Sat, 26 Feb.
i woke up wishing i had not had that 'last' rum and coke. :) i had to walk into town to meet with the owner of the largest 'super' market in Utila, Bush's. they carry a lot of American brands and you can find a lot of things in there that you wouldn't normally find on an island in Honduras. she has been away and just returned and i needed to get her support for the Recycling Program before i left. it was hot, i was tired, and not feeling all that great. plus, somehow during the last few days, i got eaten by mosquitos and the bits were itching something terrible. i just wanted out of my skin. but i went and it was worth the effort; she said she would agree, ... and she even bought 10 recycle bags from me to sell in her market!!!!!!!!!! ...that ended on a good note!
i went back home to get ready for our last day. we hired a capt and a boat and went to Water Caye for the day! we left to go get breakfast before getting on the boat ... but it was hot, and the thought of food just didn't agree with me (and i wasn't alone!). i walked to the bakery and bought a nice ham and cheese sandwich on a whole wheat bagette for lunch later when i felt better. it was a lonnngggg time getting everyone organized; .... there were 7 of us ....
but we finally got on the boat and headed for Water Caye.
on the way there, we saw a big black storm cloud just north of us. it was a hot beautiful day ... how could this happen? it actually felt really good to get some cloud cover and relieve us from the heat. we escaped the rain and when we got to Water Caye it was beautiful!
we just laid on the pure white sand, in the shallow clear waters.
and took it all in.
... just doing nothing and trying to feel better. after an hour or so, i grabbed my snorkel gear and headed for the reef. what fun!!!!!!!!!!!! i stayed in the shallows, with sandy patches and some coral heads. since it was shallow, i could get relatively close to the fish for photos.
A Wrasse.
i loved it, over an hour later, i was so cold my fingers were white! so i took about a 15min break and then headed back out again.
watched this 16" Trunkfish for about 10min. it was swimming in the shallows in about 1.5' of water. it's amazing that a person can float in water so shallow. i've not seen one like this before. this one is named, simply Trunkfish. the other one i've seen and photographed is a Smooth Trunkfish which has black spots and honeycomb patterns on it. this one was so simple and beautiful. it was interesting how it changed it's color slightly to match it's environment. when it was over the sand it was cream color.
but when it was swimming in the sea grass, it was darker.
here he is smiling for me here.
this is a Yellow Headed Wrasse swimming in the beautiful corals.
Blue Tang in front of a Fan Coral.
The Blue Tangs can be many different colors of blue, depending upon the lighting. Here is another one that looks turquoise against the purple of the Fan Coral and the Brain Coral.
Needlefish,, ....always swimming near the surface.
there were a lot of these Squirrelfishes hiding under the rocks today.
Here he has his dorsal fins flared, i think he must have felt threatened. sorry fishy :(
these are Christmas Tree Worms on a Brain Coral. if they are disturbed just slightly, they quickly disappear as they retract themselves for safety.
i'm always trying to photograph these fishes. i remember seeing them for the first time YEARS ago in Cancun and have always been fastinated by them. they are black or maybe dark dark blue, with electric blue spots .. and the older ones have a yellow tail. it's a Yellowtailed Damselfish. i finally got a decent shot ... and i will continue to try to get a better one.
this is a Brittle Star Fish on a Purple Fan Coral. AWESOME !
a Flamingo Tongue.
it was a perfect day on our own little island. our Capt came to pick us up at around 4:15. he was anxious to get back because the afternoon seas were picking up. whoa ! i've never seen the seas in the protected 'bay' area so rough! there were really big waves in there and we were in sort of a small boat. but those Captains know how to handle their boats in those waves, they've been doing it for 50 years. i never feel like we're in danger.
we got back and cleaned up and headed back into town for our 'last supper'. we ate at Main Street and the food was just as wonderful as it was the other night. we all had the Tuna again, 3 large pieces, grilled perfectly, not the least bit dry. tonight they had another sauce: Thai Chili Pepper Cream, as well as the Jalapeno Cream that i had the other night. they were both wonderful.
we were all tired and went right home and started packing .... got to bed about midnight. Abi set the alarm for 5am.
but we finally got on the boat and headed for Water Caye.
on the way there, we saw a big black storm cloud just north of us. it was a hot beautiful day ... how could this happen? it actually felt really good to get some cloud cover and relieve us from the heat. we escaped the rain and when we got to Water Caye it was beautiful!
we just laid on the pure white sand, in the shallow clear waters.
and took it all in.
... just doing nothing and trying to feel better. after an hour or so, i grabbed my snorkel gear and headed for the reef. what fun!!!!!!!!!!!! i stayed in the shallows, with sandy patches and some coral heads. since it was shallow, i could get relatively close to the fish for photos.
A Wrasse.
i loved it, over an hour later, i was so cold my fingers were white! so i took about a 15min break and then headed back out again.
watched this 16" Trunkfish for about 10min. it was swimming in the shallows in about 1.5' of water. it's amazing that a person can float in water so shallow. i've not seen one like this before. this one is named, simply Trunkfish. the other one i've seen and photographed is a Smooth Trunkfish which has black spots and honeycomb patterns on it. this one was so simple and beautiful. it was interesting how it changed it's color slightly to match it's environment. when it was over the sand it was cream color.
but when it was swimming in the sea grass, it was darker.
here he is smiling for me here.
this is a Yellow Headed Wrasse swimming in the beautiful corals.
Blue Tang in front of a Fan Coral.
The Blue Tangs can be many different colors of blue, depending upon the lighting. Here is another one that looks turquoise against the purple of the Fan Coral and the Brain Coral.
Needlefish,, ....always swimming near the surface.
there were a lot of these Squirrelfishes hiding under the rocks today.
Here he has his dorsal fins flared, i think he must have felt threatened. sorry fishy :(
these are Christmas Tree Worms on a Brain Coral. if they are disturbed just slightly, they quickly disappear as they retract themselves for safety.
i'm always trying to photograph these fishes. i remember seeing them for the first time YEARS ago in Cancun and have always been fastinated by them. they are black or maybe dark dark blue, with electric blue spots .. and the older ones have a yellow tail. it's a Yellowtailed Damselfish. i finally got a decent shot ... and i will continue to try to get a better one.
this is a Brittle Star Fish on a Purple Fan Coral. AWESOME !
a Flamingo Tongue.
it was a perfect day on our own little island. our Capt came to pick us up at around 4:15. he was anxious to get back because the afternoon seas were picking up. whoa ! i've never seen the seas in the protected 'bay' area so rough! there were really big waves in there and we were in sort of a small boat. but those Captains know how to handle their boats in those waves, they've been doing it for 50 years. i never feel like we're in danger.
we got back and cleaned up and headed back into town for our 'last supper'. we ate at Main Street and the food was just as wonderful as it was the other night. we all had the Tuna again, 3 large pieces, grilled perfectly, not the least bit dry. tonight they had another sauce: Thai Chili Pepper Cream, as well as the Jalapeno Cream that i had the other night. they were both wonderful.
we were all tired and went right home and started packing .... got to bed about midnight. Abi set the alarm for 5am.
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