Island Paradise Day 10

Utila town is a unique assortment of young transient backpacker types; divers from around the world; European, American and Canadian xpats over 50; local islanders young and old, black and white; mainland Hondurans; and tourists of all demographics from around the world. There is one long road (main street) which runs along the edge of a large horseshoe shaped bay. The skinny road is paved, but there are no cars here, just bikes, scooters, golf carts, ATV’s and tuk tuks, Utila’s version of taxis.

On both sides of the street are shops and houses, in no particular order or organization or style. Off of this main “street” are just three or four other smaller streets the branch off, and then even smaller streets connecting those branches. It is a bit of a spider web, and while I thought it impossible to get lost here, Steph and I did manage to do that - twice. But it is not our fault....there are no addresses here, and people have a real funny way of giving directions!

It goes something like this: ME: “Excuse me, could you tell me where Archie’s is?” THEM: “Oh, that’s right next door to Munchies.” ME: “Where is Munchies?” THEM: Right across from the pharmacy.” ME: Where is the pharmacy?” Them: “Just keep walking down this street.” Utila is like Cheers - where everyone knows your name, and where everyone knows where everything is...unless you are Corrie and Steph... I blame it mostly on the fact that there are no signs on most buildings, and no such thing as addresses, and to make matters worse, many of the shops and restaurants are behind the house that the proprietor lives in, so completely out of sight. Funny, because every where you go there are sign posts telling you which direction to go to Calgary, Pretoria, London, and Auckland! Maybe they should put up a few signs that point to Archie's!

Today we asked if there was a shoe repair shop in town, and our friend Tony said, “well, not a shop per se…just turn left at the bank, and near Treetanic there is an old guy that sits on a brick wall – he fixes shoes!” So we walked over there, and there was a few brick walls and a lot of men standing around, so I hope my shoe lives to see another day.

All in all, Utila is charming. It is so much cleaner here than in Mexico. Homes are tidy, people put trash in the many bins that line the street, and homes, in general, are in good repair. The public beach here is clean with plenty of free chairs to sit on and palapas in the clear water, and no seaweed!

Even many of the bars along the water have decks over the water and stairs going in.

The first day we were here we found a cute little place that sold craft beer located on the second floor of an old house right on the water. Next door was another bar (there are a lot of bars here) on the second floor of another house and on their deck were two people also drinking beer. All of a sudden the man jumped off the deck into the water. The drop was at least 10 feet.

It is not unusual so see people eating and drinking here in their bathing suits. I am certain you would look totally stupid here if you were fully clothed. It is a pretty kick back place: definitely not the place to show off your new sneakers or a silk blouse. Flip flops are the order of the day.