Day 24 - Honduras (Utila)

I've not got an awful lot of news today so it's a bit all over the place.

Today has been another diving day and I think I'm beginning to get the hang of it. My instructors and buddies no longer drag me around on a bit of string worrying over whether I've remembered to breathe at some point in the last minute or so. So that's encouraging. I seem to be able to stay in roughly the same place without flapping my arms as if trying to fly and my ears appear to be acclimatising much better than they were. The only minor mishap today was when someone made me laugh, ruining the face to mask seal that I'd carefully suctioned together, letting in several gallons of water. Still, my training paid off and I recovered the situation while muttering, 'must not laugh too much when diving' over and over in my head. 

The celebrity appearances today included;

Two sea turtles, one of whom I followed in his slipstream for a bit (he's a much better swimmer than me). They were both utterly utterly brilliant. Some puffer fish, a couple of very large lobsters, a lion fish, a stunning trunk fish, needle fish and a very nice flappy stingray. I don't have to highlight that these were just the ones that stick out do I? The sea is blummin teeming with all sorts, the above are just the ones I remember. 

Because I'm generally a quiet chappie and tend to keep my mouth shut in new social circumstances and because my skin tone has darkened a tiny smidge since arriving in Central America, people have begun to make some interesting assumptions about my origin. I've been variously asked if I am Australian, South African, Italian (by an Italian guy), Argentinian (by a German woman) and Greek by someone who was obviously visually impaired. I've found it all rather amusing really. Once formal introductions are made I am generally quite sociable although that can get quite draining after long periods. At least everyone knows I'm British by then and accepts any late night reserve without question. ...Unless it's a bender night, in which case I get all excited and talkative and moan at everyone wanting to go to bed so early. 

As a special favour to a cheeky young scamp to whom I am related because he asked for them and because I don't have any other new pictures from today, here are a couple of extra fishy/coraly pics. 

Possibly a porcupine fish but there's some debate in the bar over that one.

Needle fish.