Tuesday, February 8
6 Feb, Sun
Sun, 6 Feb.
ok, i don't know what i ate yesterday that didn't agree with me, ...maybe that fish i thought tasted so good. .... certainly it wasn't the ice cream! unfortunately, i woke up with a rumbling stomach requiring several trips to the bathroom :( after a few hours, i realized that it was going to be more than just a few trips to the bathroom. i was feverish and felt like a 'wet noodle'. i couldn't even sit up in bed, and was chilled .... in 90degree weather! i forced myself to eat a slice of bread so i could take some Motrin. i spent the day in bed and got up around 3pm and could actually walk outside. not feeling great, but much improved! the problem with a place like this is that there just isn't anything that you can eat that isn't greasy, fried, or spicy. i was hungry around 6pm and found some leftover chicken and rice in the frig that i heated up. i think i'm ok now and looked forward to going back to bed!
since this is a short blog, i'll add this: some of you have asked about using the "Comments" section ... which would be wonderful ... i'd love to hear your comments! i've worked on this the other night with Abi. and i think this is how it goes:
--a 'comment box' is offered only if you select a particular date.
--if you are looking at all the days one after another, there is no 'comment box'.
--but at the end of each day's posting, it says "Posted by Donna at ..pm 0 Comments".
--if you click on "0 Comments" or "2 Comments" ... .
--then it will bring up a comment box to use.
for the "Select profile..." drop down box .... .
if you have a Google Acct ... you can use the Google Acct option .
if not, use Anonymous ... but then, please include your name in the text section of the message or i won't know who it's from ... :) .
then, i think it will tell you something in Spanish? about 'probation' ... which means i'll get an email that a 'comment' has been posted, and then i say ok to publish.... .
at least that's the way i think it will work now ....
no photos today, so i'll leave you with just this one:
Sunday, February 6
5 Feb, Sat
Sat, 5 Feb.
we all slept in today ... i think it was after 9am when i finally got up .... 5 hours of sleep ought to be enough to hold me until i can get a nap :)
about noon it was so hot, we slowly walked towards the beach at the other end of town. we had to stop half way to get something to eat at the Bandu. i had a great tuna sandwich. we all needed food! afterwards we walked the rest of the way to the 'pay' beach, with toilets and fresh water showers!
as we walked out to the beach we met Chico, the beautiful red Macaw. SHE was quite friendly and the owner came over and put her on our shoulders for some pictures.
he showed me where to snorkel and i headed out. it was kind of depressing. there was a LOT of dead coral ... but some was beginning to regrow, like this one:
and quite a few fish, but overall, it was sad. i did get a few good photos ...
there was a HUGE school of Blue Tangs that went swimming by out in the deep.
But the water out there was really chilly, so i hung out in the shallows where it was like bath water and saw some smaller fishes.
this Trunkfish was a very cooperative subject.
Butterfly fishes:
you can see a mass of purple that is on the rock in the background. i can only speculate that this fish was defending his territory or eggs. he kept darting out at me, and then retreating back to the wall. also chasing other fishes away. will have to check out my theory with our authorities here.
the rest of the group laid in the sand and took naps ... but i was not going to be a snack for the Sand Flies ... so i just hung out in the water and walked around until we were ready to leave. we
walked back into town around 5:30 and had ice cream :)
back home, changed clothes and walked down to my favorite place, Hotpot; with Chris and Nicole. we saw this guy on the steps. my apologies to those of you who don't like spiders :(
had another dinner of fresh shrimps. delicious and not too much, just right. it felt really good to get into bed early! Never did get my nap.
as we walked out to the beach we met Chico, the beautiful red Macaw. SHE was quite friendly and the owner came over and put her on our shoulders for some pictures.
he showed me where to snorkel and i headed out. it was kind of depressing. there was a LOT of dead coral ... but some was beginning to regrow, like this one:
and quite a few fish, but overall, it was sad. i did get a few good photos ...
there was a HUGE school of Blue Tangs that went swimming by out in the deep.
But the water out there was really chilly, so i hung out in the shallows where it was like bath water and saw some smaller fishes.
this Trunkfish was a very cooperative subject.
Butterfly fishes:
you can see a mass of purple that is on the rock in the background. i can only speculate that this fish was defending his territory or eggs. he kept darting out at me, and then retreating back to the wall. also chasing other fishes away. will have to check out my theory with our authorities here.
the rest of the group laid in the sand and took naps ... but i was not going to be a snack for the Sand Flies ... so i just hung out in the water and walked around until we were ready to leave. we
walked back into town around 5:30 and had ice cream :)
back home, changed clothes and walked down to my favorite place, Hotpot; with Chris and Nicole. we saw this guy on the steps. my apologies to those of you who don't like spiders :(
had another dinner of fresh shrimps. delicious and not too much, just right. it felt really good to get into bed early! Never did get my nap.
4 Feb, Fri
Fri, 4 Feb.
this morning was kind of confusing as to what we were supposed to be doing when. finally around noon it appeared that whatever we were going to do, wasn't going to happen, so Chris, Nicole and i grabbed our snorkel gear and headed for the beach. Abi was at an elementary school out on one of the Keyes. we left her a note to come join us when she got back. it was a very hot sunny walk. i know i'm not getting any sympathy from any of you :)
so, we stopped at Driftwood for something to eat, and to get out of the heat! we sat over the water with a nice breeze blowing ... felt good! i had chicken quesadillas that were very good.
then we headed past Chepes Beach to a place called Coral View to snorkel. the reef is close to the shore at this point, and there is a 2-story dock that you can snorkel from if you either pay US$3 or buy a drink .... the drink is cheaper :)
about the time we got into the water, Abi showed up. Chris and Nicole stayed in the shallows and Abi and i headed out over the reef to the edge where it drops off into oblivion. i love it right on the edge there. it is exciting, and you see lots of fish and coral with nothing but dark blue as far as you can see in the distance.
i had my camera and took lots photos.
Blue Tang in the coral
porcupine fish or puffer fish ... this is his normal size ... blows up to 'ball' shape when threatened
i love the 'vase' corals
i think this is a brain coral, but in the most unusual colors of green and pink:
Spider Crab (i think)
Elkhorn Coral:
another 'vase' coral:
coral with the deep blue in the back ground:
Parrot Fish
Abi and i finally decided to go in. we all stayed around and had a 'required' drink. then headed home to get cleaned up ... it's our first Friday night here!
Abi and i headed back towards the Driftwood because we heard they had a band. i was skeptical as to the band and how long i would 'last' with the young kids. the band, 'older guys' played good ole music. we had met Mario, a musician from Montreal, while snorkeling; and he arrived at the Driftwood ... and ended up playing some great blues ! i LOVED it, and before i knew it, they were closing the bar! Abi, Mario, and i left there and started walking to the next bar ... the Jade SeaHorse. the bar is a 'tree-house' literally built into the trees! i'll have to get photos during the day of this restaurant, it is unexplainable! in short, it's a 'mosaic-makers dream'. After closing the Jade SeaHorse we stopped back at our room and i was shocked to see that it was 2am. ....on to the next bar, The Bar in the Bush, which is only about 100yds from our room. Last Wed night they kept us up all night with their boom boom boom 'music'. it was no different tonight, so we decided we might as well join them since we wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. i got to bed at 4am. there !! ... now i don't have to do that again while i'm here!
porcupine fish or puffer fish ... this is his normal size ... blows up to 'ball' shape when threatened
i love the 'vase' corals
i think this is a brain coral, but in the most unusual colors of green and pink:
Spider Crab (i think)
Elkhorn Coral:
another 'vase' coral:
coral with the deep blue in the back ground:
Parrot Fish
Abi and i finally decided to go in. we all stayed around and had a 'required' drink. then headed home to get cleaned up ... it's our first Friday night here!
Abi and i headed back towards the Driftwood because we heard they had a band. i was skeptical as to the band and how long i would 'last' with the young kids. the band, 'older guys' played good ole music. we had met Mario, a musician from Montreal, while snorkeling; and he arrived at the Driftwood ... and ended up playing some great blues ! i LOVED it, and before i knew it, they were closing the bar! Abi, Mario, and i left there and started walking to the next bar ... the Jade SeaHorse. the bar is a 'tree-house' literally built into the trees! i'll have to get photos during the day of this restaurant, it is unexplainable! in short, it's a 'mosaic-makers dream'. After closing the Jade SeaHorse we stopped back at our room and i was shocked to see that it was 2am. ....on to the next bar, The Bar in the Bush, which is only about 100yds from our room. Last Wed night they kept us up all night with their boom boom boom 'music'. it was no different tonight, so we decided we might as well join them since we wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. i got to bed at 4am. there !! ... now i don't have to do that again while i'm here!
Thursday, February 3
3 Feb, Thurs
Thurs, 3 Feb.
at 8am, Abi, Tim and i were supposed to be at Driftwood Dock to do another Lionfish hunt/kill. we were really excited after yesterday. we arrived and found out that the seas were too rough to get around to the north end of the island. they were going to 'patrol' around the 'keys' on the west side, so we said we'd like to go too. we were looking for people who were taking undersized lobster and conch. we basically took a boat ride out there. but, didn't see anyone to 'bust' :) so, they took us to a guy on one of the Keyes that had another 'aquarium' of marine life. this one was larger and didn't seem so 'oppressive'. the man was very nice and told us of his efforts of buying young turtles from people, and 'saving' them from being killed for food. he said the Green Turtle is very good and tastes like lean beef. he keeps them, feeds them well, and then will release them when they are larger. he really seemed like a nice guy with his 'heart in the right place' .... (my interpretation) .... maybe he was totally bullshitting us, but i don't think so. he also was talking about the Great Blue Heron that come and eat some of his fish in the night. i told him that those were 'our' Great Blue Heron. he was surprised that they went up there in the summertime, ..... education is a sharing experience!
here are some photos of his 'aquarium'.
the big red fish is a 'yellow fin grouper' ... it is more red at deep depths, but has yellow fins. nice starfish too.
we got back around 10am and spent the rest of the day working on our projects. Gato Gordo was totally enjoying the day on the stairs.
and later in the afternoon, he moved down a few steps to this position.
and he's adopted us as his evening 'home' .... he makes himself comfortable in the kitchen.
and then moves onto the bed.
i noticed on our way back from town that my favorite restaurant, HotPot, had a sign out front that said 'Fresh Shrimps'. i went there for dinner tonight and they did not disappoint.
the big red fish is a 'yellow fin grouper' ... it is more red at deep depths, but has yellow fins. nice starfish too.
we got back around 10am and spent the rest of the day working on our projects. Gato Gordo was totally enjoying the day on the stairs.
and later in the afternoon, he moved down a few steps to this position.
and he's adopted us as his evening 'home' .... he makes himself comfortable in the kitchen.
and then moves onto the bed.
i noticed on our way back from town that my favorite restaurant, HotPot, had a sign out front that said 'Fresh Shrimps'. i went there for dinner tonight and they did not disappoint.
Wednesday, February 2
2 Feb, Tues - Part 2
Tues, 2 Feb. - Part 2.
it was time to go, the captain said he was getting low on fuel; and we'd probably been there over an hour. so we hoisted ourselves back in the boat, (no ladder) which i didn't think i could do, but did with no difficulty. :)
here is a picture of the Lionfish, dead, with a sad face. not as pretty as it is in the water, but it gives you a better idea of the colors and stripes.
this is what the 'weapon' looks like. nothing is projected. you just hook the rubber hose around your thumb, and pull it tight towards the 3-pronged spears. Then let go. BAM! dead Lionfish! if you don't miss :)
we passed around the west side of the island where their "keys" are. a group of trailing islands, similar to our "Florida Keys" ... but only 2 of them are connected. and many of them are really small ... i hope to be able to set foot on one before i leave!
they are so intriguing!
here is a map of the island.
-town is on the south side, in the cove, where it says East Harbor.
-the Keys are in the lower left hand corner.
-please note there is a MICHIGAN key. !!!!!!!
-Turtle Harbour is on the North side in the middle of the island.
the day was not without it's 'cultural misunderstands', ....for the lack of any other terminology.
the bar where we stopped had this small, 10x10, pen, with several turtles, a nurse shark, crabs, and other fishes...... i don't think it is legal to do this. ..... it was sad to see those poor animals in jail like that :(
there was also a little girl in the restaurant with 4 bowls of turtles at various stages of life. none larger than my hand.
and, this is a home with it's front 'yard' filled with fish.... drying ...
and another place with fish drying on lines everywhere. i've not yet been able to find out what they do with these dried fish.
we had lunch with our group on the main inhabited Key ...
and as we left, we saw these beautiful Triggerfish ... they are not part of the 'normal' diet of the Hondurans ... pains me to see this ..... :(
this is what the 'weapon' looks like. nothing is projected. you just hook the rubber hose around your thumb, and pull it tight towards the 3-pronged spears. Then let go. BAM! dead Lionfish! if you don't miss :)
we passed around the west side of the island where their "keys" are. a group of trailing islands, similar to our "Florida Keys" ... but only 2 of them are connected. and many of them are really small ... i hope to be able to set foot on one before i leave!
they are so intriguing!
here is a map of the island.
-town is on the south side, in the cove, where it says East Harbor.
-the Keys are in the lower left hand corner.
-please note there is a MICHIGAN key. !!!!!!!
-Turtle Harbour is on the North side in the middle of the island.
the day was not without it's 'cultural misunderstands', ....for the lack of any other terminology.
the bar where we stopped had this small, 10x10, pen, with several turtles, a nurse shark, crabs, and other fishes...... i don't think it is legal to do this. ..... it was sad to see those poor animals in jail like that :(
there was also a little girl in the restaurant with 4 bowls of turtles at various stages of life. none larger than my hand.
and, this is a home with it's front 'yard' filled with fish.... drying ...
and another place with fish drying on lines everywhere. i've not yet been able to find out what they do with these dried fish.
we had lunch with our group on the main inhabited Key ...
and as we left, we saw these beautiful Triggerfish ... they are not part of the 'normal' diet of the Hondurans ... pains me to see this ..... :(
2 Feb--LionFish Hunt - Part 1
Tues, 2 Feb. GroundHog Day ... a tradition i had to explain to Pamela. how do you describe a Groundhog to someone who lives on an island with no mammals (except dogs and cats). i went with a very large rat/mouse. the concept just doesn't make sense to someone who has never experienced winter! we left on our boat with Pamela, Chel, Victor, and Jose. we had a great ride around the east side of the island. it was 'calm' .... but 'calm' is not what we would consider 'calm'. it wasn't scary at all, but at times the boat was at a 90 degree angle riding a wave up before we road or crashed down the other side! we were in a 22ft open boat. at the east end of the island is Pumpkin Hill, the highest point of the island at 290ft.
it did get calm once we got around the end, and entered the Turtle Harbour Marine Protected Area. it was a wonderful calm cove with a lot of Patch Reefs! Patch Reefs are what i snorkeled around last year out at Glovers Marine Park. i felt right at home. it was beautiful !
we got in the water, spread out and started hunting for Lionfish. we weren't in the water more than 15min when one was spotted. we all gathered around, and decided Abi should give it a try. we did practice this last night, with a potato! but i wasn't sure if my 'weak hand', could hold the rubber tight enough to get a powerful punch. so Abi made a good try, but missed. this is not as easy as i thought it would be! you have to hold your breath while you dive down, and get within 4-5" of it before you release. ...and of course, there is the distortion of the water you need to get used to; and the fact that your body is bouyant and wants to float to the top. that one darted under a rock, so we waited awhile; but generally speaking, you might as well move on.
i took off in another direction, looking and looking for the dreaded Lionfish ... but it was hard not to be distracted by all the beautiful coral and fishes that i was seeing. i had my camera, so i had to take some photos. .... surprise surprise.
Glass Eye Snapper. This guy was RED ... and no enhancing the color on this photo. this is a 'night' fish, hence, the big eyes, and was hiding under a ledge. i'd never seen one before. he was awesome! his eyes were huge and glassy.
Flounder. i would have never noticed this guy if he hadn't moved. Look hard, he's a professional at camouflage! his tail is in the middle, left of center. you can't see the eyes in this photo. this fish is as flat as a pancake. when it is born, it has an eye on either side of it's body, but as it grows, one eye moves, so they are BOTH on the same side of it's body. it lays flat on whatever it is on, ....and, it changes colors. if it is moving over sand, it's sand colored; when it moves to rocks, it changes to look like the rock. awesome!
after awhile i noticed that everyone was hanging out together. i thought the idea was to spread out, but i returned to see what i had missed. they had seen 2 more Lionfish and missed them both. but they were now hovering over another one. i dove down and took some photos.
then Abi gave it a try. POW ! she got it !!
yeahhhhhh, it was so exciting !!!
don't get the wrong impression with the photo below. this is her swimming to the boat after she skewered it. she did not spear it while it was swimming! you spear them while they are on the bottom or next to the rock they are hiding around.
we saw another one, and tried, with a failed attempt. and, then a mother and a baby. i decided i wanted to give it a try. i went for the mother and missed. then we found another baby, and i tried and missed again, i had time to reload and try again, and still missed. DAMN! i'll get it, but it will take more practice! it didn't bother my wrist at all. it is getting stronger, but i am still wearing a support and taking my motrin.
continued ....
1 Feb, Mon.
Tues, 1 Feb.
to the Vet Clinic at 10am with Monica. i did not go into clinic, but stayed outside to sign in the animals; owners name, pets name, age, sex, weight, and what they needed. the clinic is open 2 days per week for walk-ins: spay, neutering, flea meds, other meds, and vaccinations. it was interesting to meet the vet and her husband, and all the people who came with their pets. mostly locals, one guy from Poland, and some girls from a resort with cats they had found and wanted to find homes for. before they left, they had found a home for both cats ... and one of the girls just broke down into tears .... she wasn't prepared to have them go so soon ... and then i started crying ... i know how attached you can get to an animal in a very short period of time. big help i am!
while there is watched several butterflies eating a 'rotten banana'. this one was especially pretty.
and saw this mother chicken with her little chics on my way home.
this is HotPot just down the road from us that i like so much.... great structure!
wheni got back around 1pm, i saw that BICA was hosting a meeting for all of the Dive Shops on Utila regarding the 'Report Card' of the Reef. i attended and the results were not good news, but not surprising. the health of the reef continues to decline.
after the meeting i did some research on Eco Tours. i am not getting very far with my projects. :(
today Nicole and Chris went out Lionfish hunting. one of the guys that went with them saw a Bull Shark, 9 ft long .... INSIDE the reef where they were snorkeling! now THAT is news! being first-time snorkelers, they were not very excited to hear this. and Tim was REALLY not excited to hear about it !
around 3pm, we met Pamela, pronounced Pam-el-ah, with the accent on the 'el', and she gave us our orientation on how to hunt and kill the Lionfish. i mentioned that while i was in Caye Caulker i saw a Lionfish and gave you the background on it. see 18 Jan blog for a review. so i won't repeat it here, except to correct that they are from Indo-Pacific waters. the Lionfish population is not believed to be as large around Utila, as other places, including our near neighboring island of Roatan. so they are hoping to keep the populations down by actively hunting and killing them. i really like her, she is knowledgeable and fun. we had a great time with her, and watching and listening, as she talked about jellyfish, moray eels, stingrays, and baracuda in response to Tim's almost hysterical queries. she put him in charge of bringing 'vinegar' in case he got stung by a jellyfish. he said he had a first aid kit. she said 'i have no doubt that you do'. she'll be going out with Abi, Tim, and me in the morning to kill the little invasive 'buggers'. Abi and i are really looking forward to it!
Nicole, Tim, Chris and i went to dinner at Evelyn's in town. i had tuna ... it is allowed. such a disappointment after all the lobster in CayeCaulker! it was another huge meal though, you don't go away hungry here, ...complete with some really good heavy brown bread. After dinner we went back to Main Street, but not to have shots ... the other night we saw they had very chocolately cake, with vanilla ice cream, and chocolate syrup! that was wonderful !!!!!!!!!!!
and saw this mother chicken with her little chics on my way home.
this is HotPot just down the road from us that i like so much.... great structure!
wheni got back around 1pm, i saw that BICA was hosting a meeting for all of the Dive Shops on Utila regarding the 'Report Card' of the Reef. i attended and the results were not good news, but not surprising. the health of the reef continues to decline.
after the meeting i did some research on Eco Tours. i am not getting very far with my projects. :(
today Nicole and Chris went out Lionfish hunting. one of the guys that went with them saw a Bull Shark, 9 ft long .... INSIDE the reef where they were snorkeling! now THAT is news! being first-time snorkelers, they were not very excited to hear this. and Tim was REALLY not excited to hear about it !
around 3pm, we met Pamela, pronounced Pam-el-ah, with the accent on the 'el', and she gave us our orientation on how to hunt and kill the Lionfish. i mentioned that while i was in Caye Caulker i saw a Lionfish and gave you the background on it. see 18 Jan blog for a review. so i won't repeat it here, except to correct that they are from Indo-Pacific waters. the Lionfish population is not believed to be as large around Utila, as other places, including our near neighboring island of Roatan. so they are hoping to keep the populations down by actively hunting and killing them. i really like her, she is knowledgeable and fun. we had a great time with her, and watching and listening, as she talked about jellyfish, moray eels, stingrays, and baracuda in response to Tim's almost hysterical queries. she put him in charge of bringing 'vinegar' in case he got stung by a jellyfish. he said he had a first aid kit. she said 'i have no doubt that you do'. she'll be going out with Abi, Tim, and me in the morning to kill the little invasive 'buggers'. Abi and i are really looking forward to it!
Nicole, Tim, Chris and i went to dinner at Evelyn's in town. i had tuna ... it is allowed. such a disappointment after all the lobster in CayeCaulker! it was another huge meal though, you don't go away hungry here, ...complete with some really good heavy brown bread. After dinner we went back to Main Street, but not to have shots ... the other night we saw they had very chocolately cake, with vanilla ice cream, and chocolate syrup! that was wonderful !!!!!!!!!!!
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