20 Feb, Sun - Pumpkin Hill

Sun, 20 Feb. - Pumpkin Hill we eventually tired of the airport and headed back down the road to climb Pumpkin Hill. to get there you need to go on a long path/road, about 20min with good conditions. since it had rained a lot, the road was real muddy with huge puddles across the entire road. ...not good conditions. we weren't sure we could make it, but decided to go for it. once we got started there was no going back. the road is also full of broken pieces coral and rock ... LARGE rocks! it was a grueling ride. your tire would hit a huge rock and you'd go flying in another direction. i now understand what 'jumping' is all about when we are in 'spin' class at the Y!!!!!!!!! you had to be up and down in your seat, ... or you'd be OUT of your seat and in the mud ! it was not a very enjoyable ride .. challenging, yes! ....you never really knew if you were going to make it through a puddle or just get stuck! we stopped frequently and at one stop saw these Leaf Cutter Ants. they sure are busy. not a good photo, but you can see they are traveling along the top of that log, the entrance to their home is just at the base of that rock. i'd seen these last year in Belize ... they continue to amaze me. i have a video, i'll try to get on You Tube when i get faster internet connection. needless to say, we were a muddy mess by the time we arrived at the turn off. This is Pumpkin Hill. on our way up the hill we saw another very well-traveled trail made by more Leaf Cutter Ants ... impressive! Pumpkin Hill is 290ft to the top and not that difficult to climb, but it was hot and sunny. at the top, you can see almost the entire island. towards the north is Pumpkin Hill Beach, it looked so inviting! after awhile there, we were ready to go back down. and we decided we needed to go to the beach ... which meant another muddy rocky ride. we had quite a laugh when Chris' left flip-flop stuck in the muck. and in retrieving it, his right flip-flop got stuck in the muck ! but arriving at the sea made it all worthwhile. there was quite a bit of coral on the beach, so there were lots of small tidal pools. one of my favorite things to explore. i found this crab. and these Chitons, about 1x3" long .... weird prehistoric looking mollusks that attach themselves to the coral, with suction so strong, you cannot pry them loose. they can also roll up in a ball like a 'pill bug'. and then i spent the next hour trying to take photos through the water, of tiny baby fishes. i had help identifying some of them. this is a Sharp Nose Pufferfish, less than 1 inch long. it will only grow to 2" at adulthood. and a baby Sand Diver, ... about 1-1/4 inches long. and these 2 unidentified babies. while Chris was walking over the rocks in the water, his foot slid down on top of one of those black sea urchins! the spines immediately buried themselves into the bottom of his foot. they looked like purple dots. we didn't know what to do, so we did nothing ... hoping it wasn't fatal! it was getting late in the afternoon by this time, and we headed back. none of us excited to be back on those bikes and be shook to death riding over those rocks ... and mud! the ride back was much faster than the ride in. there was no hesitation at the puddles ... we just plowed right through them. by the time we got back to the main road, my hands were so sore from gripping the handle bars, they were red! we took our bikes back to town. i was happy it was dark so they couldn't see how muddy they were. we were all tired this evening. it was a great fun day with my friends !

20 Feb, Sun. The Caves

Sun, 20 Feb. - The Caves raining when we woke up :) but, then it became partly sunny. we all decided today would be a good day to go to the Cave and hike up Pumpkin Hill. we headed to town and rented bikes and down the road we went ... Tim lead the way coz he'd been there before. we left the road by the airport and hit the very muddy trail, .....so glad we had mountain bikes! we took a few turns and the road ended, we parked our bikes, and started down the trail .. through the jungle and very old coral heads. not far, and we were there. we had to climb down this really old rotten ladder. i love this picture. notice Chris on the right, holding his head, wondering what Tim had gotten us into! this cute sign was at the entrance. it turned out to be a really hot sunny day, and we were sweating. and here was this little FRESHwater cave just waiting for us. it was quite cold when we first got in, but really felt good. it was so nice getting into fresh water, and not sea water ... it felt so clean. Tim found a tunnel we could swim through underwater and come up through a hole on the other side. the old coral was really pointy and sharp, it was not nice to walk on ... luckily i was wearing my Keens, they were perfect! i think i sold a few pair of them for the company today. we played around there for over an hour before we headed back. we stopped at the airport because we had been told that there were lots of Hawaiian Wood Roses growing along the runway, ... and it was ok to go there. i had stopped there the other day on my walk and there was a sign that said something about 'prohibicion' and there was a 'policia' there, and several planes landing and taking off. so i passed on that. today it was deserted, so we rode our bikes up and down the runway, nice and smooth and dry .... unlike the road we had just been on. it reminded me of when we used to ride our bikes in our neighborhood on someone's new driveway when we were 'kids'. we finally found the Hawaiian Wood Rose. it was vining everywhere, and very pretty. a very unusual flower. the flowers are about 2" high. and start out a buttery yellow color with a peach tint on the top. then open up into a white tulip-like flower. and eventually turn brown, with a round hard center, and they look like they are made out of wood, ...hence the name ... but they are a long way from 'home' if they are from Hawaii ! it is said that the seeds in these dried pod are hallucinagenic .... haven't tried :) ... and the flower looks more like a tulip than a rose, ... it's just the dried flower that looks like a rose and is used in dried flower arrangements. i've searched the internet on this flower and i'm not finding what we have here ... so i'm not sure about the name ... perhaps Wood Rose is more closely related. anyway, they were very striking! there were also a lot of these pretty yellow flowers vining over everything. i know this photo looks like a primrose, but it's a vine and different leaves. more about the day's activities on the next post ....

19 Feb, Sat.

Sat, 19 Feb. at 6am, woke up to rain ... AGAIN .... :( but then it stopped, still looked really bad; but after not showing up last Sat for our dive; and then having the weather turn perfect and them swim with Whale Sharks 3 times ... ... well, we decided we should go ... certainly it will stop raining (like it did last Sat). but, ... it continued to be dark and ugly as we assembled our gear and got on the boat. i am REALLY not wanting to do this! on the way to our first dive site, it started raining a little; we hunkered down underneath where it was dry. but eventually we had to come out and put our gear on and get in the water. the waves were really big and you have to wait in the water until everyone is ready ... so you're bobbing around out there in 4ft swells for awhile. it was horrible, but once you got under the water, it didn't much matter, except that it's MUCH prettier and brighter down there when the sun is shining! visibility was remarkably good. we actually saw a large nurse shark ... first one i've seen here! we dove for about 50min and when we surfaced, it was absolutely pouring buckets. the waves were bigger and you can't imagine how difficult it is to get on a boat with the boat rocking and the waves splashing, and you're carrying an oxygen tank on your back. trying to get out of your fins and up the ladder, while it's banging up and down. i know it sounds horrible, ... and it kind of is ... but it's all part of the excitement. we got in the boat, everyone was cold, we wrapped ourselves up the best we could, still wet, and we took off; looking for Whale Sharks. if we would have seen one, it probably would have warmed us all up, but the thought of jumping back in the water, wet and cold, while it was still pouring, ... well .... let's just say we didn't have to find out. we saw none; and finally continued to our next Dive Site. i was hoping they would call it off, but they are hard core, and we were paying for it whether we dove or not. if i thought it was no fun getting our gear on for the first dive ... it was less fun this time. we were cold and it was still raining. but we knew that as soon as we got in the water it would be better, so we were quick about it ! the waves were still huge, but it went faster this time and soon we were down 50 feet again. visibility wasn't that good, but it was the prettiest and best dive i've had here! even with no sun, the reef was more colorful than i've seen. i still did not have a camera with me ... i'm such a wimp! but i am feeling more confident with each dive. i'm still having trouble with my mask getting water in it, which keeps my so hands busy i don't know how i'd hold a camera. maybe next time i'll rent a mask and see if that helps! i don't have any trouble with it when i'm snorkeling, ...just when i dive. so....... i borrowed these photos that i found on line to show you a few of the things i saw that i'd never seen before. these are NOT my photos :( the Azure Vase Sponges were absolutely beautiful ... periwinkle purple and beautifully textured. i also saw several fish i'd never seen before, which is always exciting! i saw this Indigo Hamlet twice .. his blue stripes were irridescent, even with no sunshine! and a Juvenile Spotted Drum Fish. this guy was so tiny ... about 3" long maybe ... with those long long fins. ...and also the Gray Angelfish were huge and incredibly curious and came right up to you, ... i almost touched one. and, we saw 2 HUGE Scrawled Filefish. i love these fish, and have seen them before in Belize at Glovers and also in the USVirgin Islands, St.Johns; but these were twice the size of any i've seen. it was exciting! we finished our dive and headed back ... still raining. on the way back, one of the Dive Masters told us about an all day all inclusive Dive Trip to Cayos Cochinos. Cayos Cochinos has been on my 'radar' since arriving here. it is a group of 2 small islands and 13 small coral cayes, about 1.5hrs from here. it's been designated a Marine Reserve, so the reefs are pristine and the fish are more plentiful and larger :) there are small boat trips from here that snorkel and lunch at the Garifuna (local people) village, where they prepare their local dishes of fresh fish. it sounds like a wonderful experience! but it's not cheap by backpackers standards, (US$70), so it's been hard to find someone to go with, and you usually need 7 people to make it worth the Capt's time/gas. i wasn't concerned about it the first 2 weeks i was here, thinking i had lotsa time ... but now i only have this week left and i'm starting to panic. and, .... now i've learned about this Dive Trip. this dive shop is one of only 2 organizations that are certified to dive in the marine protected area, ...so now i really want to do the Dive Trip! so Abi and i went to the office to sign up for tomorrow, Sunday. only to learn that they don't have 10 people, so the trip has been canceled :( we left our names ... keeping our fingers crossed for next week! by the time we got our gear washed and put away, it had stopped raining. as we walked home through town, we noticed lots of low areas were flooded! we stopped at the market and bought hot chocolate. ....note: the other day we were looking for ice cream and now we wanted hot chocolate! when we got home, Chris said it poured for 3hrs straight ... well at least we had more fun diving than we would have just sitting in our rooms! ... i'm looking on the bright side ! i was cold and tired, so after my hot cocoa, i got wrapped up in blankets and took a long nap. around 5pm the sun came out and i went for a walk towards the airport. i took these photos of my journey. the Bar in the Bush, ... just 100yds from our room ... the place that plays loud loud boom boom 'music' from 10:30pm - 7am, on Wed and Fri nights. it looks innocent enough here: a beautiful Banana Spider. i'd not seen his 'belly' before, it's so pretty. a nice stand of bamboo. our Recycle Center, that will soon be SO BUSY it may need an expansion :) a local cow. Chris, Nicole and i went to town for a great pizza. they had these masks on the wall ... they reminded me of the ones we saw in Guatemala last year, ... and they were from Guatemala :)

17 Feb, Thurs.

Thurs, 17 Feb. today was our day to FINALLY go Lionfish hunting AGAIN. we were so excited to go the first week we were here ... and haven't gone since :( so we were happy to be going again to KILL :) we woke up to threatening skies; but headed down to the dock anyway. we headed out towards the Keyes with the skies looking worse and worse. once we made the corner into the open waters, WoW, the waves were big! our Capt turned around and said the swells were too large for our boat. we had just past Raggedy Caye. Abi and i asked if we could go there. we'd been told about Raggedy Caye before, it is very small! it's just the kind of island you want to 'be on' ... Robinson C..... :) it's owner has designated it as a Refuge because of the bird population on it. and the guys said NO ONE has ever set foot on it. now this is pretty amazing, considering that all the other rules of Honduras are blatently and obviously ignored. but this Caye is special ... don't know why, ... but happy that it is. so we passed close by, under rainy skies. the water was still amazingly blue, even with gray skies. i don't know if you can see, but these palm trees are FLOWERING ... i've never seen this before: we headed for home, but were not able to beat the rain. it poured and we were soaked! it stopped raining about the time we reached the dock, of course. on the walk back home, the sun came out and the rest of the day, it was a beautiful :( unfortunately, the rain during those 2 hours ruined our Lionfish day .... we were so bummed! After drying off, Abi and i went back into town to start 'selling' our Recycling Program to the local businessses. we decided to 'practice' together and start with the 'easy' sells, .... the Dive Shops. the Dive Shops are by nature, environmentally friendly. the ones on this island are famous for housing and certifying divers. so they have a lot of young people in a central location. most already have separate bins for plastics; and they dutifully bagged them up separately and assumed they were going to the Recycling Plant. ... wrong! Abi made a trip to the Recycle Center and talked with the 2 men that 'worked' there, .....playing video games. there were a couple cubes of compacted plastic, but they said they had not shipped out any plastic in months ... because no one was bringing them plastic to compact and ship. ...hummmmm. obviously, there was a breakdown somewhere in the process. so, we aim to fix that; and i hope those guys are ready to get to work! As expected, the Dive Shops were easy sells, and surprised and very happy that we were including #2plastic, tin, metal, and cardboard! Abi and i got braver and attempted one of the small markets. the young girl behind the counter only spoke a little bit of english and indicated she was the owner. we tried, without much success, to explain our program. she didn't understand. luckily a woman in the store offered to translate for us. she still was confused. i saw a cardboard box full of cans. i asked her what she will do with that cardboard box, ...flatten and put in trash. ah-ha! she was shocked that she could get $$ for all that cardboard that she accumulates! the light bulb went on! i thought i'd push my luck asking her about the 'recycle bags' .... she said no. we thanked her, and as we were walking out the door, she stopped us ... she wanted a bag! our first bag sale, ... and to a LOCAL !!!!!!!!!!!! me ... the Recycle Bag Lady:

18 Feb, Fri.

Fri, 18 Feb. it rained during the night again, but was clear this morning. the rest of the group went out to one of the islands on the 'keys' to the school for their project. they talked to the children about which fish/marine life are the 'bad' (endangered/threatened), and which are 'good' (sustainable) to fish, kill, and eat. trying to get them to understand the concept. they said it was interesting, coz some of the boys were 'tattle-tailing' on each other, pointing and saying, 'he takes turtles!'. so maybe 'peer pressure' will play a part in the education process too. i asked if i could be relieved of my 'office' time this morning to go out again and talk to more business. Pamela said yes, so off i went. it's hard for me to do this, i'm kind of shy :) ... it was easier yesterday coz Abi and i were together. but because i believe in it, i'll learn to do it alone too. i challenged myself and went into a small bar. the owner only spoke spanish, but a guy there, was kind enough to translate. eventually, i got the concept across, and they agreed. the owner, another local, even bought a recycle bag, ... for herself! i hit 2 more spanish markets and both understood and agreed. one guy said he would have his son do the collecting and transporting. the markets get a LOT of cardboard boxes with their shipments, they seem especially happy to have something to do with it! at Mermaid's, Herbert even bought TEN bags to sell in his store. said he would only charge what he paid for them, he didn't want to make any money from it. it really is exciting. i end up spending about a 1/2 hr with each one, so i am getting to know them as well. it was a hot day, and around noon i saw Chris and Nicole. they had returned from the schools and said they'd been given the rest of the day off and that Abi was going diving! me too, i want to go too! i hurried back and asked for the rest of the day off too and Abi and i signed up for a dive. i am still pretty apprehensive about assembling my gear, but the staff was really helpful, and i was pretty comfortable in the water; except that my mask leaks a little water and it's annoying. although i'm still not comfortable enough to take my camera, so still no photos :( visibility was horrible because of all the rain we had the night before; but it was still fun. we didn't do the second dive coz we thought we'd save our $$ for better conditions. i snorkeled while they dove. and took my camera. i've seen Trumpetfish before. but i've never seen one this color! he had a beautiful blue/purple head with colorful stripes. i just read in the book that this is more unusual color for them! ...and i saw it ! Parrotfish, parrotfish, parrotfish! there are so many different kinds, and i didn't have a photo of this one. it think it's a Blue Parrotfish. This is a Parrotfish as well, but it's a Stoplight Parrotfish. it is distinguished by the bright yellow spot at top of gill, and yellow area at base of tail, and salmon/yellow crescent on tail. a school of Blue Tangs: a Queen Angelfish ... someday i'll get a 'proper' photo of her. she is so colorful ! These are Blue Chromis Fish. we actually saw them on our dive first, and i'd never seen them before. they are brilliant blue, and from a distance, have a dark blue or black nose. they are really pretty when you see 20-40 of them swimming in the blue. i guess i've never seen the bubbles made by divers because i've always been below them. but since i was snorkeling when our divers surfaced i noticed how unusual they were ! they are shaped like upside down shallow bowls, ... and they are twirling around as they rise to the surface. they were fastinating ! came home, showered, and stayed in for the night. Abi and i booked another dive trip for tomorrow morning. Hopefully it won't be raining .. and Hopefully we'll see a Whale Shark !