Monday, 18 Jan

Mon 18 Jan: Peter left for Guatamala and Honduras this morning. it was a perfect morning. after chores, i set up snorkeling again with Janne and Henk, the friends of Peter from Holland. we will go snorkeling while he rides a hot dusty bus to Flores... poor Peter :( our snorkeling boat took us out to the reef in front of Caye Caulker. there were 3 different spots. the first place was wasn't too deep, altho we did see a few divers at about 35 feet. saw a stingray as soon as i entered the water. our guide really guided us. i stayed close by so i could see whatever he pointed out. he coaxed a moral eel out of his 'den' with some fish. he came out and headed towards us with his mouth open. they look so vicious, but they have to keep their mouth open because they don't have gills, .. it's the way they breathe. lots of fishes and different corals: brain, star, lettuce. saw a pretty big grouper under a bank of coral. we snorkeled for almost an hour... i was getting cold, even tho i had my new wonderful neoprene jacket on. the next stop was Stingray Alley. Similar to the one at Grand Caymen.... for years the fishermen cleaned their fish at this spot, and the stingrays used to come and feed. they still come today and swim with us tourists. i actually got to hold one . they are like soft wet velvet. very soothing! the next spot was Coral Gardens ... lots of coral outcroppings quite close to the surface. you can just stay in one place and continue to see lots of little fishes, anemoes, and sea urchins. it clouded up for awhile and actually rained quite heavily while we were with the stingrays, but who notices when you're in the water. it was a great snorkel experience. i can't imagine what a bad snorkel experience would be; hopefully i never do. i have not posted this because i was hoping that Janne would send me some photos of our trip ... but ... i'll send them later ......when we got back to Janne and Henk's place, they 'insisted' that i come in and use their HOT water to shower and wash my hair. WOW ... simple pleasures :) my bites are still driving me crazy. i went to the pharmacy to get something for a couple of the cats, who seem to have allergies and have raw patches. the pharmacist said i could take the same thing for my bites and it wouldn't make me sleepy. so i got some for myself too. and it works! on the way to the pharmacy i took some more photos: golf cart taxi: they made their fences out of the dead coconut branches: if i had time :) .... i'd research this and let you know what it is :) Catholic Church ... this one i know. i tried to get in, but it was locked,.... is there a message there ? when i got home Madi also suggested putting aloe on them, so i slathered up, and that gave some immediate relief. no other topical creams have worked. i even bought one here that is hemp based, and got some from Janne that she said works ... none of them worked for me. but the aloe did .... go figure! Janne and Henk invited me to join them for dinner at their place tonight. it is their last night. we ate outside at their picnic table. i stopped for ceviche on the way there, we had rum and cokes, visited, then ordered Chinese, take out of course, to eat at their picnic table. a good night