16 Mar--BBQ at Bar-a-cuda

Fri, 16 Mar .. got up early and started organizing and packing, because it was possible that this would be my only chance to pack if the day turned out to be busy; and i knew that there wouldn't be any time this evening. ...it's was my last night in Utila, and there was lots to do. i was in and out of the Whale Shark office all morning, ... trying to determine if were were going to have a boat tour this afternoon. making sure that we had 2 Dive Masters, a boat, and a Boat Captain on 'stand-by' ..... it is really frustrating ... waiting, ... not knowing if we're going or not .... there is quite a bit of 'stuff' that needs to be done before we can go, and i hate running around at the last minute ... looking like i don't know what i'm doing. i hadn't heart from the 2 guys yesterday that said they wanted to go ... around 11am the first couple showed up and said they were still interested ... +2 ... the one guy that said he wanted to go, came in and after we talked awhile, he decided he did not want to go ... -1 .... then another couple came in and said they wanted to go, ... +2 ....i asked them to check back at 12:30. at noon the 2 guys showed up and said they wanted to go ... ok, ... so that's 6 ! ...i called the first couple and told them that the boat should be going and to be here at 12:30; .... then we waited for the other couple to show up ... at 12:30 i saw them leisurely walking down the street ... i walked/ran down to meet them .. they were surprised to see me, .... they decided they didn't want to go because of the $$$$ (but obviously weren't going to tell me) .... i asked them if they would go for 1/2 price, but they still said they didn't have the money ... so now -2 ... and .... i now had 4 people all excited about going, ..... but we needed 1 more person ! :( so i asked everyone to just give me 5min; and i ran to the Lodge where i thought there would be some Lodge Guests eating lunch ... i was going to try to find another person who wanted to go. the Manager was sitting there, and when i told her the situation ... she said, 'just go with 4 people' .... i was shocked because we're supposed to have 5 in order to break even on the gas ... i was so happy ... i thanked her and ran back to the office to get everyone signed and paid before anyone else changed their minds !!!!!!! then had to get everything ready and on the boat ... life vests, first aid, oxygen, drinking water with ice, glasses, ask the ladies in the cafeteria (who only speak Spanish) to cut up some watermelon and put it in a sealed container, locate the cooler and fill it with pops and ice, a bucket for masks and cameras, all the forms and paperwork ..... getting release forms signed, people paid, and on the dock so they can take their swim test .... it was stressful .... but it eventually all got done, and we were on the boat and leaving ... we did the introductions and i gave my 'talk' on the Whale Sharks .... the girls were paying attention because they knew that they would be doing it the next time. Frank was our Capt for today and we went around the East side of the island for the first time because the winds were finally calmer. ...we were all hopeful ! ...but no Whale Sharks .... then, Frank said that there was a Whale out there .... we all looked, but we couldn't see anything ... eventually as we got closer, .....YES ... we saw a Whale ... spouting water ... it wasn't a Whale Shark .. but a Sperm Whale ! you can see the water spouting on the left side of the photo, ... and then a black body ... then the end of the body ... it was a big one ... as we got closer ... we saw the 'hump' then the tail ... and it was gone ... Frank said once you see the tail, that means that it is diving down, down, down very deep, and we won't see him again .... very rarely do they see Sperm Whales around Utila because the water is generally too warm for them ... the last time Frank saw one was in 2006, and he had only seen 3-4 in his 23 yrs on Utila .... sooo ... although we didn't see a Whale Shark ... we saw something even more unusual and rare !!!!!! Sperm Whales have the largest brain of any animal; ... they are the largest living toothed animal; ...and the deepest diving mammal, know to go down to 9,800ft; .... it's head makes up 1/3 of it's body size; ... it can live for 70yrs WoW ... what a send off for my last day ! we stopped at a great snorkel place and most of us got in the water for about 25min ... saw this French AngelFish and this Scrawled File Fish and this little tiny baby Smooth TrunkFish ... he is really well camouflaged ... you can hardly see him ... he's right in the center of the photo, ...kind of box-shaped, with his nose pointing SE ... he couldn't have been more than 3 inches .... so cute ! ... got back and spent awhile cleaning out the boat and putting things away; then home to shower and get rady for our BBQ at the Bar-a-cuda .... we had such a good dinner last time, we decided to do it again for my last night .... we had all the same kinds of food, .... veggie kabobs, shrimp kabobs, chicken, beef, rice, salad ... we also had and some wonderful guacamole .... here you can see everyone's hands reaching in and scooping it up ... it went fast ..... tonight we also had grilled pineapple with maple syrup and cinnamon drizzled on top ... and Kelly brought the fixins for Banana Boats .... ok ... this is one i missed in my growing up .... so i helped her prepare them, ..... you take an unpeeled banana and slice it lengthwise, but do not cut through either end ... so there is a pocket down the center of the banana ... inside the pocket you put pieces of chocolate ... do i have your attention now ???????? ... then you wrap each banana in foil, and put it on the grill .... they were so good ... i think you could easily have it with ice cream :) it was a wonderful dinner ... cleaned all that up; and then ... it's Friday Night Karaoke ... i was going to pass and go pack; but wanted to go just to say 'bye' to a few people .... but of course ... once i got in there .... i didn't want to leave. i've never really liked Karaoke ... but for some reason ... it's just so much fun here at this bar with these people .... the 2 guys that were on the Whale Shark boat today were very nice and rather quiet .... i walked into the bar, and they are both there ... and they are all wound up and quite the entertainers !!! i couldn't believe it was the same 2 guys.... had i known, they could have entertained us all 4 hrs on the boat ! the couple that was on the boat came into the bar; and they couldn't believe it either ... they were still there when i left ... enjoying watching and listening ... it was a fun last night