Some Days are Golden....But Some Are Not!

We started the day with an email that said our Credit Card had been hacked (not from Honduras because we aren't using  it here ), found out there was a Hurricane brewing and our beach day was a wash.  Never daunted we changed plans (after a call to Christopher to help with the Credit card) and decided to explore more of the island.  After leaving the house and traveling up the hill, Michael was stopped at a road block by Honduran "policia" - now we have heard horror stories about this.  So according to other foreigners you play stupid....not hard for us.....claim no spanish....don't understand....give wrong paper work  etc.  They have been known to take your drivers license and require a "payment" to get it back.....Well all went fine and stupid worked. Michael got his license back.
Next we traveled to Coxen Hole and found a hardware store where they could not understand us, handed us a phone and I talked to someone who sort of understood my spanglish. Well that didn't work. We left empty handed and traveled on. Several uneventful miles passed; we found a hardware store that at first blush might seem like a home depot.....you would be wrong.  However, we found several things we needed like duck tape....don't leave home without it....and my hummingbird feeder.....Hurray.  Some rugs, wd40, work gloves....the essentials of life.
Next we stopped at several industrial type areas that were supposed to have fishing gear, and several very helpful semi english-speaking people helped me finally find a building that had HUGH hooks and gear....I'm talking catching sailfish here.   Trying again I finally found a very unlikely place that had some gear.  After pantomiming  what I wanted I found enough stuff to start fishing off the rocks here.
We found a distributing point for beverages on the island....think shipping dock with stacks of drinks in cases.  We heard locals buy here instead of grocery stores so we stocked up on some soft drinks and beer.  Taking off I  in the truck I realized....wallet in hand....I had left my purse on a crate YIKES....Michael managed a u- turn and we made it back in several minutes.   The guys at the dock hadn't even noticed it thanks goodness as.it had my ipod, camera, and copy of my passport.... heart-attack.
Okay off again to buy some fresh fish....a simple idea on an island right?   Think again.  We made it back to Coxen Hole, going on noon so the traffic was picking up and school was letting out for lunch...they do not provide a lunch for the kids. So streets are crowded, kids walking everywhere, bicycles, taxis....and so on... We miss our turn and wind our way through the back streets (think barrio) and make it back to a main road with all the cars, taxis, trucks, coming at us from both directions honking horns....It seems we missed the sign that said one way.....Michael is part Latin I am convinced because his machismim came to the forefront and  he backed down the taxis who finally let us out....all the while I am saying "lo siento" (I'm sorry).  We made several passes through town always managing to miss the Flying Fish  fish market but finding the local open air market. We will come back another day, find a place to park and do a walking tour of this area.  It looked really different. We finally decided after the last wrong turn that we weren't that hungry for fish after all and headed back to West Bay beach for lunch and a cool beverage on the beach.Noon was not a good time to be in town....cruise ship day or not and won't be doing that again.
The good news is we set up the Hummingbird feeder this morning and within 2 hours hummingbirds are everywhere.  I am thrilled.
The cruise ships passed so close to the island this morning I thought they were on the porch. Hurricane Paula is changing the cruise ship itineraries but the weather here is gorgeous.