The bands are all here

Utila is a an Island defined by Diving. There is a Diving College, The Scuba University and dive operators on every corner of the single long Main Street. I say every corner but in fact there are only about four roads on the Island, paved for no more than 2 or 3 miles then, by the end of the rainy season perhaps another 2 or 3 of potholes joined together by small patches of gravel and Sand. However over the weekend we had a traffic jam and the Island was given over to a schools marching band competition.

Bands arrived on the ferry over a 2 day period, each met by an impromptu jam from the local band and any that had already arrived. Ads numbers grew it got more and more chaotic and at times I’m sure they were marching to a different tune. On Friday and Saturday night there was a parade down the Main Street with each band takin g turns at centre stage by the main ferry dock - the heart of the Island. anything lacking in musicality was made up with youthful exuberance and the overall effect was magical. I’ve posted a rough video in the video section and I’ll try and stick something better together but you’ll get the vibe (you’ll see what I did there. when you watch).

When they left the Island went back to its soporific pace and quiet descended at least until next Saturday when the aspiring dive masters and scuba instructors have their weekly party night.

This is an island that on the face of it has nothing yet it has everything and is surrounded by reefs, wrecks fish - lots of fish. Oh and speaking of fish, did I mention the food - there are some great restaurants here and its almost cheaper to eat out than to cook so why not?