Ometepe, San Juan Del Sur, and Madeiras......

     From Grenada, we headed South along Lake Nicaragua and took a ferry to the island of Ometepe.  The island was formed by two volcanoes.  One of which is still active.  The hour long ferry ride over was pretty choppy and it was hard not to get seasick.  Once on the island, we checked into a hostel and had a look around town.  Pretty basic, small town.  Nothing special, but the view of the volcano was amazing.  We had pizza for dinner that night and you wouldn't expect it in a small town in Central America, but the pizza was pretty darn good!  The next day we rented a motorcycle and set out with the lofty goal of riding around the whole island that day.  Turns out that more than half of the road that runs along the perimeter of the island isn't even paved.  So, we started out going around the Southern part of the island around the little volcano and would decide later about going around the North shore later.  The ride was fun and we saw a lot of wildlife.  I already mentioned how the road wasn't paved so it was slow going around most of the Southern route.  The road go almost impassable at some points!
     By the time we made it back to paved road, we were pretty tired and worn out.  We pulled into a little freshwater swimming hole called ....... to cool off and relax.  We hung out for awhile until we got hungry and decided to head back to the other main town on the island to get a bite to eat.  Unfortunately for us, it was Sunday and the whole darn island pretty much shuts down on Sundays.  We couldn't find a place to eat anywhere.  We decided to head back to our little town of Moyogalpa and grab a bite there.  Nope.  Everything was shut down there, as well.  We found one restaurant open and had a couple sandwiches there.  Not very tasty, but thankful for the meal.
     We were pretty much done with the island and itching for some beach time so we decided to move on to San Juan Del Sur on the Pacific side of the country.  On the ferry back to the mainland, we met some girls who were also heading to San Juan so we all split a taxi.  Seven dollars each for a forty minute cab ride.  Not to shabby.  In no time at all we were in San Juan and found a bottom dollar hostel right across from the beach for only sixteen US a night.  It wasn't the best place but is wasn't the worst.  Over the next couple days the town grew on us.  There was a gym for me and yoga for Nicole.  Also, a friend of a friend owns a restaurant there.  Great burger place.  We went there to eat and ran into him there.  I reintroduced myself and we chatted for a bit.  Then he offered to take us surfing at the beach just South of San Juan.  I didn't know it until we got there, but there is no actual surf in San Juan Del Sur.  It's actually a natural cove with cliffs on either side of the beach.  To surf you actually have to leave town and find a different beach.
     The next day we went surfing at Hermosa beach.  The waves were nice and it was later in the day so we were in the water as the sun was beginning to set.  I was actually able to stand up on the board I rented which was a big deal for me.  I'm still a beginner surfer and the waves were perfect size for my skill level.  I was able to get up a couple of times and was very happy about that.  Nicole was also able to use the board for a little bit and ride the whitewash in a couple of times.  Unfortunately, when Nicole was walking out of the water, she stepped on and got stung by a stingray.  At first she thought it was a crab but as the pain set in and didn't leave, everybody was pretty sure it was a stingray.  Right on the bottom of her foot, too!  She was a trooper, though.  Didn't complain once!  The local remedy is to heat up some tree sap and put it on the wound.  Then soak the area in hot water.  With help from the local bartender, we did all that then got her 500mg of ibuprofin and a rum and coke.  All of that helped but I could tell she was still in pain.  My friend drove us back to our hostel and we thought we would try and get some sleep but the owner of the hostel said we should go to the local hospital for a shot.  The pain from the sting would go away with time but a shot of lydacaine would numb the pain for the night.  And..... it was free.  Free health care in Nicaragua.  We hopped in a taxi and got a ride to the hospital.  Luckily, it was about eight blocks away.  I told the cab driver not to wait for us as I had no idea how long we would be in there.  We were in and out in ten minutes!  Fastest hospital visit ever!  Nicole said it was worth the trip as her foot felt a million times better within minutes of receiving the shot.
     I couldn't flag down a cab after we left the hospital so I ended up carrying Nicole to a pizza place near our hostel, then on to the hostel after dinner.  Can you tell we like pizza? 




     We stayed in town a couple more days to let Nicole's foot heal up a bit then headed just North to Playa Madeiras.  Literally, just a mile or so North.  We decided to pamper ourselves for a couple days and get an "expensive" thirty dollar a night room.  The place looked nice, was near a surfer beach, and had a pool. It turns out that Hotel Madeiras is part of a turtle conservation program and we were lucky enough to be staying with them while turtle eggs were hatching!  Our first night there we got to go to the beach at sunset and help release about seventy turtle hatchlings!  The we liked the hotel so much we decided to stay an extra night.  We ended up staying three nights total.  In the three days we were there, we helped release turtles a couple times(me twice and Nicole three times), and hiked to the surf beach and beyond a couple times.  Beyond the main surf beach was a series of smaller beaches all separated by rock outcroppings.  Each successive beach was more remote with almost no people on them.  It was absolutely beautiful beach!  After about three days at Madeiras, we decided it was time to move on.  We packed our stuff, caught the shuttle to San Juan Del Sur, and hopped a bus headed for Costa Rica......

Grenada

     From Jiquilillo we caught a series of buses all the way down to Grenada and instantly fell in love with the place.  The city is an old Colonial settlement so all the buildings are.... well..... Colonial.  Much like Charleston S.C.  On the outside the buildings all have a kind of flat exterior and are all two story.  Once you get inside, they are amazing!  The ceilings are all between twelve and eighteen feet high and most buildings have a second story of some sort.  The buildings are all kind of square with huge rooms around the perimeter and usually have a central "garden" area in the middle that the house surrounds.  When you walk down the street, you can kind of peek into hotels, or peoples houses and get a glimpse of some old architecture and beautiful gardens.

     We stayed in a hostel downtown not far from the city's central park.  It was a decent cheap hostel but turned out to be sort of a party place.  The problem was that the main socializing table was right outside our door and the windows to our room were just screens.  There wasn't any noise buffer at all.  A few nights we didn't get much sleep due to the late night crowd but the last few nights were okay as the drinking crowd had moved on.

     Staying at the hostel included a free weeks membership to a local gym a few blocks away.  The name of the place is PURE.  We ended up going every day we were there as we liked it so much.  I hit the weights and treadmill every day and Nicole did either yoga or a "bootcamp" workout.  I ended up doing the bootcamp workout with Nicole on our last day there and man oh mister!  Man, that was a hard class!  I haven't worked out that hard in a long time.  For cardio, at least!  We also took a chocolate making class at the gym.  We ended up taking raw cacao beans and roasting them, grinding them, and adding raw sugar to make little chocolate balls.  They were a little bitter but still pretty tasty.  Turns out that unprocessed chocolate is actually pretty good for you.  Who knew?  The gym also had a pet turtle on the grounds.  Snoopy was his name.  I thought it was funny for a gym to have a pet turtle.

     While in Grenada, we went on a canopy zip line tour.  I think the pictures speak for themselves.

     Overall, we loved Grenada.  The people.  The food.  The gym.  The town.  The architecture.  I can definitely see myself visiting Grenada again.  It would be easy to head there and just relax for a few weeks to a month.

Jiquilillo, Nicaraqua

     We left Esteli early in the morning heading for Jiquilillo.  It was actually a pretty short trip as far as travel days go.  Esteli to Leon.  Leon to Chinendega.  Chinendega to Jiquilillo.  We were there by two in the afternoon.  We weren't sure what to expect from the town or the hostel but we were greeted with a warm welcome by the manager of the property we decided to stay at.  Rancho Esperanza.  We decided to stay there for at least one night and check out any other places to stay that might be better or cheaper.  Turns out this was one of the very few places in the village to stay.  And eat, for that matter.  There were only two other "restaurants" in the village and no place to buy groceries.  But... the rancho turned out to be a great spot.  Fifty yards from the beach, good food, friendly people, great little library, hammocks all over the place, and plenty of surfboards to rent. 
The set up kind of reminded me of the setup in that movie "The Beach".  The rancho is on three acres with a large, thatched roof "common room" as kind of the center of the property.  There is a loft area as a second floor in the common area that serves as a dorm area.    There were six beds up there.  That's where Nicole and I stayed as it was the cheapest and the rest of the rancho was full.  Downstairs were picnic tables for eating and board games, hammocks, a nice selection of books along one wall, and a cooler for the beer and sodas. The restrooms and showers were right next to the mainf lodge with the kitchen on the other side.  There were about twelve cabanas spread out along the property kind of in front of the main lodge.

     Everyone was usually up by six or seven getting an early start on the day.  After swimming, surfing, or jogging in the morning, it was time for breakfast then reading until you fell asleep in the hammock.  Wake up, have lunch, go take a walk on the beach, read until it's time for the evening surf session and watching the sunset.  Then dinner and board games until bed around ten or eleven.  Up early, to bed early, with lots of exercise and relaxing in between.  It was a great way to relax for two or three days.  After about three days, Nicole and I decided it was time to move on and see more of Nicaragua. 

On to Nicaragua.....

     We left Utilla on the early ferry at 6:30am.  One of the guys the Nicole dove with was also heading to Nicaragua with a friend of his so we all kind of stuck together as travel buddies.  Once we hit La Ceiba, we caught a taxi to the bus terminal and hopped an eight hour bus to Tegucigalpa.  Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, was a trip to say the least.  Coming into town we saw houses and slums(I think) on the sides of the mountains and hills that surrounded the town.  It reminded me of the movies I've seen that show the slums of Rio De Janeiro only on a smaller scale.  Once we got into town and off of the bus, we took a cab to our hotel(hostel) near the city center.  We checked in and went looking for some dinner.  We didn't want to seem like we were tagging along with the other couple so we went out a little before them.  Funny thing is, we all ended up at the same spots!  McDonalds(Nicole) and Burger King(me)  I know it sounds bad to eat fast food when you're on a trip in a different country, but when you're in a place where you have absolutely no idea if you will like the food that you ordered, it's nice to go eat where you know exactly what you're getting and how it will taste.  And that you like it!  So, fast food it was.  The next morning we woke up bright and early and caught a cab to a completely different bus terminal across town and headed for the border.  We had to go to a different bus terminal as not all buses arrive and depart from the same terminal.  Sometimes, depending on your destination, you have to get off of one bus and make an independent connection at a different terminal.  Confusing, right?  Luckily, the locals have always been very helpful.  Once we hit the border, it was time for exit fees and entrance fees.  We paid a couple dollars to leave Honduras then we paid thirteen dollars each to get into Nicaragua.  The most we've paid yet.  Then, about a hundred into the country, we had to pay another dollar for some other tax.  This is the first country that has done this.  We would later find out that this is fairly common.  We will be going somewhere and there will be an "entrance fee" of a dollar or so.  It's kind of a bummer as I felt like we were getting extorted at the border.  I know it's only a buck but you get tired of the feeling that you're getting ripped off.  Also, they say Nicaragua is the next Costa Rica.  Well they're quickly learning how to be efficient at getting money out of tourists.  This is quickly becoming the most expensive country we've been to.  Belize was only slightly more expensive.  If you really want cheap, go to Guatemala.  It's the new Nicaragua.  Okay, I'm done with my little rant.
   Once we got past our little shakedown, we boarded the only bus in sight which took us to the closest little border town possible.  From there, we transferred buses and headed for Esteli.  It was here that we lost our friends for a bit.  The bus was pulling out of the terminal and was literally waiting for Nicole to come back from the restroom so that we could leave.  For some reason our friends didn't get on.  They just stood there.  As soon as Nicole got on, the bus took off and we waved goodbye.  We saw them later and they explained that they felt rushed and were confused.  Turns out they caught an express bus to Esteli and beat us there.  We met up with them right when we got off of our bus and, again, went our separate ways.  The hostels we wanted to stay in were different places.  So, we parted ways.  We were sure we would run into them later.  We went to the hostel we wanted to stay at and it turned out to be full.  So we went to the next cheapest place.  Full.  Then another.  Too expensive.  We hiked all over that stupid town with heavy packs looking for a place but they were all either full, or cost double what we wanted to pay.  After taking a break and getting some dinner(pizza), we hiked back down to a place that had been "closed for dinner" to see if they had any vacancies.  Luckily, we got a room but you get what you pay for.  The room was very cheap, but so was the owner.  The room was literally the worst room I have ever stayed in.  Including some pretty bad places in Southeast Asia.  Also, they turned the showers off in the evening to save money on water.  I was not a happy camper.  That day was not the welcome I had expected from Nicaragua and I was more than a little upset.  Nicole and I decided that we had had enough of Esteli and would head to the Northwest corner of Nicaragua to a tiny village called jiquilillo(Hee-Koo-Lee-Oh)  There was supposed to be good surf and a quiet little hippy-ish hostel called Rancho Esperanza.  The next morning we checked out around 6:30am(sans shower) and made our way to the bus station.  We were on our way to get away from it all.....

Utila

After finally arriving in Utila, we made our way down the dock past all the touts trying to get us to their respective hotels and grabbed a tuk-tuk.  Our hotel was close but our bags were heavy and it had been a long day.  We decided to splurge on a hotel for Christmas so we booked a room at a hotel called the Lighthouse.  We weren't disappointed.  The hotel was built at the end of a short dock so it sat right over the water.  We had an ocean facing room with AC, TV, soft clean beds, a fridge, and a microwave.  After two months of low budget hostels, this place felt like the Ritz!  The owners were descendants of the original English colony settlers and told us a brief history of the island.  We stayed there for three nights then moved to another place on December 26th.
     We went to Utila because it's a great place to get Scuba certified.  Quick and reasonably cheap compared to most other places in the world.  Nicole wanted to get certified and this was a great opportunity to do so while we were down here.  Plus, I had always wanted to check out Utila so it was a win win situation.  Nicole chose the Utila College of Diving as her dive school.  Most dive schools offer free lodging if you get certified through them so we had free lodging for the seven remaining days we were there.  Also, the only gym on the island was located on that property, so I was happy about that.  They didn't have room in the main student housing so we were put in a "suite" in the lodge.  Although we didn't have any AC, the room was very nice with an enclosed deck, beautiful bathroom, and over the water so we fell asleep and woke up to the lapping of the waves on the beach.  In between Nicole's Basic Certification and advanced certification we had to do some room shuffling.  We actually had to move to a flea bag motel for one night then right back to the dive center.  Different room, though.  Not as nice but still thankful we had a room.  Tourist islands like that fill up for the holidays and with the new year happening, we were thankful to even have a room. 
     We didn't see much of the actual island of Utila as it doesn't have roads that go all the way around it.  We ventured a little ways past the edges of the main town but nothing too exciting.  We were there to dive, not explore.  Also, Utila isn't known for it's beaches so we had a lot of dock lounging time.  We did find one "beach" but it was riddled with trash and very shallow with a coral bottom.  Not ideal for swimming.  We mainly stuck to the dock outside of the dive school.
     I went on four dives with Nicole.  She had two free "fun dives" with each course so I joined her on those.  It was good to be back in the water.  One of them was a wreck dive which I had wanted to do for a long time.  However, we couldn't go in the wreck as that's a different certification.  It was an okay dive. 
     The main town on the island isn't much.  It's one long main road running parallel to the water with a couple streets jutting into the island.  It's tolerable when you're not almost getting hit by scooters, motorcycles, four wheelers, golf carts, and tuk-tuks.  There's no sidewalks on the narrow street so pedestrians share the road with all the other vehicles.  It was a nice visit but I can't say I was sad to leave.

Getting to Utila......

Here is the adventure known as "Getting to Utila.".  We thought we could take a ferry from Livingston, Guatemala to Utila, Honduras.  The travel book said we could, anyway.  Nope.  Not so.  Turns out the travel book was outdated and wrong.(About most things, we were finding out.)  Our only option was to take the land route. It started with a one hour ferry from Livingston to Puerto Barrio.  It was raining and a little cold but still felt good.  One of those times when you get wrapped up in the adventure of it all and appreciate feeling the wind and rain on your face.  We started early so we arrived in Puerto Barrio early.  We thought we might catch a ferry from there to Utila but, again, no dice.  We were going to stay the night there but then thought "Why not just see how far we can get today?".  As luck would have it, a microbus to the border stopped right in front of us right when we were contemplating carrying on.  We didn't hesitate and immediately jumped on the bus.  It was a 14 passenger vehicle.  At one point we had 26 people in the vehicle.  Well, not in.  More like in and around.  Both side doors were open with three or four people standing in the doorway either leaning in or holding on but mainly outside of the vehicle.  I was one of the people on the outside.  I had wanted to do that since starting this trip.  I still haven't ridden on top of a bus yet, but there's still plenty of time for that.  It was fun for awhile but then my arms started to get tired.  I got a little nervous when we were doing about 50mph while I'm hanging onto the outside of a wet bus.  Eventually, enough people got off that I could move to the inside.  After about a half hour, we reached the Guatemalan border and, for a small fee, our conductor(drivers' helper) when and got our exit stamps on our passports.  It saved us a lot of time.  Then we walked about 50 yards to get our entrance stamp into Honduras. 
     While waiting in line, three big buses pulled up and unloaded about fifty tourists that all needed entrance stamps as well.  Luckily, we didn't get there after them!  As we waited in line, two things happened.  First, it started to rain.  Hard.  Second, we realized that there were no cheap, local buses.  We were kind of stranded.  We asked one of the bus drivers of the bigger buses if we could get on with them but he said they were full.  The second driver we asked said no problem.  Whew!  But.... directly ahead of us in line were two Americans.  We struck up a conversation with them and it turns out they were driving all the way to Panama.  We asked if they were open to giving us a lift and they said no problem.  Awesome!  Lot's of space in a real car!  After getting through the border, we put our packs in the back of their Forerunner and we were off.  We made it about fifty yards before we had to pull over so the local police could check the paperwork on the car.  It was then that I hoped these guys weren't carrying anything illegal.  The police were really polite but there was a little communication breakdown.  Were pretty sure one of the guards was messing with us because he kept kind of grinning and talking fast.  Finally, he slowed down and asked us if we had anything to declare.  Like guns......  After all of us replying "NO" we were sent on our merry way. 
     We were on the road for about forty-five minutes when we came to a kind of traffic jam.  All the cars and trucks ahead of us were stopped and no traffic was coming our way.  After talking to some other people, we learned that the road ahead had been washed out by the creek, now river, running up against it.  Remember that rain I was talking about earlier?  Nicole and I ran ahead to check out the situation and sure enough, literally half of the road was washed away.  And.... the way the creek was flowing against the road, it was only a matter of time before the other half would go, as well. 

     Just when Nicole and I decided to continue on foot and try to get a ride on the other side of the washout, the local police decided to start letting traffic through a little at a time.  Awesome!  We hopped back in the car and continued on.   If we had waited another day to continue on from either Livingston or Puerta Barrio, I'm sure the road would've been completely washed out.  We would've had to go back into Guatemala and take a huge, two day, detour to Utila.  After that, it was only another hour to San Pedro Sula. Our stop for the night.  I have never seen so much fast food in so little an area as downtown San Pedro.  Seriously.  Worse than starbucks.  We checked into a cheapie hotel we found in our travel book and dropped off our packs.  The room was actually pretty nice and they had television in English.  I know, I know.  TV?  Hey, it's the little things that keep you sane when traveling and everything seems chaotic.  After dropping off the bags we promptly went to Pizza Hut for some good ol' Merican food.  It hit the spot!  Then a quick walk around downtown and back to the hotel.  We didn't find out until later the San Pedro is one of the most dangerous cities in Central America.  Seemed pretty friendly to me.  At the hotel, both of our hot water knobs(the sink and the shower) were "mysteriously" stripped out.  What?  They don't want us using hot water?  No problem.  I pulled out my leatherman, took off the knob, and used the pliers to turn the hot water on.  Voila!  Best shower we've had in Central America yet!  The next morning we got up early and made our way to the bus station.  We used the local, cheap bus instead of a taxi as it was 25 cents instead of five bucks.  Again, the book says those buses our dangerous but everyone was so friendly.  I figured if there are whole families on there it can't be too bad.  At the bus station we hopped a pretty decent bus to La Ceiba.  Kind of like an airporter shuttle but different. We even got to sit in the front seat!  Pretty comfy ride. 
      We made it to La Ceiba and hopped a taxi to the ferry terminal just in time to buy ferry tickets to Utila.  Except......  it was sold out.  Full.  Completely booked.  There are only two ferry times to Utila a day and we had missed the second one of the day.  I started looking in the book for other, smaller boats that might go to Utila.  I was just about to start walking around looking for them one one of the locals trying to get there said his cousin had a boat and would take us for the same price.  We would end up going with the local, his small family, and some other travelers.  We said we were in, but it turned out that there were so many people that wanted to get to Utila that the ferry company booked an extra trip for that night.  We would get there late, but we would get there.
     We waited an hour and a half for the boat but it was worth the wait.  Once everyone was loaded, we took off.  The ride was really rough.  REALLY ROUGH!  Some people puked off the back of the boat.  Nicole and I could've gotten sick but we held it down and gutted it out.  After an hour, we were finally there.  We had made it to Utila.  Whew.......

On to Livingston....

After buying some last minute souvenirs we left San Pedro, Guatemala on the 8AM shuttle boat.  I would say ferry but it's not really big enough to be a ferry.  Once in Pana, we searched for a purse that Nicole had thought about buying but, no luck.  That particular shop was closed that day.  So we had a quick bite an hopped the bus(3 buses) back to Guatemala City.  The first bus up the narrow winding road was not as bad as going down as there was construction and lots of traffic.  That made the bus trip much slower, thankfully.  Also, you don't have to worry about a bus careening out of control and flying off the road when going UPhill.  The second bus ride was my favorite of the trip.  Even though it was crowded, there was no smog and we were rolling through the countryside.  It just smelled good and seemed like we weren't in a hurry.  The last bus ride was the longest but Nicole's favorite as we sat right up front and she didn't get sick.  However, the driver must've thought we were in a race because I've never been in a bus going that fast around corners!  Seriously.  I actually wondered what it would take for a bus to roll and if we were going fast enough to find out!
     We made it to Guatemala City safe and sound and decided to stay in a little bit nicer hotel in Zone 10 close to the mall.  We took a cab from the bus station to where the hostel was supposed to be but after being dropped off found out that the hostel had gone out of business.  It took a few minutes of ringing the doorbell for someone to finally answer.  In fact, we had walked away then turned around and passed the place again when someone came out and let us know that it had been closed for awhile now.  Thanks lonely planet.....  The guy that came out told us of another hotel nearby that charged about the same rate.  We checked in there then headed straight for the mall to hit the movies and see The Hobbit!  We ended up choosing the VIP showing which offers food service throughout the movie and your seats are kind of a Lay-Z-boy love seat.  Pretty cool.  The next day we tried to mail some stuff home via FedEx.  We were going to mail 10 Kilos(or 20 lbs) but the charge was FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS!  Really, FedEx?!  Really!?  No thanks.  I can almost buy a ticket home for that.  We chose to save four hundred bucks and lug our stuff around Central America.  After that we went back to the mall so Nicole could buy a much needed camera.  Relaxed at the hotel for the rest of the evening then headed out early the next morning.
     The next morning we took a bus to Rio Dulce on the Eastern side of the country.  It was a long and uneventful trip but it was on a nice bus so the journey wasn't all that bad.  We made it to Rio Dulce and immediately found a guy(or he found us) that got us a boat ride to the hotel we wanted to stay at.  Turns out there are no roads to this hotel.  One of the owners makes a daily boat run to the main town then takes customers back to the hotel across the lake.  And it's not just across the lake.  It's hidden down/through a couple fingers that reach way back into a kind of swamp/jungle of the lake.  The place is pretty cool!  There are raised walkways between the buildings and everything is on stilts.  I'll see if I can't find some pictures.  We only stayed there one night but it was one of our favorite places so far.
     Early the next morning, we paid our bill and hopped a river boat/ferry/shuttle/tour to Livingston.  Wasn't at the top of my list but the book made it sound like it was worth a visit.  On the boat ride there we saw a lot of river activity.  Including the locals doing their day to day thing.  We went on a couple side trips so that the local youngsters could paddle out in their canoes and try and sell us some of their stuff.  I remember feeling kind of embarrassed.  I was sitting up front so it wasn't until I looked back that all fifteen of us in the boat were taking pics of the kids.  I felt like such a tourist.  I mean I AM a tourist but.....  I just felt like on of the herd.  Also, I remember the kids were selling dead starfish.  That kind of threw me for a loop.  Since when is it okay to kill starfish?  I saw hundreds of them.  Later, in Livingston, I saw turtle shells as well.  It broke my heart to see that.  And, most western countries won't let you in with stuff like that.  They confiscate it at customs.  Just sad to see such a waste.

      Once we landed in Livingston, we made our way to the hotel we had picked to stay at and checked in.  It wasn't the best place but it was cheap and dry.  We checked out the little town for an hour or so and had something to eat.  We then went down and took a long walk along the beach.  We were on the Caribbean side at that point.  The beach was minimal and the water flat.  We were hoping to get some sunny beach time in Livingston but clouds were forming off shore and headed our way.  Sure enough, by morning, it was raining pretty good.  We were planning on hiking to some waterfalls that morning but it was too cold and rainy to swim in them so we opted not to.  In fact, we decided we had had enough rain in general and split.  We packed our stuff and headed to the ferry dock and started making our way to our next stop, Utila, Honduras.  Just getting to Utila was an adventure in itself.  I'll save that for my next post!