Honduras Part One: arriving on a Caribbean island

July 2007

My trip to Honduras seems like many, many years ago now. That’s probably because it was. It was my first ever trip out of Europe. I was 15 and it was in 2007. My school had organised a Biology trip with a conservation charity – Operation Wallacea – for two weeks, so after exams off we went.

We got through the airports in London and Miami with little drama – other than us all having to take off our walking boots off twice, which didn’t help the queue behind us. This was my first sighting of America. Miami looked as I expected (sunny) but also very flat with lots of lakes sitting next to each other. It was also my first time at American airport security. By this point, my ears still hadn’t popped back so I couldn’t really hear what the security man was saying as he attempted to get me to put my index finger on a scanner and I couldn’t work out which finger he was asking for. He did not think it was funny.

Once we’d finally arrived, our first night was not particularly cultural. After driving through San Pedro Sula, spotting men carrying machetes on the way, we spent the night at the Holiday Inn. It was a pretty nice way of easing into a new country, I have to admit. Despite the heat, I had a cold so a dinner of chicken soup was not only tasty but necessary. Other than that, I spent the evening crowded round my bedroom window with my roommates, watching a storm raging over the hills in the distance. The city was calm but the sky was flashing and a couple of times we saw a lightning bolt cut its way from the clouds to the ground. I have a weird fascination with lightning storms.

After a big breakfast and some waiting around, it was time to leave on our big, yellow (American) school bus. On the plus side, we all got double seats to ourselves, but on the downside, the open windows meant that my lunch of potatoes in mayo and rice with peas, sweetcorn, chicken, bread and Sprite went everywhere – as did my hair.

It was at this point that we discovered our itinerary had changed. Instead of spending a week in the rainforests of Cusuco National Park before moving to a more relaxing beach, we would be doing the trip in reverse. But first we were spending the night in a village by the coast.

During a stop off, I was able to get my first ever holiday-bargain-buy: some much needed Havaianas for only a few pounds. This may have been before they were a big thing as I hadn’t yet actually heard of the brand. Either that or I just wasn’t flip-flop savvy.

Once we arrived at the village, we were split up into our respective houses as we were staying with the locals. The children in our house were adorable. One little boy just sat at the end of our bed giggling and the two girls danced around and posed for pictures. They certainly made us feel welcome before taking us to dinner with the rest of our group.

The meal consisted of fish, beans, rice, salad and mango juice. So far we had been fed pretty well. Then the people of the village came out to see us and took us to their school, where we played and watched dancing before heading to bed.

After yet another early start, we waited to catch a little boat to Cayo Menor – one of the Cayos Cochinos islands in the Caribbean Sea. I get a bit motion sick, so the ride over the bumpy sea seemed to take an age but eventually we arrived and found that the island was amazing. The sea was incredibly blue, there were palm trees everywhere and the science research centre was pretty much the only thing there.

Our meeting point was a dining hall, 107 stairs up from the beach. I wasn’t looking forward to climbing those multiple times a day (the fact that there would be food at the top was the only thing that could persuade me) but at least they would be good practice for the jungle hikes that were to come.

After a breakfast of something battered and some cereal, we collected our things and went to find our tents. We would be camping out on the beach for a week. Finally, we were then able to go for a swim while the other groups arrived. The water was amazing. It was clear and warm and a perfect refreshment from the hot weather.

Sadly, due to medical issues, I wasn’t going to be able to spend the week learning to scuba dive, like the rest of my group. Instead, I would be snorkelling so I got ready for my first trip out. The urchins looked like exploded balls of black ink, the starfish were huge and the fish were colourful and came in varying sizes. Some were tiny, while others were big with puffy lips.

Dinner that night consisted of a wrap, refried beans, meat and cheese and then we had a talk about the dangerous creatures we could encounter. Basically we weren’t to poke anything in the water and we’d be okay.

Typically, our first day on the island ended in rain. Heavy rain.

Read about the rest of my trip:

• Honduras Part Two: a week in the Caribbean
• Honduras Part Three: a week in the rainforest