I hate 3:00am wake ups are not fun. Especially trying to pack up in the dark. But I managed to make it out alive and I was the first pick up on the bus. All things considered though it was a relatively straight forward trip. Made it through the boarder with no problem, paid my taxes, and was officially in Honduras.

We arrived in Copan around 11:00am and managed to find Hostel Iguana Azul with relative ease. Had to ask around a few times to get it right. The hostel was really quite nice with a good dorm for L140 ($7.78) a night and lots of information about how to get to Utila and the sights around Copan.

After a quick lunch I headed for Macaw Mountain. It is a bird sanctuary where abandoned or injured birds end up and are allowed to heal and recover. For the most part I enjoyed just watching the birds interact with each other and eating their food. Some of the highlights for me was seeing the macaws up close with their vibrant primary coloured feathers; seeing two toucans battle it out; having several birds fly at my face (while still in their cage); had a staring contest with three different owls (all different species). In particular the first owl I came across had the most intense stare I have ever seen, with these incredibly intelligent eyes.

You totally thought I'd post a picture of the owl didn't you?

The only downside to this was seeing the multitude of spiders in their webs above you. I took my time to expressly inform them that I appreciated the work they did and would be happy if they stayed where they are. I wouldn’t mess with them if they didn’t mess with me. Although we both honoured this, I couldn’t help but look out for them and give them a healthy distance. Later I told my sister that I have no idea what I would have done if one had somehow ended up on me. My bet is that screams would not be out of the question and a significant amount of arm flailing.

Stay where you are an nobody gets hurt...

On the way up I had an incredibly friendly tuk tuk driver who incredibly complimented me on my Spanish. More likely he was just being nice. On the way back however I was quoted a price double what I paid to get up to the sanctuary. I asked the receptionist what my options were, she said I could return to town with some other local travelers. So I experienced my first tag along ride. I met Freddie, Alex, and Charlie while listening to Bob Marley. Freddie, the driver, told me that my hair was just like his daughters. Good to know!

Made it back to town and basically didn’t get up to very much. One of the guys at my hostel was fairly ill and he ended up showing me all the various “safe” places to download pirated material. What a successful day!

Finally, an owl photo