So after a strange evening we made our way to the Bay Islands and the island of Utila. Isla de la Bahia are extremely popular on the ‘Gringo Trail’ of Central America because of the cheap and spectacular diving. The reef that stretches across the top of Honduras and north to Belize and Mexico is the second largest in the world and also boast some of the cheapest diving on the planet. The three islands (Utila, Roatan and Guanaja) were homes to pirates like the Corn Islands of Nicaragua during the mid-seventieth century. The event that had the biggest impact on the future of the islands however was in 1797 when thousands of Caribbean’s were dumped on them by the British after slave riots on St. Vincent, giving the area its Caribbean population and culture.

We spent a week on Utila. Sam and Dougie completed their PADI Open Water certificates and having completed mine in Vietnam I had plenty of time to myself. I achieved very little with this time, choosing to enjoy the island’s laid back lifestyle and its breakfast burritos and Super Baleadas. I wasn’t a complete lay-about though, I did four fun dives while I was there and really enjoyed them. Scuba diving is definitely my new favourite hobby. I saw plenty heaps of marine life including moray eels, barracudas, parrotfish (my old favourites) and scrawled cowfish (my new favourites). I also saw a turtle but sadly no whale sharks which was a real frustrating. Furthermore I did my first wreck dive which was amazing. I don’t think I was certified to do it but I wasn’t complaining, swimming through the ship was amazing. I was able to swim over the deck and into the bowels of the ship and even through the control room. It felt a bit disorientating at times as the ship had rested on the seabed at an angle but that just made it even more exciting.

When our time was over on Utila we headed back to the mainland and caught a bus to San Pedro Sula. Sam and Dougie spent one night there and then met a couple of girls they had travelled with in South America. They had a car and unfortunately there was no room for me. It was a shame to part from them; we had had five great weeks of travelling and got on like only three lads who are passionate about football can. At the same time it was good that I would be travelling solo again. I had become far too willing to follow the guys and rely on their Spanish to get by. I knew it would do me good to travel alone; meeting new people and solving problems by myself for one last time before returning home. So we separated, hoping to meet up again somewhere in Guatemala or Mexico and I spent an extra night in San Pedro waiting for a bus to Guatemala. The city is another dangerous Latin America metropolis and we had to dodge the prostitutes on our first night looking for a working cash machine. With this in mind and the fact that there is nothing to do in San Pedro Sula, I decided to splash out for my second night. I booked into a hotel room with cable TV! It cost $15, which is less than any hostel I paid for in Australia but compared to what I had been paying in Central America was damn expensive. It was totally worth it though. I spent all my second day watching TV; Stoke v Bolton (1:2), Villareal v Athletico Madrid (2:1), Spurs v Chelsea (2:1), Man City v Man Utd (0:1), Friends, Scrubs, Million Dollar Baby and CNN in between. It was great! I also had the best Oreo McFlurry I have ever tasted. The next day I took a luxury bus to Guatemala, a country I was desperately looking forward to.