Sat, 19 Feb.
at 6am, woke up to rain ... AGAIN .... :( but then it stopped, still looked really bad; but after not showing up last Sat for our dive; and then having the weather turn perfect and them swim with Whale Sharks 3 times ... ... well, we decided we should go ... certainly it will stop raining (like it did last Sat). but, ... it continued to be dark and ugly as we assembled our gear and got on the boat. i am REALLY not wanting to do this! on the way to our first dive site, it started raining a little; we hunkered down underneath where it was dry. but eventually we had to come out and put our gear on and get in the water. the waves were really big and you have to wait in the water until everyone is ready ... so you're bobbing around out there in 4ft swells for awhile. it was horrible, but once you got under the water, it didn't much matter, except that it's MUCH prettier and brighter down there when the sun is shining! visibility was remarkably good. we actually saw a large nurse shark ... first one i've seen here!
we dove for about 50min and when we surfaced, it was absolutely pouring buckets. the waves were bigger and you can't imagine how difficult it is to get on a boat with the boat rocking and the waves splashing, and you're carrying an oxygen tank on your back. trying to get out of your fins and up the ladder, while it's banging up and down. i know it sounds horrible, ... and it kind of is ... but it's all part of the excitement. we got in the boat, everyone was cold, we wrapped ourselves up the best we could, still wet, and we took off; looking for Whale Sharks. if we would have seen one, it probably would have warmed us all up, but the thought of jumping back in the water, wet and cold, while it was still pouring, ... well .... let's just say we didn't have to find out. we saw none; and finally continued to our next Dive Site. i was hoping they would call it off, but they are hard core, and we were paying for it whether we dove or not. if i thought it was no fun getting our gear on for the first dive ... it was less fun this time. we were cold and it was still raining. but we knew that as soon as we got in the water it would be better, so we were quick about it ! the waves were still huge, but it went faster this time and soon we were down 50 feet again. visibility wasn't that good, but it was the prettiest and best dive i've had here! even with no sun, the reef was more colorful than i've seen. i still did not have a camera with me ... i'm such a wimp! but i am feeling more confident with each dive. i'm still having trouble with my mask getting water in it, which keeps my so hands busy i don't know how i'd hold a camera. maybe next time i'll rent a mask and see if that helps! i don't have any trouble with it when i'm snorkeling, ...just when i dive. so....... i borrowed these photos that i found on line to show you a few of the things i saw that i'd never seen before. these are NOT my photos :(
the Azure Vase Sponges were absolutely beautiful ... periwinkle purple and beautifully textured.
i also saw several fish i'd never seen before, which is always exciting! i saw this Indigo Hamlet twice .. his blue stripes were irridescent, even with no sunshine!
and a Juvenile Spotted Drum Fish. this guy was so tiny ... about 3" long maybe ... with those long long fins.
...and also the Gray Angelfish were huge and incredibly curious and came right up to you, ... i almost touched one. and, we saw 2 HUGE Scrawled Filefish. i love these fish, and have seen them before in Belize at Glovers and also in the USVirgin Islands, St.Johns; but these were twice the size of any i've seen. it was exciting! we finished our dive and headed back ... still raining.
on the way back, one of the Dive Masters told us about an all day all inclusive Dive Trip to Cayos Cochinos. Cayos Cochinos has been on my 'radar' since arriving here. it is a group of 2 small islands and 13 small coral cayes, about 1.5hrs from here. it's been designated a Marine Reserve, so the reefs are pristine and the fish are more plentiful and larger :) there are small boat trips from here that snorkel and lunch at the Garifuna (local people) village, where they prepare their local dishes of fresh fish. it sounds like a wonderful experience! but it's not cheap by backpackers standards, (US$70), so it's been hard to find someone to go with, and you usually need 7 people to make it worth the Capt's time/gas. i wasn't concerned about it the first 2 weeks i was here, thinking i had lotsa time ... but now i only have this week left and i'm starting to panic. and, .... now i've learned about this Dive Trip. this dive shop is one of only 2 organizations that are certified to dive in the marine protected area, ...so now i really want to do the Dive Trip! so Abi and i went to the office to sign up for tomorrow, Sunday. only to learn that they don't have 10 people, so the trip has been canceled :( we left our names ... keeping our fingers crossed for next week!
by the time we got our gear washed and put away, it had stopped raining. as we walked home through town, we noticed lots of low areas were flooded! we stopped at the market and bought hot chocolate. ....note: the other day we were looking for ice cream and now we wanted hot chocolate! when we got home, Chris said it poured for 3hrs straight ... well at least we had more fun diving than we would have just sitting in our rooms! ... i'm looking on the bright side ! i was cold and tired, so after my hot cocoa, i got wrapped up in blankets and took a long nap. around 5pm the sun came out and i went for a walk towards the airport. i took these photos of my journey.
the Bar in the Bush, ... just 100yds from our room ... the place that plays loud loud boom boom 'music' from 10:30pm - 7am, on Wed and Fri nights. it looks innocent enough here:
a beautiful Banana Spider. i'd not seen his 'belly' before, it's so pretty.
a nice stand of bamboo.
our Recycle Center, that will soon be SO BUSY it may need an expansion :)
a local cow.
Chris, Nicole and i went to town for a great pizza. they had these masks on the wall ... they reminded me of the ones we saw in Guatemala last year, ... and they were from Guatemala :)
i also saw several fish i'd never seen before, which is always exciting! i saw this Indigo Hamlet twice .. his blue stripes were irridescent, even with no sunshine!
and a Juvenile Spotted Drum Fish. this guy was so tiny ... about 3" long maybe ... with those long long fins.
...and also the Gray Angelfish were huge and incredibly curious and came right up to you, ... i almost touched one. and, we saw 2 HUGE Scrawled Filefish. i love these fish, and have seen them before in Belize at Glovers and also in the USVirgin Islands, St.Johns; but these were twice the size of any i've seen. it was exciting! we finished our dive and headed back ... still raining.
on the way back, one of the Dive Masters told us about an all day all inclusive Dive Trip to Cayos Cochinos. Cayos Cochinos has been on my 'radar' since arriving here. it is a group of 2 small islands and 13 small coral cayes, about 1.5hrs from here. it's been designated a Marine Reserve, so the reefs are pristine and the fish are more plentiful and larger :) there are small boat trips from here that snorkel and lunch at the Garifuna (local people) village, where they prepare their local dishes of fresh fish. it sounds like a wonderful experience! but it's not cheap by backpackers standards, (US$70), so it's been hard to find someone to go with, and you usually need 7 people to make it worth the Capt's time/gas. i wasn't concerned about it the first 2 weeks i was here, thinking i had lotsa time ... but now i only have this week left and i'm starting to panic. and, .... now i've learned about this Dive Trip. this dive shop is one of only 2 organizations that are certified to dive in the marine protected area, ...so now i really want to do the Dive Trip! so Abi and i went to the office to sign up for tomorrow, Sunday. only to learn that they don't have 10 people, so the trip has been canceled :( we left our names ... keeping our fingers crossed for next week!
by the time we got our gear washed and put away, it had stopped raining. as we walked home through town, we noticed lots of low areas were flooded! we stopped at the market and bought hot chocolate. ....note: the other day we were looking for ice cream and now we wanted hot chocolate! when we got home, Chris said it poured for 3hrs straight ... well at least we had more fun diving than we would have just sitting in our rooms! ... i'm looking on the bright side ! i was cold and tired, so after my hot cocoa, i got wrapped up in blankets and took a long nap. around 5pm the sun came out and i went for a walk towards the airport. i took these photos of my journey.
the Bar in the Bush, ... just 100yds from our room ... the place that plays loud loud boom boom 'music' from 10:30pm - 7am, on Wed and Fri nights. it looks innocent enough here:
a beautiful Banana Spider. i'd not seen his 'belly' before, it's so pretty.
a nice stand of bamboo.
our Recycle Center, that will soon be SO BUSY it may need an expansion :)
a local cow.
Chris, Nicole and i went to town for a great pizza. they had these masks on the wall ... they reminded me of the ones we saw in Guatemala last year, ... and they were from Guatemala :)
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