21 Jan, Fri -Darren's Last Night

Fri, 21 Jan a hot humid summer day ... without a cloud in the sky. first day since i've been here that has happened. i took a break from snorkeling today ... savoring the experience of yesterday. snorkeling The Split after that will be disappointing. i did some sewing-mending of my backpack today, then started working on another fence-mending project again ... but it was way too hot. by the time i realized it was too hot, my clothes were soaked. i did laundry and hung out on the porch for awhile. evening came with thunder and this sky: then the storm came ... it rained cats and dogs ... Madi's family has doubled ... just kidding :) us girls were sitting in our room having a drink waiting for the storm to pass. Darren's room is just on the other side of the door .... we saw him, looking like a 'lost cat' wanting to come in ... it was pretty funny, well, you had to be there ... with some rum :) this is Darren's last night here and we planned to go back to Wish Willy's again .... the rain finally quit and we dodged huge puddles in the street and headed to Wish Willy's. here is a photo of one of the puddles in the shape of a heart ... .awhhhhhhhhh dinner at Wish Willy's was eventful as usual. our 'group' of 4 have really 'bonded', we always have fun when we're together. Darren isn't a very big guy, but eats a lot, and often. tonight, he ordered TWO complete dinners after dinner we headed to the I&I, the popular Reggae Bar, it is kind of like a 'tree house' with swings and steps and landings that just go up and up, fun place. here is a pic of a sign at the bar. i don't think you have to had been there to get this one.

20 Jan - Part 3-Lobster Grill

Thurs, 20 Jan .... continued .... on the way back to Madi's, we stopped an pulled up some lobster traps .... :))))))))) when we got back to the dock, we fed the cats, we took showers and got changed, ... while Bernardo grilled our lobsters. those were the best lobsters ... so moist ... and he only used some 'complete seasoning salt' ... no butter .... i couldn't believe how good they were! Bernardo, Darren, and me: i went to the Chinese 'restaurant' down the street and got some of that wonderful fried rice. what a GREAT day ! Wilbur, Starla, Steph, Ishie:

20 Jan - Part 2

Thurs, 20 Jan ....continued .... we then cruised into San Pedro, the 'town' on the island of Ambergris Caye for a 2 hr stop to have lunch. being the 'experienced' member of the group, they asked me to choose a place to eat. we went to Fido's ..... pronounced Feed - Doze ... had a good lunch. walked through town and ran into Darrel and Milo, my friends from last year. then headed back to the boat and Wilbur took us snorkeling for the 3rd time, to Hol Chan; which is the Marine Reserve on the reef. we had a great snorkeling experience; and a lot of new snorkeling 'converts' ..... it's so peaceful while snorkeling. we saw lots of great fish ..... a better pic of the Lionfish: a Parrot fish: a Blue Headed Wrasse: a French Angel fish. Sargent Majors are cute little yellow black and white striped fishes. a Trunk Fish, triangular-shaped fish. the Grouper is not the most colorful fish in the sea .... but i really love the markings! and of course, the turtle. this is a Green Turtle. i would have been happy to just stay and visit with him the entire snorkel.

20 Jan, Thurs

Thurs, 20 Jan THIS is more like it !!!!!!!!!!!!! Wilbur, Madi's brother, took us on a snorkel trip today. Bernardo, was there to help Wilbur keep us all in line. there were the four of us, plus Starla and Rachel; and also 3 backpacker-campers, Kristen, Colleen, and Andrew, showed up and joined us. so there were 9 .... 4 who had never snorkeled before. we took off on the back side of the island, it was really calm and we headed towards San Pedro, following the north end of Caye Caulker. going at a leisurely pace i realized how long the other half of Caye Caulker was ... 9 miles. after the end of the island, the waves picked up. towards the reef, we stopped at our first snorkel spot, Coral Gardens. the water was rough, not good conditions for first time snorkelers, but they did great. we spent about 45min there. this is a Purple Fan Coral: more fishes enjoying the coral: then we headed to Shark Ray Alley. this is where the stingrays are accustomed to being fed, as well as the nurse sharks. nurse sharks aren't really 'sharks' at all, ... they have no teeth. they are bottom feeders, and just suck/suckle their food in, hence, the name 'nurse sharks'. i've experienced this before, but for the others, it was an exciting experience. Wilbur was feeding the fish, sharks and the rays. this is a Bally Hoo fish ... it had really pretty tail fins and it swims very close to the surface.

19 Jan, Wed

Wed, 19 Jan after chores, i headed back to The Split to do more snorkeling. i'm not working all day any longer :) the tide was going out again, but i decided i would head 'out' anyway. i got out pretty far, and decided to head back in .... the tide was VERY strong .... i was in about 4ft of water and could hardly move forward against the current. i decided to stand up ...duhhhhhh ... and walk backwards for awhile. (the best way to move when you are wearing long fins). i took a lot of photos again with my Panasonic. when i downloaded them, .... NONE of them turned out; no video and no stills ... zero, zip, nothing! i really have no idea what i did wrong. this is frightening! it was fine yesterday ..... Full moon rising tonight.... ran down to The Split to watch it, but there were too many clouds. later in the evening, after dinner. Wish Willy's for dinner again tonight. this time we took along Ishie and Starla and Rachel. dinner was just as good and just as much fun :) Left to Right: Rachel, Starla, the lucky one, Darren, Stephanie, Ishie a GREAT meal !!!!!!!!!!!!!! on the way back, we stopped to watch this group 'spinning fire' .... a new term that Ishie introduced me to. Ishie 'spins fire' on the ends of a baton. this girl had a 'hoola-hoop' with 5 fire balls on it. she was very good. there was a guy with drums and a whistle. it all went together very well. i used to be pretty good at the hoola hoop :) but i don't think i'll try it with fire anytime soon :) check out the short clip on my You Tube page: http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=donna27p

18 Jan, Tues

Tues, 18 Jan did a little work in the am then grabbed my snorkel stuff and Darren and i headed for The Split. i took my Panasonic camera this time. i bought an underwater housing and am using it for the first time. if you will recall last year, i vowed, i would get one of these before my next adventure. so let's see how it works! The tide was going out and it was pretty strong. we decided not to go out where i was yesterday, because it is so much work to get back in against the current. so we just hung out in the shallows. i found several Batfish. i saw one of these last year at Madi's beach. they are still the strangest fish i've ever seen: The first time i've ever seen a green sea star! and an orange one in the sea grass. Darren cut his finger on a piece of coral and went in, but i stayed out. i started free diving down and looking under the pier. there were a lot of fish hanging around the pier. i found a Lionfish ! Lionfish are one of the most beautiful fish in the seas. they have long spines that flow from their body and look like a lion's mane, hence the name, and range in color from reds, corals, to purples. they are an invasive fish from Asian waters. it is theorized that some of them escaped from someone's aquarium during a hurricane and they are infesting the waters of the Carribean. their spines are poisionous, they have no predators, are incredible reproducers, and are eating all the fish. there is a strong movement to eradicate them, and they should be killed when seen. they are beginning to get them on the menu in restaurants. this would encourage active fishing of them if it became profitable to kill them. i haven't tried the meat yet, but i understand it is mild and quite good. you won't see them swimming around, ... they hang out under ledges. it was quite dark down under the pier and try as i did, time and time again, to get a good photo of it, i wasn't very successful. i also found a Pufferfish, or Porcupine fish under a rock ledge. i spent a lot of time diving to get photos of this one too and i had a little better luck. they have a cute face and huge eyes: i was in the water for hours (nothing new); and my fingers were wrinkley and i was getting cold, so i quit for the day. i walked up to the bar at the Lazy Lizard and there sat Darren and Ishie, making new friends. then back to Madi's to do more work before the day was over. Starla, mother, and Rachel, daughter, arrived today from Iowa. they brought a lot of supplies for Madi and will go to the school tomorrow to do an 'educational' trip to the school tomorrow on 'animals as pets'.... Darren, Stephanie, and i went to Wish Willy's for dinner tonight. it is an out-of-the-way location. way down by The Split, down a side road on the back side of the island. Maurice, reportedly a world class chef owns it. i'd seen it last year, but never been there. all dinners are $15, and include a rum punch. the tables are all outside with tablecloths and lights strung. Maurice, or more commonly known as Wish Willy, is not what you would imagine. he's a big dark guy, kinda intimidating. but he's really nice and has the sweetest smile ... it just doesn't go with his body. i had lobster :) it was wonderful and we had a great evening. this might be our new favorite restaurant.

17 Jan, Mon

Mon, 17 Jan woke up to real heavy fog this morning! a good day to work ... so i started ... about 11am, the fog burned off and it got HOT. it was still, the sea was like a bath tub, not a ripple. so about noon i grabbed my snorkel stuff and GoPro camera, and headed for The Split again ... to see if i could improve my video capabilities ... still not much luck. unfortunate too, because i saw the largest stingray i've ever seen, ... it looked like Darth Vadar in the face ... kinda spooky. he was feeding when another snorkeller yelled at me to come look. he was kicking up an incredible cloud of sand. visibility was zero for about a 20ft circle, for awhile we couldn't see a thing. it really was awesome ! i'm always so regretful when i can't share photos of these things, sorry :( i will try to post some snorkel photos on You Tube when i get a chance. Here is a photo that i did get of a sea star .... there are a LOT of sea stars at The Split. beautiful sunset tonight .... went to dinner alone tonight ......... to Tom Boy's ... an Indian restaurant on the corner. i had Chicken Curry which was very good! and, they even had internet service ! :) the dogs around here feel quite comfortable just laying in the middle of the street ... .