Honduras-Belize-Guatemala

So after I finished my advanced scuba course, I decided to go on and take the emergency first response course as well as the rescue scuba diver course before leaving Utila. The rescue course was incredible! It was quite difficult and really required constant vigilance of your fellow scuba divers since you never knew when a problem would arise. The instructors would act out scenarios involving panicked/unconscious diver and we would be expected to remedy Any and all situations, including finding lost diver in search and rescue. We did everything from cramp removal, to calming divers down to performing rescue breaths while towing divers back to the boat and performing CPR. Even when you weren't technically doing the course dives, you had to be ready for someone to jump off the boat and pretend to panic and make you get all your gear as quick as possible. Basically, it was a great experience that I will never forget.

After Utila I went rafting with some of my scuba instructors and fellow classmates and had an amazing time on these tiny 4 man rafts and we got thrashed around and I was thrown from the raft many times and got smashed into walls and dragged under the boat, and I loved it! Here are a couple pics , one of my rafting group(it didnt actually upload but will be soon), and one of me doing a backflip off some rock cliffs into the river with all my rafting gear on. Then I went to Belize to dive the world famous "Blue Hole", a 1000 foot wide, and 400 foot deep perfect circular hole in the coral reef with stalactites and stalagmites. And whilswimmingng there, we had 11 great gray reef sharks at least 8 feet long each swim up to and around us over and over. It was really cool, and yes, a litle frightening at the same time, and nedless to say, I kept finding myself checking wether or not I was in the middle of the group :) We also did a couple other dives after the blue hole which wer also very nice and we saw many more fish than i saw in honduras since we wer diving in a protected reef. On the last dive I started geting bored and began screwing with my fellow divers by trying to ride on their tanks like an underwater cowboy and leching off of their 2ndary air supplies until they noticed and it really made us all have a lot more fun. Belize was really expensive, and most anything you wanted to do aside from snorkeling costs about $10 U.S.D. The Blue hole and the other 2 dives cost me $200 and it was a 2 hour full throtle, 600 horse power boat ride out to it and back over crazy choppy water. So as soon as i was done with my diving and hanging out with my friend ryan that i left in el salvador and randomly wound up in the same hostal in the bed next to him in the island "Caye Caulaker", I left for guatemala.

When I arived in Guatemala, all in one day, I went to the massive Tikal ruins, where I literally ran through the ruins and took some pictures sInce i had very litle time. I was running up pyramids and hauling ass everywhere, but it was a good workout in the sweltering heat. From there i caught a bus for over 6 hours to central guatemala and headed to semuc champe to check out the beautiful waterfalls.

I am heading to Antigua guatemala in a couple days to se the cuban band "Buena Vista Social Club" play. I saw them like 5 years ago in seatle on their world tour, and one has died and the remaining guys in their 90´s are still playing so i figure ill take this chance to see them, probably for the last time.