Sun, 20 Mar.
woke up today and realized, it's the 20th of March! i need to be back in Belize by the 28-29 .... i have to leave ... soon, if i am going to Cayos Cochinos. ....and i am committed to go to Cayos one way or another. if i don't go now, i will regret it. Marti and i have not been successful in finding someone with a sailboat who was going there that we could get a ride with. so, back to my original plan; ferry to LaCeiba, then ferry to Cayos Cochinos.
one of the first days i was here, i stopped at a bar to have a Mojito, (and it was a very good one!). i only had a 500 Lempira bill, and the bar didn't have change. this is a common problem here. the ATM dispenses 500 bills and none of the merchants can change them. there were 3 guys at the bar and one said he would buy my drink. got to talking to them and found out they were from Cayos Cochinos ... i said, 'hey, i want to go there!'. they work at Plantation Beach Resort. it is the only 'resort' (think: a loose interpretation of 'resort'), on any of the 13 tiny islands that make up Cayos Cochinos. a night's stay, including meals, off shore snorkeling, and 2 dives is the same price that i'd have to pay to get to Cayos for a day trip from here in Roatan. sounded like a great deal to me! but, the problem still remains: getting to Cayos inexpensively. i planned to email him again .... but my procrastination held me back ... grrrrrrrrrr.
i walked around town and got more donations. the Thai restaurant donated US$100 dinner ... that's HUGE for here!
then rewarded myself with a snorkel right in town at Half Moon Bay again. this time i did the other side. again, i wasn't disappointed. TWO new things i'd never seen before.
i had to look this one up, it's a Spanish Hogfish, with very pretty colors.
snorkeling around not seeing much else, when i spotted this snake. i watch it for quite awhile, dove down, took pictures, and watched some more. he was way busy moving all around, looked like he was hunting for dinner to me. i saw another snorkeler that said there weren't any sea snakes here, and it was probably an eel .... i looked it up. Yes, it's a Sharptail Eel. it was over 3' long and maybe 1' wide.
Cool ... most Eels are nocturnal, but this one is out during the day, and was actively hunting. i watched him put his head into a hole in the rocks and i could see his body pushing and pulling and twisting. it was obvious it was fighting something ... great to watch ! here he has his head in a rock and you can tell he's pretty big.
and there were 2 of these Juvenile Spotted Drum Fish, moving so fast, i couldn't get a good photo of them. they float effortlessly in the current and then dart here and there. they are only about 6" long with very very long dorsal fins! i saw these on a dive on Utila, but had never heard of them before that. very striking in black and white.
Yellow Goatfish; which is sometimes this color when it is resting on the bottom. when it swims around it's white with a yellow stripe.
and Spotted Goatfish.
a Tiger Grouper.
there is a guy here, Stanley, that made a mini submarine that takes people down 2,000+ feet ! that is way deep! he has used parts from airplanes, cars, and motorcycles to build this one. he built his first one when he was 9 yrs old and it is now resting in Half Moon Bay; photo below. the one he has now is quite different from this one. it's a great story if you want to check out his web page: http://www.stanleysubmarines.com/
this Grouper was right up by shore, hiding under an old anchor.
home, shower, changed and met Marti on the dock to watch the sunset ... another beautiful one.
at the end of the day, i still have made no plans to leave and go to Cayos, or anywhere else :(
snorkeling around not seeing much else, when i spotted this snake. i watch it for quite awhile, dove down, took pictures, and watched some more. he was way busy moving all around, looked like he was hunting for dinner to me. i saw another snorkeler that said there weren't any sea snakes here, and it was probably an eel .... i looked it up. Yes, it's a Sharptail Eel. it was over 3' long and maybe 1' wide.
Cool ... most Eels are nocturnal, but this one is out during the day, and was actively hunting. i watched him put his head into a hole in the rocks and i could see his body pushing and pulling and twisting. it was obvious it was fighting something ... great to watch ! here he has his head in a rock and you can tell he's pretty big.
and there were 2 of these Juvenile Spotted Drum Fish, moving so fast, i couldn't get a good photo of them. they float effortlessly in the current and then dart here and there. they are only about 6" long with very very long dorsal fins! i saw these on a dive on Utila, but had never heard of them before that. very striking in black and white.
Yellow Goatfish; which is sometimes this color when it is resting on the bottom. when it swims around it's white with a yellow stripe.
and Spotted Goatfish.
a Tiger Grouper.
there is a guy here, Stanley, that made a mini submarine that takes people down 2,000+ feet ! that is way deep! he has used parts from airplanes, cars, and motorcycles to build this one. he built his first one when he was 9 yrs old and it is now resting in Half Moon Bay; photo below. the one he has now is quite different from this one. it's a great story if you want to check out his web page: http://www.stanleysubmarines.com/
this Grouper was right up by shore, hiding under an old anchor.
home, shower, changed and met Marti on the dock to watch the sunset ... another beautiful one.
at the end of the day, i still have made no plans to leave and go to Cayos, or anywhere else :(
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