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 !
this Parrotfish thought he was hiding from me.
Tim and i being silly in the water.
and a few more underwater photos: Brain Coral.
and Lettuce Coral.
we returned to the 'office' .... visited awhile. i talked to Jenny about my options for getting to Roatan, and she suggested going with Vern. then we were done with our volunteer experience. it was rather anti-climatic .... no group meetings, debriefing, ...nothing. then we headed to town for our last night together. we went to La Tranquila for happy hour and sat up on the top deck over the water.
and watched the sun set. it was a very pretty final sunset.
then we split up. Abi and i walked down towards the public beach and stopped in at Driftwood, where Vern was setting at the bar. so i introduced myself to him and told him i'd be going with him on is catamaran on Sunday ... done. then we went to a little place that i had interviewed the day before. i saw that the lady made ceviche and i wanted some. i think they were closed, but she remembered me and agreed to make some for us. it was wonderful!
we were the only ones there.
then we walked back towards town and stopped at Skid Row and had another drink there.
these guys wanted us to take a picture of them and all the bottles of beer they had drunk. looks like friends i know back home !
then we went back to Tranquila Bar, saw Rachel, had another drink. and then headed for home. but .... the Tree Tanic Bar was on the way, so we stopped in there .... i don't think we ordered any drinks, but i helped her solve the problems of her 'world', ...... being her 'mother figure' :)
finally home, we fell into bed ... still have done no packing ....
