We caught the boat back to the mainland and jumped in a cab to our next stop, a jungle lodge on the Rio Cangrejal. It was only 30 minutes inland from La Ceiba (aka the s***hole) but felt like a million miles away. We walked down some stairs from the road and were met by a gorgeous macau on a branch saying "Hola"......well actually he sounded more like Keith and I do when hablaring Spanglish "O-laaa". When we finally tore ourselves away from him we looked straight ahead and were met with the most spectacular view. The open sided lodge was perched on a ledge overlooking the rainforest valley, with the turquoise river and rapids running beneath. The sound of the river was deafening yet at the same time so relaxing. We could also hear it loud and clear from our bedroom, which as I said to Keith we should be very grateful for as people pay a lot of money for meditation tapes of exactly this sound!

We were staying for two nights, and the main reason for our visit was to experience the white-water rafting which is known as Central America's premier rafting experience. We were up early the next day for a quick brekkie before heading to our start point. We were really lucky as there were four of us but they put us into two separate boats. This was great as we had loads of space but also the guy in the other boat was incredibly annoying, oh and threw up part way through the trip (multiple times!)! We spent the next two and a half hours rafting down Class 2 to 4 rapids (4 is pretty fast and steep!) around giant boulders, jumping out of the boat to float along when it was Class 1, and stopping to jump off the side of cliffs. The time went way too quickly and we wished we could keep rafting. Having said that today we've woken up pretty bruised and sore so maybe it was a good thing! Back at the lodge we spent the afternoon jumping into the river and sunbathing on the rocks. Bliss!

We've absolutely loved the last couple of days, which only added to the lovely surprise Honduras has been. I was sceptical at first, then looking forward to it from the research I did, and then sceptical again as we'd met a lot of people on our travels who have avoided it due to its bad boy reputation. What we've found though is a fantastic country that has amazing variety, beautiful scenery and gorgeous people. I spent last night talking to a couple of the locals at the lodge who are very aware and honest about the problems of the country (including having the highest rate of intentional homicide in the world at 90 people per 100,000). There is a huge drug, violence and crime problem and this includes against tourists. But to take this information as a reflection of the entire nation would be wrong as everyone we have encountered in Honduras have been beyond friendly and appear to be trying to fight against the problems and reputation of their country. The advice from all the locals was be extra vigilant, avoid the big cities and don't put yourself in tricky circumstances (e.g. going into unknown neighbourhoods at night, buying drugs, flashing cash, get romantically involved with locals who quite possibly have a partner who will find out). These warnings and realities mean a lot of people will be put off visiting Honduras, but I for one feel it is their loss and my gain.

Anyway I'll leave you with some photos and some GoPro footage (from Keith's head!) from our time in the jungle!

Lots of love
SM