"Banks"

"03/07/2010"

The problem was NOT fixed by the morning and we even tried the bank just out of town and there were issues there. They said that we needed to go to Coxen Hole and that it would be fine there, but not wanting to take any chances with our lack of cash, we hitched all the way to Coxen Hole.
Rather than opting for the long queue outside Banco Atlantico, we opted for HSBC who aside from speaking a distinct lack of English on an English owned island, were most unhelpful and couldn't transfer money even with account details. There was nothing they could/wanted to do to make anything easier or less stressful for us. And I was very stressed by this point.

Banks were closing and a very helpful man offered to open an account in his name as a way of getting some money. Problem was it would have been Monday.
As a last resort, we tried a Western Union, which would have worked had it not been for the time zone issues and the banks in the UK being shut. Depressed we walked back to try the card machine that we had some faith in and after all this, it actually worked.

After paying off our debts, we decided to enjoy ourselves, splashing out on food, a snorkling encounter and a good time.
The snorkling was a bit crazy as the guy dropped us into deep water. I found it really difficult to swim in currents that strong, and my mask really didn't fit me. I wish I could have had a practice first. We did see some awesome starfish and a brief glimpse of dolphins.

The evening was topped off by another visit to Cannibal Cafe, and a delicious burrito.