Stranded in the jungle

We had planned to do a zipwire / hot springs / massage day in Sambo Creek, however due to poor internet over the last few days I hadn't finalised a pick up time. I'd sent an email yesterday requesting a time but then the internet and phones went down and stayed down. We had breakfast - measly portion of bread and jam for 70L and waited in the hope they'd show up. But they didn't :( Their subsequent email showed they got confused where we were staying and the tour was $10 more than initially quoted so all a bit useless!

The German couple who owned the jungle lodge had driven off somewhere without a word as to where they were going or when they might return. This has done little to improve my general view of Germans (there are of course several lovely ones I know).

So we were stranded in the jungle! No internet, no phones, no chance of hailing a taxi and nobody to ask. It was hardly the worst situation in the world - swinging in hammocks in the jungle, Hannah getting some last-chance rays of sun by the pool etc but it felt like a waste of a day, especially for Hannah and Katelin who are nearing the end of their holidays.

We weren't keen to get back to La Ceiba as there is little to do but were worried about being stranded for another night. We were told there was a chicken bus at 1:30pm so we figured we'd get that but then a minivan turned up dropping off two other tourists and offered to take us to La Ceiba for $20. Our saviour! He also have us rambutan fruit :)

We asked if he knew of a place with a pool so he took us to a hotel with a pool but it was overpriced and crucially the pool was in the shade! So then he took us to the cheap Hotel Estadio which I had booked by email. The rooms smelt of wee and Hannah had a dodgy camp bed! We used their wifi to book another hotel and then jumped in a taxi and ran away! (taxi = 25L per person within La Ceiba). After the longest check-in in the world at Hotel Carnaval ($33 per room, including brekkie), we were finally happy! A lovely hotel, 2 huge rooms, king size beds and very clean and shiny. The location seems better than the place we stayed last time as well and less deserted even though the other one was more central.

We walked the short distance to an ATM and then stocked up on snacks in the big supermarket nearby. We went back to the room to catch up on wifi stuff and then headed out to dinner - we were searching for a recommendation: El Jardin de Susana which was supposedly a block away but couldn't find it. It was pouring with rain so we looked at two nearby restaurants but they only served burgers so we went across the road to Pizza Hut (diff one to last time). Anna got a headache so we put her to sleep early and had a quiet night.

NB Caxton FX card hasn't worked in any Honduras ATMs! Halifax CC has been our saviour.Read more