Original post date: December 3, 2008
Our attempt to take the ferry to Utila, Honduras was unfortunately foiled by 12 foot swells. Instead, we spent the night in the sketch down of La Ceiba at possibly THE most unfriendly hotel ever. I´m pretty sure the receptionist spit on my room key before she gave it to me.
In the morning, the Port Police had okayed the ferry departure (ferry being a rather generous term for a passenger boat with a deep hull). We had to stop 100m from the dock to wait for the now 5 foot swells to subside. I had the sinking feeling this wasn´t going to be good.
Side note: This ride is notorious amongst us tour leaders as the almost always, rockiest, waviest, most likely to get sick on it-iest travel leg ever. The trip notes actually say to carry barf bags and advise passengers to chug Gravols if ya got ’em.
Looking at the sea, it was ugly. White caps were out in full force and the wind was blowing from all different directions. The boat was defenseless. Imagine a roller coaster moving up and down at high speeds. Now imagine it rocking from side to side as well.
Dramamine (motion sickness tablets) were being passed out like candy at Halloween, but it was too late. What happened next can only be described as a reenactment of the BARF-O-RAMA scene a la Stand By Me.
My first passenger ran and yacked off the back of the boat. A couple more were tossing their cookies off the side. A couple of my English passengers were retching off the starboard bow. Sick bags were being passed through the middle of the boat for those who couldn´t get up. As the smell of sick filled the cabin, I knew it was time for me to go.
I disappeared to the very front of the boat. A sympathetic barfer myself – if I see, hear, or smell it, I´m done for. I distanced myself from the sounds and smell and tried not to get hit by any misdirected barf.
In what seemed like forever later, the sea filled with everyone´s lunches and possibly last night´s dinner, my weak-willed, wobbly legged passengers thankfully stepped onto the dock.
Something told me I might just be chartering a 16 man plane for the return trip.