We were leaving Guatemala for the Bay Islands in Honduras today but the day didn't get off to a good start and neither did we realise at the time that it was going to get a whole lot worse. Gabriel, our driver from Flores, was supposed to pick us up at 5am from Hacienda Tijax. The access is via a 2km unsealed road with a security gate at the main road end or alternatively by water taxi. At 5am, however, water taxis aren't working and it turns out neither is the gate security guard despite being told 4 times of our plans. Eventually, Gabriel gave up waiting at the gate and returned to the river to call upon the services of a fisherman to get us across the river to the shuttle van.

We were in the brand new van again driving through the misty morning to Puerto Barrios and managed to arrive on time for the switch to our next shuttle. The next one would take us directly to La Ceiba Ferry Port. The van was not as nice but it was at least clean and Roberto the driver seemed nice enough until we had driven no more that 1km.
We stopped at a gas station to buy coffee, use the bathrooms and fill in immigration forms. He then informed us that he wouldn't take us, it would be a friend of his instead who we were now waiting on to arrive. That seemed okay until we discovered that his friend, William, was travelling in a private car with his family and would only be going as far as to San Pedro Sula. An argument started with Roberto since we had paid for a trip all the way to the ferry port in La Ceiba in order to catch the ferry to Roatan in time and to complete the trip in one day. Roberto made a call to Rio Dulce Travel (who we booked through) and aggressively told us to take a cash refund Q100 to pay for the public bus from San Pedro, which is not enough even for a Chicken Bus never mind a taxi to ferry terminal out of La Ceiba town. Now bearing in mind we paid Q900 for a direct "private" transfer we were realising we are being screwed.

With little choice, we drive with William and his family to the Guatemalan border. Roberto turns up again and refunds us L300 which should cover public bus from San Pedro Sula to La Ceiba plus another L100 for a taxi to the port. It was a very poor deal but better than nothing although it did nothing to hide our anger. The border crossing made us couple of dollars poorer (with official receipt) entering Honduras, and no proof of onward travel was asked.

With all the messing around we arrived too late into San Pedro Sula to take any of the listed bus companies. We ended up travelling with a public bus stopping many times along the way and just a little bit comfier than a chicken bus, not that the refunded money would have been enough for anything better. We even had a bag search for weapons before getting on the bus - there must have been quite a few robberies on this service in the past.

We arrived tired and anxious to La Ceiba bus terminal, we needed to get to the ferry terminal for the last ferry of the day. The rest of our refund was just enough to pay for the taxi. We purchased our tickets just in time but with no time to find place to eat though, we had only had a few biscuits all day. That was perhaps a blessing in disguise though because as soon as the ferry went passed the breakwater, the swell was giving the ferry a battering. It turned out to be a very rough boat journey with lots of people being sick around us. It was actually worse than a crossing we made to Great Barrier Island in New Zealand one day after a violent storm.

Back on dry land on the island of Roatan, we took a collective taxi to the West End. We had emailed requesting accommodation but had no confirmation email - did we have a room? Fortunately, the Casa Del Sol had reserved us the 2nd floor room we wanted. It had a balcony with a hammock, a small kitchenette with basic cooking facilities and mini fridge. Enough to make it a home for a week or so.

We walked down to the town and found a Mexican, Cannibal Cafe, with a special of Lion Fish tacos. Lion Fish are pretty to look at in the ocean but they voracious predators and as an invasive species they cause havoc to the reef in Honduras, so perfect to be caught and eaten...and pretty tasty in a taco too.