SF to Panama... eventually

Roatan really is an island paradise, covered with jungle and surrounded by placid, crystal-clear water. Or maybe I just hallucinated it that way because the prophylactic antimalarial drugs gave me really strange, vivid dreams. Nope, the pictures confirm it.

We left our bikes in La Ceiba at the ferry departure:



Wrecked ships litter the harbor:



We went straight to the West End and found a cool suite with three beds, kitchen, balcony with hammock, and view of the ocean. $50/night was a bargain.



One of these days I will take pictures of hotel rooms *before* we mess them up.





Of course, our second order of business was FOOD. We kept going back to this restaurant. The pictures will explain why.





Here Nir discovers that you're supposed to take the shell off of the shrimp before eating it!



Some restaurants had nonpaying customers:





Of course, what we were there for was the diving. Nir got his open water cert while Gavin and I explored the reefs. There is a coral-covered wall just a stone's throw away from shore; none of the boat rides were longer than 5 minutes.



One of the people diving with us had a good underwater camera rig:













Checking out a turtle:







This spotted eagle ray hung out around the docks a lot:



We did a night dive and saw many foraging octopi. This was during a huge lightning storm. At one point we turned off the lights, sat on the sea floor, and watched the lightning flashes illuminate the whole seafloor. It was surreal.



I love diving, but I have to admit that I wasn't really impressed by the reefs of Roatan. I saw turtles and octopi and lots of coral but there wasn't as much fish life as I have seen diving in other tropical places. Maybe I am just spoiled. On the plus side visibility was great and the water was nice and warm.

The best dive was on a wreck called the Aguila. It was inhabited by several gigantic groupers (each probably outmassing me) that showed a surprising amount of curiosity. Plus I was able to swim through the engine room and one of the cargo holds, which was a first for me. There are several pictures of the Aguila and the Odyssey (which I also dove) on this page.

I gotta post another picture of the king crab. I did find one of these things underwater during the night dive, it was kinda cute. But not so cute that I won't eat them. Too delicious.

Great diving photos! Must include diving as something I need to take up at some point.

I put a pirelli mt21 on before my trip to Puerto Vallarta (from Portland, OR) and yup, at 3000 miles, the rear tire looking like it's on its way out.

I need to slow down on the ruins... "I went to Copan, I took these pictures, no I didn't buy a tshirt". It's not fair, Copan is beautiful! But after Monte Albán, Mitla, Teotihuacán, the Templo Mayor, Malinalco... I don't know if I ever need to see another ball court.

A flock of wild Macaws lives there:







Compare the picture on the one-lempira note:



With this scene:



The most remarkable feature of Copan is a tall staircase whose steps have all been carved with pictographs. Nothing else like this has been discovered in the Mayan world. Unfortunately most steps are no longer legible.



My favorite piece, a sacrifice stone. Human blood once dripped down the curved channels.



Copan was built right next to a bend in a river, which over the centuries has been eroding the ancient city. Before the government of Honduras rerouted the river, it had destroyed nearly half of the remains. What's left is still impressive.

I was *elated* to return to Guatemala.

Honduras is, hands down, my least favorite country in Central America. It is a reasonably pretty country by world standards and makes a better vacation destination than, say, Kansas. However, the only parts that I found remarkable were the well-touristed bay islands. There are no pretty colonial cities and few trees left near any of the populated areas.

It may be that I have been soured by my frequent interaction with the bureaucracies of Honduras. Entering twice, exiting twice, ferry parking, and receiving a shipped part is enough to make me wish for a new civil war down there. The customs process is a nightmare that makes every story you've heard about the Interamericana border crossing look as simple as ordering pizza. If a professional delivery guy had not taken pity and raced me all over town in the final few minutes before closing, your humble narrator would have been stuck in Tegucigalpa - my least favorite city in my least favorite country - for yet another weekend. Of course they like to pile on storage charges while they're jerking you around, so it should not surprise anyone that it took them a couple days to return my repeated phone calls and get the process started at nearly the last possible moment.

While individual Hondurans are pretty nice, the culture of bureaucracy manifests every so often to ruin your impression. All malls and shopping centers have separate parking for motorcycles, far in the back. The lot can be *completely empty* but if you pull your big shiny motorcycle into one of the convenient spots, five guards will immediately pounce on you and tell you that you need to move. Once, upon discovering that the motorcycle area was a dark, unwatched recess in the back of an underground garage, I got in a shouting match with the manager. He acquiesced only after making sure I was just running into a fast-food joint to get some breakfast to go.

In civilized countries, special motorcycle parking is in front.

If this lack of proper respect for the two-wheeled altar does not put you off the country, consider this: Honduras is the only country in Central America where American-style fast-food chains dominate over mom-and-pop comedores.

You have GOT to be kidding me!!! That hurts. I'm a NATIVE--Topeka rocks!!

I think becoming soured by circumstances simply happens from time to time. It's not like you flew from the States to a resort area and hung out for a week at the beach, where you would be catered to. Had you done so, Honduras maybe rates 5 stars, who knows. But the motorcycle parking in the back does seem ridiculous!

These are the folks I try to remember and not the unpleasant ones, but it's so hard to forget when you get ripped off or taken advantage of!

Still, I'll bet there's a couple hundred folk reading who wouldn't mind trading places with you. Remember where you are and what you're doing...you could be in Kansas!!!!
:eek1

I hope that didn't come across as too sour, a lot if it was tongue-in-cheek! I did have a good time, despite the annoyances, and Roatan was great. I met some wonderful people, including the guy at the KTM shop in San Pedro Sula that led me across town to a tire shop looking for something that would fit.

However, compared to neighboring countries (especially Guatemala), I don't see much reason to go back to Honduras!

In all seriousness, my only memory of driving across Kansas is... CORN

I can't talk, I visited Copan and then drove to Tegu, stayed one night and was in Costa Rica the next day. Must spend more time there. Corn? That was Iowa. Wheat is what we have in Kansas! It's so much prettier.

There was an RR awhile back that inspired me to go search Kansas more closely. Pony Express Trail and lots of old west history. Though it was pretty neat. And western Kansas is not without it's fine roads. ;-)

i completely agree with you!

btw, not that this helps now, but just over in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala you can find any size tires you're looking for. cheap!
plus riding into PB on an adventure bike, you're an instant hero!! and it's exactly the feeling you need after the headache that is Honduras.

After a night in Chiquimula, we arrived in Guatemala City. The roads were quite exciting; heavy rainfall created many landslides so we were dodging both large rocks and heavy earthmoving equipment in the road.

Guatemala Provided us a desperately-needed KTM/Ducati shop. Both my KTM and Gavin's Multistrada went in for service and I got a new MT90 rear tire. The shop itself was hard to find, having recently moved and changed its name. The shop is now called Motomania and located at N 14°35'31.8" W 90°30'29.5". If you plan on getting service in Guatemala, remember these GPS coordinates - you will not find a reliable address anywhere online. Even their <a href="http://www.motomania.com.gt/">website</a> is nothing but a header and lorem ipsum.

In Guatemala City, Gavin made the decision to suspend his motorcycle trip indefinitely. He left his bike at Motomania for repairs and flew back to the US. The reasons are myriad; work responsibilities were pressing and greencard-related issues complicated the situation, but most of all he just wasn't enjoying the riding. Before we parted ways in Tabasco we were already arguing over routes; Gavin has started at least one description of our travels with "Of course, Jeff needed to take the worst possible route..." I do not argue with this characterization. It's what I love.

In truth, what is fun on a KTM or a KLR may not be so much fun on a Ducati. I think also that Gavin's emotional ability to enjoy the trip was damaged significantly by his accident. In any case, it was probably best for our mutual long-term sanity to part ways. I will look forward to riding again with Gavin back in the US, but for now I am fortunate that Nir shares my enthusiasm for crumbling pavement and came shod for the adventure.

The story picks up a couple new characters here. Scott, my close friend and business partner who briefly visited us in Guanajuato, has started a year of backpacking in an erratic pattern that will ultimately end in Argentina. He met us in Antigua and spent some time traveling with us by bus, catching up at various points. Also, my dear friend and roommate Jenny flew in to Guatemala for a week.

I skipped Antigua on the way down so I'm glad I visited on the way back. Antigua may be the prettiest city in Central America. It's like a living museum, chock-full of well-preserved colonial buildings, decaying old churches, nice restaurants, and (naturally) tourists. Strangely, I took very few pictures.

Public washbasins from time past:



Decaying monastery:





The monastery includes a basement into which we could almost lock Scott and Jenny:



We stayed at the Jungle Party Hostel. One night was "ladies night", which involved sharply discounted drinks for ladies or at least people dressed like ladies:



Antigua also marked the beginning of the Israeli Invasion. Somehow I failed to notice this before. If you owned a hotel or a restaurant in Guatemala and had never seen a globe, you would be absolutely convinced that:

1. Israel is the biggest nation on the planet.

2. Israelis only live to the age of 30, at which point they presumably vanish in some sort of dark ceremony like Logan's Run.

Actually, Israel has mandatory military service for all men (3 years) and women (2 years). They get out of the army around age 21 with a small cache of savings and a lot of time to contemplate what next to do with their lives. Most grow their hair out and travel. This sometimes leads to a bad rep among other tourists because they tend to travel in large groups, party hard, and speak Hebrew to each other; however, nearly all Israelis speak good English and all the ones I met were quite personable.

Nir has taught me some essential Hebrew phrases:

Phrase Translation

Ma'amitzov! What's up!?

Sababa OK

Effo ha 'hatooleya? Where is the street food?*

* Literally, "where is the place they sell cat meat?"

You would be surprised how useful this is to know.

Scott and Jenny took a bus to Panajachel while Nir and I found a backroad that cut more or less directly from Antigua to Pana. It was wet.





We spent a couple nights each in Pana and San Pedro. Surprise surprise, San Pedro has several great Israeli restaurants. I recommend the eggplant in sweet soya sauce at Zoola, or the hummus anywhere!

We also kayaked from San Pedro to San Marcos:







San Marcos is a famous hippie haven. This sign advertises classes in Meditation, Tarot, Kabalah, Astral Travelling, and "Esoteric Studies"... uh, yeah. I'll stick with the motorcycle.



As if the day had not been quite exciting enough, we crossed back directly across the lake despite choppy water and a threatening storm:



In keeping with my strict policy of "Every 10 months whether it needs it or not" I finally washed my ride suit!



This was the end of Jenny's trip; she took a shuttle back to Guate and flew back home, where she is hopefully preventing my friends from burning down my apartment in one last great raging party before I get back.

Wow. I've been on the road a little over three weeks and I'm (thankfully) having my jacket washed tomorrow. It smells like wild animals have been birthed in it. Several generations.

A few major downpours will fix that right up for ya

Jeff

hi jeff,

thanks for the ride report---I find myself checking it every 3 or 4 days. it's addictive.

I'm planning a trip for myself similar to yours for next year. I'll be using my husqvarna sm610...can't wait and I'm learning so much by reading your RR.

do you actually use the GPS? I was planning on not taking one...or do you find yourself asking the locals more than using the GPS?

mikebikeboy

Thanks man... you're going to have one hell of a great time. People are going to come out of nowhere all the time asking what that pretty bike is. I haven't seen a single husky on this trip!

Aside from bike and armor, the GPS is the single most important piece of kit I brought. I cannot imagine what this trip would be like without it... actually I can, because the Zumo is unfortunately not a very durable piece of equipment and I spent several weeks with it only partially operable. It was hell. Even with imperfect or nonexistant maps, a GPS lets you get off the main highways and still be confident you're heading in roughly the right direction.

Seriously, if you are like me and prefer the most obscure route possible between point A and point B, bring a GPS and load it with as many map sets as you can find. I'm quite happy with the Bicimapas, it has a *lot* of little dirt roads in Mexico. I wish I had discovered smellybiker.com maps before I got to Panama rather than after. Neither map set is perfect but combined with paper maps (get the Guia Roji book for Mex/Guate/Belize) you can usually find a pretty good adventure and still make progress towards your eventual destination.

I found that the better my maps, the more adventure I had. Wandering around and backtracking gets old after a while so when my maps were terrible I tended to stick to bigger roads. You can ask people too but (like the maps) they often have no idea what they're talking about but speak with absolute authority, so this is certainly no substitute for maps.

I have a love/hate relationship with the Zumo and I'm not sure I would buy it again. I love the feature set and I am reasonably happy with the user interface but the construction quality is very poor. I've already replaced one cradle, the 2nd is on its way out, and the main unit is rapidly self-destructing - two buttons have already popped out. It cannot handle a year on the road. Very disappointing for a $700 piece of equipment.

If you need anything while in Guatemala, let me know.... 5701-1658.


Ride safe!

Thanks! But I'm actually catching up the story from a hostel in Mexico City. Sad to say but within two weeks I will be home

Jeff

Jeff,

Thanks a lot for the feedback on the GPS idea. You've pretty much sold me on it, that the better my mapping situation is, the more adventure I'll have. I definitely want to be traveling off the beaten track as much as possible. And I can also just picture the situation of relying on people for directions---how that could end up being a big Debbie Downer. Everyone would have different opinions and think they are right, because they are trying to help and just want to be the one that is your navigational hero.

I checked out that smellybiker site too and that looks great. Nothing better than a product made by someone who's sick of the most well known GPS provider. It seems to have a bit of an "open source" vibe about it too which always appeals to me...(why I got the google g1 instead of the iphone)

About the Husky...I bought it a few months ago with street riding only in mind and had been thinking a DR650 would be the steed for the Latin American trip...however the more I ride the Husky the more I feel it'd do just find on a big trip.

Thanks again for your advice on the GPS and hope you have a safe finale to your amazing trip.

Luck,

mikebikeboy

Jeff, first of all I have really enjoyed your RR and have taken copious notes just in case I'm fortunate enough to follow in your tracks some day. As far as the Zumo goes, I have the non-locking Touratech mount that seems much more durable than the OEM piece. It has several rubber isolators and it hasn't failed me yet...although my excursions to date pale in comparison to yours.



Safe journey home...