These photographs are from my second trip to Utila, Honduras. During my first trip my camera failed for most of the time. The heat and humidity shut down the electronics. The camera was dead for ten of the fourteen days. This trip I knew how to address the problem. In the morning, I put the camera in a plastic bag with silica gel packs and no battery. Put the bag in my backpack and set it outside for about an hour. Then I put the battery in. This kept condensation from building up in the camera. This allowed me to photograph for the month of March. At the same time, I went scuba diving on most days and took a rescue dive course. I am often asked if I took any underwater photos. The answer is no. I want to become a proficient diver first before introducing photography.

Honduras is a poor country. Utila is unusual in that there are people who come to dive the coral reef from all over the world. Here the worlds collide. The locals and the divers do not really mix very much. I found that carrying the camera around opened conversations with local people that would not normally happen. I found the locals very friendly and curious.

Utila is not a tropical resort or paradise. There are no cruise ships or hordes of tourists. There is very little shopping. No big grocery stores. No cars. People get around on ATVs, mopeds, motorcycles, golf carts and three wheelers of various types. The beaches are not long and sandy. I did find that Chepa’s Beach was a nice spot to enjoy. There is a man who rakes and cleans the beach every day from six until three. He keeps it very clean. Most of the shore is made of volcanic rock and coral. It is difficult to walk on.

The exception is out on the cays. These are small islands off the coast. The islands are sandy. I went out to Water Cay. We had to hire a boat to drop us off and pick us up. This trip was more of a typical beach day. The caretakers of the island were raking and burning the fallen leaves and pine needles. That water around Utila is in the low eighties.

I spent many days walking around the island looking for the things that made Utila special and unique. I spent some of the time taking portraits of the people I met along the way. (These photos are in a different section.)

I took pictures of people in church services on a Sunday morning. There are signs about Jesus all over. Missionaries walk the streets in their suits. Every night there was a gathering near my apartment. I could hear the preaching and singing.

Dogs and cats roamed about the streets. Some were owned and other seemed to be cared for by the community. Everyone knew their names. Some were friendly and others minded their own business.

The streets are narrow. There are places where the locals gathered daily. They talk and watch people walk by. The streets are full except early in the morning. Moped and motorcycles come close to me as I walk. I can feel them as they zoom by. The tuk-tuks are always asking if you want a ride. It is cheap to get around in them. Eventually, I rented a moped to get around. I didn’t take it most of the time because I enjoyed walking through town so much.

While there are often places with a lot of trash, I found that there were many of the people took great pride in keeping the place clean. I ran into people sweeping and raking all over the place. And so, many of the side streets were inviting to walk down. There were other areas that seemed to be for the local people. These neighborhoods were a little uncomfortable to walk through.

The food is fresh. There are days when the fruits and vegetables arrive and the bins on the street are overflowing with deliciousness. There are many small eateries along the roads. Street food and small restaurants. There are a few larger ones. Just don’t be a hurry to eat. The service is typically slow. There are people selling coconuts and mangos on the street. A fisherman walks down the street with a freshly caught king fish. He is bringing it to one of the restaurants. Another man sells drinks in plastic bags.

The kids love playing soccer. They play it on Chapa’s Beach, at school, at the baseball field. A small boy watched from the side as the bigger kids kick the ball around.

There are murals and paintings throughout the town. Some are old and worn. Others are fresh and new. The buildings are painted in tropical colors.

Hanging laundry is everywhere. Porches are full of drying clothes. On the side of the road there are clothes hanging for people to buy. Makeshift stores with no wall.

The foreigners walk down the roads. There world consist of their dive shop and the underwater world around the island, eating out, and occasionally partying. I cannot show you that here. But I did love that aspect of this place. The locals and divers are often indifferent to each other. I will say though that I enjoyed breaking through that barrier.

I photographed the area around Pumpkin Hill. There is a cove and a beach there. A tower that can be climbed on top of the hill from which the whole island is visible. The inland part is very jungle like.

On my first trip, Fin kept telling me that the mainland of Honduras was right there. I never saw the mainland that whole trip. I thought Fin was full of it. This time I did see the mountains.

There were certain places I really like to go for nourishment. The Pink Flamingo and Josie’s in the morning. At night Mango Tango, Che Pancho, RJs and the Pelican were favorites. Bando Beach on Thursdays for their burritos. What the Fork was my sandwich go to place. I liked stopping at Coral View for a burger and some snorkeling. But the ultimate enjoyment was the Utila Chocolate Company. The brownies and homemade ice cream are the best I ever had.