taking place. There was probably at least 40 people in that small lot and they cooked a big spread of rice with chicken, and tostadas, pan (sweet bread),and coffee. It was a pleasant occasion and lasted throughout the night. Once again, I didn't get much sleep due to the party and chickens but woke early, we had breakfast and were off to Ceiba again.
On a final note, my nose is still bleeding and worse now than before since I think the doctor actually made vanes bleed that were ok before I went there. I'm going to try and get it under control myself before going back to a place hat obviously doesn't know what they're doing!
01/02/08 to 01/04/08 - We didn't do too much these past days although a problem arose that I thought was gone. Last trip down I had some really bad nosebleeds but once back home, they stopped so forgot about having that checked out. Anyway, they started back up again and on the 3rd I went to the hospital here to get the thing hopefully fixed. I got there around 4pm and the doc apparently only works from 7-10am so they had to call him in. He takes me back to his office and takes a look inside and says I have some bad vanes. No kidding. Anyway, I'm not making this next part up. He pours some alcohol in the sink and lights it then heats up a bent out paperclip to sterilize it. At this point I probably should have run like hell but I really want my nose fixed so stuck around. Next he puts some cotton in my nose with what's supposed to be an antiseptic but who really knows. Then using the paperclip, he dips it in a chemical and cauterizes the vanes. I would guess he did about 6 total although I think I only had problems with one deep bleeder. This will come up again later. I paid the $75 bill and headed home. That was hopefully my excitement and pain for the week.
On a more somber note, on the 5th we plan to head back to San Juan for the night since it's the one year anniversary of Margaritas fathers death and they have a big gathering for those things.
01/01/08 - Woke up this morning bright and early not totally by choice! Actually I never really slept much since fireworks occasionally went off all night and into today. Not to mention that roosters don't crow at sunrise like some may think. They pretty much do it all night long and when one does, then the next has to follow. Al the way around the neighborhood and just when you think they've tired out, another starts it all over again! It's definitely a change from living up in Ohio in a “big” city.
Anyway, we ate breakfast with Margaritas family then grabbed a bus back to Ceiba. Time to make a decision soon about where to stay since the Hotel Paris is getting expensive and we're not even staying there every night!
12/31/07 - Today we decided to grab a bus to San Juan Pueblo where Margarita is from to spend New Years with her sister Maria & husband and kids. Got there no problem and had dinner with the family. Below is a picture of Margarita helping with the dinner prep. At about 8:30, the power started to go on and off then finally off and the second pic below is hanging out with no power. We decided to take a nap since there's not much to do there in the dark so set an alarm on Margaritas phone for about 11pm so I could call friends back home at midnight Eastern time. Well... we awoke to lots of fireworks and knew something was up! Her alarm didn't go off and we all slept through midnight! At that point, there really was no reason to get up so just went back to sleep. That's undoubtedly one of the most odd New Years I've ever had!
12/30/07 - Today I woke but was moving pretty slowly still! Then I get a call from Margarita saying she's in LaCeiba and wants to know when I'll be at the bus terminal to meet her. That was surprise she got here so quick so I grab an expensive cab and meet her no problem. After thinking briefly about it, I decided to eat the 2 days rent I gave for the deposit at Coco Pando and head for the Grand Hotel Paris. It's one of the more expensive hotels in LaCeiba (approx $45 a night) but worth it if you're not staying long term since it's centrally located, has good food at the restaurant (same food for room service) and also has free wireless internet and satellite tv. After getting “gringo'd” several times on cabs, I finally got checked out of Pando and into Paris.
12/29/07 - Mom and Dad drove me to the airport really early (thanks doesn't quite do it!!) for my flight that left Columbus (OH) at 6:20am. Some day I'm going to have to find a flight that leaves at a more reasonable hour! Anyway, I usually go Cleveland/Houston/San Pedro Sula (Honduras) but this time I decided to try something a little different and go Columbus/Newark/San Pedro. It seemed like it should be about the same but I actually landed in SAP at around 1:15 pm. That's bad because I needed to catch a bus to LaCeiba at 2 pm and I knew that was going to be impossible by the time I got through customs. Believe it or not though I got through pretty quick and got to the bus office located in SAP airport at about 1:50. In my bad Spanish I asked if I could catch the bus but they said it was sold out. So now I catch a taxi to the Hedman Alas bus terminal and get a ticket for 6pm trip to LaCeiba. I decided to use the bus this time instead of a plane for two reasons. First, it's the holidays and flights here are really screwed up this time of year and second, the first class air conditioned Mercedes bus is $15 and the no air conditioning hot plane is $60!
So now I have time to kill in San Pedro so I decided to go buy a SIM chip for my $150 used ebay Verizon World Phone. It's supposedly unlocked which supposedly makes it work here. What's cool about a World Phone is it works on CDMA in the US with my Verizon account and when here, I'm supposed to be able to put in a prepaid chip and switch to GSM. Well... that didn't work. I went to a shop that sells phones and chips and had them put in a chip. No work. So I don't fell like messing with it and just buy a cheap Motorola cell with chip for around $35. I guess the World Phone is going back on ebay when I get home!
So now I'm finally on the bus and headed for LaCeiba. It's a great ride with reclining seats you could easily sleep in, a movie on the small tv (need your own headphones) and even had complimentary cokes and a sandwich! The ride took about 2-1/2 hours but went by pretty quickly.
Once in LaCeiba, I grabbed a cab and headed for the Coco Pando where I had reservations for 4 days (check out on the 2nd). The cab takes me down this unlit road a LONG way before we finally find the resort. Anyway, I checked in no problems and grabbed some food at the bar then hit the bed since it was a really long day! I'm the only one staying here so I guess no one will be bothering me! Tomorrow Margarita will meet up with me and stay a couple days before we go see her family for New Years.
Since I spent a month in an apartment at Diving Pelican Inn in Sambo Creek which is next to Hotel Canadien and Villa Helens, I thought I would put this review together to help anyone who is considering staying at one of the three places. First off, all three are located about 10 miles outside LaCeiba at the end of a really long (approx ½ mile) dirt road off the main road going to LaCeiba. Although people say it's not hard getting a ride from one of the resorts to the main road, they're scarce from what I found during my one month stay. That means you have to walk the long distance to the road then catch a bus for approx 15L to Ceiba. Otherwise, you could also have your resort call you a cab but I've found those run at least 1000L one way and usually much more. If you plan on spending your whole stay at the resort without leaving though, you don't need to worry about any of that! All three resorts have beach access and it's nothing special with the same beach for all three so I won't mention that again below in the reviews. I have a prepaid Honduran Tigo phone which rarely gets a signal here so that's worth noting as well. The cable TV is a pirated satellite feed a guy provides to two of the three of these resorts and it's really intermittent with only a few English speaking channels and they go out often so if you're a TV addict, you're gonna be out of luck here if you don't speak Spanish!
Now for what's offered at each of the three resorts...
Villa Helens is the least expensive at around $25US a night and has a restaurant, bar and small pool. I didn't like the fact that the restaurant/bar closes at 6pm most days and 8pm on weekends though. That's way too early and they won't stay open a little later no matter how many customers are in there! Makes no sense but it's a Honduran thing. Villa Helens does have wireless internet available though for 1L a minute and it worked well most times. They also offer Villas for rent by the month for $500 and I got a look in one. They're really large with a living room, bedroom and kitchen and are supposed to be fully furnished although a buddy staying inn one had to buy pans and silverware so he could cook there.
Hotel Canadien is the medium priced place at around $45US a night. They have the nicest layout of the three with several large pools and a nice poolside bar. Their place is also the most secure of the three with guards and fences surrounding the whole complex. There is no internet or TV available and in this remote place, that could add to the boredom if you need something to keep you entertained. If you need internet though, just walk next door to Villa Helens and use theirs for 1L/min. The restaurant had the best food of the three and prices are reasonable with most dinner items costing around $10US although they also close at 7:30pm which is really early for a guy like me who is a late night person. It is worth mentioning though that I get good Tigo cell signal when up in the restaurant. It's pretty much the only place I can make a reliable clear call here!
The Diving Pelican Inn is the most expensive of the three at $60 a night and is a bed and breakfast with no restaurant or bar. They do have a self serve honor fridge though with beers, soft drinks and juices and the prices are cheap. They also offer breakfast to their guests for $4 and though I never took him up on it, the menu choices of omelets, American style sausage and more sounded really good! There is no pool at the Diving Pelican although you can use the one at Villa Helens for a small fee if desired. There was internet for most of my stay but then they had problems with it so now no longer offer to their customers. That may change in the future though and they may offer again. Jim was really accommodating and a ride to town was usually no problem although there usually wasn't room for the return trip so we would have to take a bus which can be a real pain depending on the time of day and which one you happen to get. Jim and Cathryn also rent a small (I mean small!) one room villa here for $400 a month and that's where I stayed. It has AC and is fully furnished although I did have to buy a couple small items. We never used the AC though since it was cool the whole time (January). Some pics of this Villa are below if interested.
REVIEW OF THE GRAND HOTEL PARIS (LA CEIBA)...
Whenever in La Ceiba I like staying there although it's not cheap by Honduran standards costing $45 a night. The staff is friendly and several can speak English. The rooms aren't bad and they have a nice bar/pool area. They also have free wireless internet and a decent restaurant that I've never had problems with (stomach, etc...) no matter what I eat. If choosing a room though, I prefer the poolside ones since they're a little larger and nicer than the street side ones and the poolside have an extra door out to where you can set and people watch or whatever. As for the restaurant, it's worth noting that I ordered Fillet with Mushrooms three different times in one week (I obviously like it) and it was different all three times. Apparently there are many cooks or something. The hamburger isn't recommended but that's the case for most places in Honduras! Overall though it's a good secure place to stay and is centrally located so is highly recommended especially for first time visitors!
June 2008 Trip to Honduras
January 2008 in LaCeiba, Honduras
The Cabana I built out on Guanaja, Honduras in 2006/2007