Minnesota Mariners: Arrival & The House

I’m pleased to announce that all of our luggage arrived in San Pedro Sula. Hooray – clothes! If I ever see that Houston agent again I will apologize for doubting his conviction of the way things “are supposed to work”.

From San Pedro Sula, we had to catch a commuter plane to Utila. We expected to have a 2-hour layover, so settled in at a café with a “Coke Light” and free wifi. About an hour later, a man approached us and asked if we were going to Utila. When we responded in the affirmative, he urgently informed us that the flight was “boarding right now!” Really? Ok. We hustled to collect our items and dashed out to the runway to the plane. Unlike Caye Caulker Airlines, this plane had two engines. We’re moving up! It held 17 passengers and two pilots, AND there was a folding door between the cockpit and the passengers. As someone who doesn’t love to fly, I was happy to see this. I firmly believe that what goes on in the cockpit should be a mystery to me as a passenger. I don’t want to see frantic switch flipping, or hear the word “oops” when flying.

We were the last two people to board the full plane and, after about 5 minutes, we were up, up and away. The flight was smooth, save for the initial ascent and final descent and I was grateful. It was hot as hades in the plane and I am prone to motion sickness. I’ll bet the people around me were also grateful. The flight took 25 minutes from take off to touch down. We exited the plane, collected our suitcases and made our way in to the “terminal”. I use that word loosely as it was more of a bar, than anything else. Several people in the terminal asked us if we needed a tuk tuk (taxi), and we informed them that we were waiting on someone named Mike, who was to escort us to the VRBO. “You’re early,” several of them told us. Apparently we were bumped to an earlier flight that wasn’t full. No wonder we didn’t know it was time to board. It wasn’t.

Unfazed (we’re on holiday!), we purchased a bottle of pop for me, and a beer for Andrew (total cost was $4 US, including tip) and settled in a shady spot to wait for Mike. He arrived about 20 minutes later with Taxi Hank in tow. We learned that Mike is an American, originally from Florida. He was “in the restaurant business” and sold his house to move here after a vacation. I’d speculate that he’s in his mid-to-late 50’s, but will confess that looks can be deceiving in the gringo population in Central America. The overabundance of sun is not a friend to northern skin, and causes us age rapidly. He favors baggy t-shirts with the sleeves cut off, faded cargo shorts and raggedy flip-flops. He drives a red scooter. Taxi Hank is a local. He’s probably also in his mid-late 50’s, but looks about 20 years younger than Mike.

The airport

We loaded our bags in to Taxi Hank’s mini van, and headed off. Mike had instructed Hank to “stop by Bush’s” on the way. We discovered that Bush’s is a grocery store. Hank suggested that we didn’t take too long as he would need to wait for us on the extremely narrow street. We picked up a few necessities (butter, milk, eggs, bread, avocados, limes, chilies) to tide us over until we could do a proper shop, and were back in the van as quick as we could be.

Mike was waiting for us at the house. He gave us a brief overview of the workings of the house. There’s a couple of new things for us at this VRBO that we’ve not experienced before. First is the way the electricity works. You pre-pay your power costs here and then a little meter counts you down. We started at 133.5 kwh. Almost 24 hours later we’re at 130.3 kwh. The cost of the VRBO rental includes the first week of power costs. After that, we pay the additional costs. I have no idea what that will be but, if our current rate of use stands, we shouldn’t need to buy any more for the duration of our trip.

Electric meter. I think the happy face means we're good.

Also new to us is the water system. The only hot water in the house is in the shower. It comes from an electric showerhead that has a heating coil built in to an attached hose. You can adjust the temperature of the water that comes out with a slide switch on the showerhead. We’ve since learned that there are two settings – scalding and polar. As a watcher of “House Hunters International”, I’m familiar with these showerheads. They are also known as “suicide showerheads” because there are live electrical wires feeding in to the head. Water + electricity = bad. You standing in the shower with bare feet + electricity = dead. Keep your fingers crossed!

I think as long as we don't touch the wires...

There’s a working phone here, which is also uncommon. Mike provided us with a list of critical phone numbers – his, Taxi Hank, Bush’s (they deliver groceries, it seems), Mr. Johhnie (he delivers pop & beer) and, most importantly, the number to have fresh squeezed OJ delivered. He told us that the produce is delivered to the island on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and that we can get fresh fish from Zorro (no surprise) down by the dive shop pier about 10 am every morning. There’s no wifi at the house, but Mike has promised to get us a broadband card on Monday when the shop is open. In the meantime, we’ve learned that all the restaurants in town have free wifi for patrons. I’m writing this blog post from one now!

Fully orientated (elapsed time = 8 minutes, including an overview of a very bad map of town), Mike said farewell and we were left to our own devices. First priority was to admire the view. Jealous?

Other than what I’ve mentioned above, the house is very much in line with others we’ve rented in Belize and Honduras – rustic and charming. The point here is to be outside, so we don’t need anything fancy. Also in line with the other homes we’ve rented is the bed situation. If any of you are future VRBO owners, please consider outfitting your property with sheets that have more than 10 threads/inch, and at least two pillows per sleeper. Trust me, your patrons will thank you. If they are like me, they will rave about it in reviews because it is such an anomaly. Other travelers will seek you out. The importance of comfortable bedding cannot be overstated, in my opinion. We improvised by using the folded bedspread along the length of the head of the bed to prop up the pancake pillows, but Andrew still used his beach towel for a little additional loft.

After spending some time admiring the view, we unpacked and then decided to walk in to town for dinner. We found our way to a place called Skid Row that we were told had great pizza. We had an appetizer, two entrees, and three drinks (two beer for Andrew; a rum & lemonade for me) and the total with tip was $24. Not bad.

I was up early this morning (about 6:10). Andrew was up for about 3 hours in the middle of the night (a routine curse for him, unfortunately), so he stayed in bed until about 9:30. While I waited for him to get up, I enjoyed several cups of coffee and my book on the porch swing. Later in the morning, three men showed up to repair the air conditioning unit in the bedroom. Mike had notified us that it wasn’t working, and they would be by to look at it. We typically don’t use the A/C, but I guess it will be nice to have it as an option if it gets too hot. We are right on the ocean so the trade winds blow directly in to the house and, in conjunction with two ceiling fans, it’s really quite pleasant.

First one up gets the reward of this view

About 3 pm we packed up walked in to town. We had arranged for Andrew to “float”, and I had a massage. When researching what to do in Utila, I had come across Float Utila. The float tank is a saline, sensory deprivation tank that is purported to have benefits to your health. Andrew LOVES quiet, dark, and alone more than anyone I have ever met, so I knew he would be all over this. In advance, I contacted the owner about purchasing sessions. She informed me that they had moved off the island and had their house listed as a VRBO (it’s huge and gorgeous, by the way – check out the link) so the float tank was only available to those renting the property. I expressed my disappointment, but thanked her for getting back to me. To my great delight, she emailed me a week ago to let me know that the house was not rented for the first week we are here, and that she’d made arrangements with their caretaker to let us purchase sessions. Oh, and the caretaker is a licensed masseuse, if I’m interested. Uh, of course I’m interested! At 4 pm Andrew had his first float (of a package of three which cost $90 US total), and I had a 1-hour massage ($40 US+ tip). Heaven!

After the float it was time for dinner. Nachos for Andrew; a burger & fries for me. I've been missing meat the past few days, oddly. That's about all we'll accomplish for today, I'm afraid. Tomorrow we're going to take a tuk tuk (taxi) to the far end of the town and wander back to see what we find. See you then!