5 Mar, Sat.

Sat, 5 Mar. i slept until almost 9am, then finished my Recycle Project email to BICA. around 11am i walked to RMP and sat on their deck and used their internet until my battery ran out. on my way home i passed by Booty Bar and saw this. 100L for a Roast Pig tonight. i know where i'll be having dinner! came back and decided to walk down the beach to Luna Beach Resort. the girls i went to Belize with in 2009 were considering going there in 2010, but couldn't get flights, so we went to St Johns. i wanted to check it out. it is only about 400 yds from where i am staying now. really nice resort with some rooms right on the water and other 3-4 bedroom houses up on the tropical garden hillside, ... beautiful homes! i'd recommend this place to anyone. unusual flower on this tree. it's like a tropical botanical garden there. beautiful walkways and surroundings. on my way out, i noticed cages with Red Macaw's in them. this guy was as curious about me as i was about him. there was a sign that said 'Rescued' ... rescued ? ... but they are still stuck in those cages for the rest of their lives ... there were 8 of them. and there was one real pretty green one. came back and went for a quick dip out front. i took my snorkel and mask with me for the first time just to see what there was to see, ... the reef is out quite a way from shore here. i found an old cooler at the end of the dock with FIVE Lionfish living inside. i'll see if i can get a sling and kill them :) i also found another sunken cooler with at least 2 lobster living under it. i fear for the lobster's lives. lobster season ended the 28th of February, but i saw a rope tied to the cooler ...... can you say 'poaching' .... i went to Booty Bar for Roast Pig ... it was good ... then walked around aimlessly and finally went home. i'm thinking i won't stay here for very long if i don't meet some friends ... i'm kinda bored. when i got back, Jimmy and Tita told me 3 people from RMP were here to see me. i thought maybe they wanted to go to dinner, but found a note under my door. plans have changed for tomorrow. can i be there at 9am, instead of 12:30. did some work on my blog and then went to bed around 11:30.

4 Mar, Fri.

Fri, 4 Mar. arrived at RMP at 9am to guide a group of students from mainland Honduras on the snorkel trip. the project took on an entire new dimension when one of the Dive Shops offered to do an 'official guided snorkel trip' because they were filming a marketing piece. we had a group of 7 guys snorkel first. it was a complete disaster in my opinion! they could swim, but none of them had ever snorkeled before. they were given their snorkel gear and the 'guide' took off in the water like a race horse. those poor guys were trying to swim, with their heads above water, splashing and thrashing around in the water trying to keep up with the 'guide'. i saw several of them step on the coral and almost had a heart attack! they couldn't have seen anything, any fish in the area were long gone. i finally yelled at the guy in the 'safety' kayak to tell the 'guide' to slow down! OMG! it was horrible! one guy was lagging behind the entire time, i noticed his mask didn't fit, and i saw that he had a cramp in his leg. i helped him and told him to just take it easy, that there was no rush. we finally finished and went back to the Dive Shop to pick up the group of girls. i mentioned to the 'guide' that he needed to slow down. his comment was ... 'hey, they need to keep up!' Alex, the volunteer from RMP that i met with my first day, arrived and said he was going to be the 'guide' for the girls. thank God! i explained the prior events to him and suggested that we have some extra masks in the kayak in case some didn't fit, and spend some time in the shallows and let the girls get used to breathing through the snorkel and floating before we took off. we actually spent a lot of time getting them used to snorkeling, making sure their masks fit and then took off at a leisurely pace! ...MUCH better results! i noticed again that one of the teachers, older, was tiring and lagging behind .... i told her to just relax and take her time, that i wasn't going to leave her alone. she said, 'thank you'. if you aren't used to snorkeling, it can be really tiring, i'm sure they all would sleep well that night and would have sore leg muscles the next day. now i KNOW i could be a better Snorkel Guide than that first guy ! ...a little common sense and compassion goes a long way! i had my camera with me an told the girls i would take their photos underwater. they wanted to know how much i would charge ............ i told them nothing, of course! they were all excited. here's the group of girls. and guys. on the slower calmer snorkel with the girls, we saw several lobsters. only got a photo of one. and this eel ... first eel i've seen since i've been here. and of course, those Blue Tangs. i talked briefly with Grazzia before the snorkel trip and i have Sat off ... no activities ! i'd heard you could buy a USB modem for your computer and have 24/7 internet access for about 500L (US$25) for the month. i decided i would do this, it would be nice to have access in my room. but, i had to take a taxi to Coxen Hole, and then get another taxi to the 'mall' at French Harbour to buy the modem. it sounded like a lot of 'work' ... but what else do i have to do this afternoon ? so i checked with Grazzia on appropriate taxi fares, and she put me in a taxi and i was on my way. i ALWAYS wear my seat belt at home, but for some silly reason rarely wear it in a taxi ... which is totally stupid. all was going fine, until we came to a traffic backup. ...an accident on the road ahead. the taxi driver got out and then opened my door and motioned for me to get out. other people were getting out and walking and i guessed he wanted me to do the same; ... but he wanted his money first. i tried, unsuccessfullly, to decrease the price, ... then started walking up the hill towards the accident, having no idea where i was going. here's what i saw. ok, now i will ALWAYS wear my seat belt in a taxi ..... i continued walking on the road, ....still not knowing where i was going. not too far ahead i arrived at some sort of civililzation .... i saw a taxi and asked him to take me to the 'mall' at French Harbour. we agreed on a price and i was off again ... whatever, whereever that was! WoW ... to my surprise, the first thing i saw was Wendy's !!!!!!!!! ... followed by Applebee's !!!!!! ...and a real Strip Mall! he took me to the Tigo store ... reminded me of Verizon's stores! i waited in line and inquired ... well, i was misinformed ... the price was 780L (US$42), and it only included one WEEK of service. that was out of my price range and i walked to the 'supermarket' .... a real one ... with aisles of selections ! i bought bread, tuna, microwave popcorn, TP, mayo, and a Snickers bar. then headed for the ice cream store :) i thought my taxi driver was going to return for me, but ... i waited, then decided to get another taxi. Mario took me all the way back to West End. i was home again. no internet modem ... but i got to see Coxen Hole and French Harbour. one of these 2 ports where the cruise ships dock. Fri night in Roatan. i found another restaurant with reasonable prices with WiFi :) i had a nice shrimp dish with lemon and caper sauce ... and probably outstayed my welcome, again :( walked around awhile again and headed home. i fixed myself a rum and coke(s) and worked on the computer. i could hear live music from Ronnie's Barefoot Bar next door ... most of it was Reggae ... but then they started playing the Blues! i couldn't stand it ... around midnight, i changed out of my PJs and walked over to the bar to listen. ....just about the time they switched back to reggae :( i requested a Blues tune and they complied... but it was their last song of the night. i met Bobby in the band, .... he's from Chicago! ....he said they play there every Fri night and he would play more Blues for me if i showed up next week..... agreed!

3 Mar, Thurs.

Thurs, 3 Mar. i met the students from Minnesota at 8am and they piled in a van and we headed for Sandy Bay Beach for the cleanup. it was worse than we had thought. everytime you tried to pick up a small piece of plastic, you realized it was just the 'tip of the iceberg'. the entire bag was under the sand and it was filled with wet sand. it was also tied, so you couldn't dump it out easily. we decided that next time we needed more people and less beach to clean up ! while we were working, 3 young local boys (about 6-7yrs old) came along, grabbed some bags and started helping us! they were so sweet and dug right in there 'fishing' trash out of the worst stagnant waters! i wanted to take their picture, but by this time my hands were so filthy, i didn't want to touch my camera! they were so sweet. they didn't speak english, so we could just smile and thank them. ...and we wondered why they weren't in school with the other children. then the other school children walked down the beach as we were picking up trash, finished their bag of chips and tossed the bag on the sand! i didn't see this, or i would have confronted them, language barrier or not, they would have gotten my message! we worked for over an hour, and some of the areas looked pretty good when we finished. but there is still more work to be done. i went in the truck with Michele to the 'dump' .... enlightening experience. came back and washed some clothes out and hung them on the line to dry. Jimmy and Tita brought me an extension cord for my microwave. it took almost 2min to heat up a 1/2 piece of bread ... wonder how long it will take to make microwave popcorn ? later, sitting at the picnic table working on my excel spreadsheet for the Recycle Program for BICA, when i heard someone yell, 'hey Donna' .... it was Bennie walking the beach. he said he's had a rough day, was hot, was going to get some coconuts, and did i want to join him on the dock, just over there. so i put my stuff away and joined him and his girlfriend Teresa. she is a really pretty Guatemalan girl and works right next door at Ronnie's Barefoot Bar. after watching the sunset, and a shower, i went to Blue Channel for pizza ... they have internet :) then i went back home .... i miss my little friend, Gordo Gato :(

2 Mar, Wed.

Wed, 2 Mar. i walked into town to try to get some cash. i tried yesterday and the ATM was out of money ... payday... i got my money and ran into Chris and Nicole. they picked up their snorkel gear and we went to Rudy's coz they were hungry. i had a 'mile high' mango smoothie ... i swear it stood up a good 3" over the rim of the cup, like a soft serve ice cream cone. it was fresh mango with a little bit of cinnamon. yummmmmmm we grabbed our snorkel gear and started walking south to West Bay. there are some areas where you have to walk across the rocks, but mostly it's sandy beach. it's about a 40min walk and as we were walking we were wondering how we would know when we were there. all we knew was that it was the longest sandy beach on the island. ....and it was all a sandy beach where we were walking .... as we rounded the corner of a large rock outcropping .... we all gasp!!!!!!!! OMG, this was not what we were expecting! i thought we were on the beach in Cancun!!!!!!!! people people people everywhere, lounge chairs lined up, parasailing, slides in the water .... commercial tourist attraction! the beach was beautiful, but we were not prepared for all the people. .... then it dawned on us ... cruise ships ! we made our way all the way to the end where it looked like people were snorkeling. it didn't look like good snorkeling to me, but it was so hot, i grabbed my gear and headed for the water. WoW, i was pleasantly surprised! the snorkeling was great! it started sandy with a few coral patches, then the coral got denser and i found a path out to the great blue yonder ... the wall. i just love snorkeling over that wall .... it's like i am flying ... nothing below me, and the wall to the side of me, with lots of fishes and coral. i took lots of photos .... surprise surprise ... while i was in the deep blue i saw this guy carrying this HUGE fish ... i can't believe he could carry a fish so big :) i guess catching a fish this way is legal. a hundred Blue Tangs swam around me until i was 'bored' and left them. another Blue Tang, but such a faint blue color ... more Christmas Tree Worms in the shallows. and a nice purple Fan Coral. i saw this fish in the shallows ... notice the color and the 'beard' ... more like 2 spears coming out of it's chin. i watched him for quite awhile. it is a Yellowtail Goatfish. then he started swimming away ... and ... he turned white with a yellow stripe! you can still see the 'beard' ... and i read in the book that they can change their color dramatically given their surroundings ... i'll say ! eventually i got cold and found Chris and Nicole on the shore. they were ready to get something to eat and a cold drink sounded great ... did i tell you that it was hot? i know i keep saying that ... but it really is hot here :) so we headed for the closest palapa bar, where we were told that 'this is just for cruise ship people' ..... oh sorry :~ ..... so we walked what seemed like a long way down the beach to where we could get something to eat. it was good and then we went back down the beach to snorkel. before coming to Utila, Chris and Nicole had not snorkeled before, and neither of them took to it easily. they'd get in the water, but really were not comfortable; and had never gone very far out into the water. i told them about the 'wall' and how cool it was. they said they would try it, but i could tell they were intimidated just by the idea. i lead, and they followed, reluctantly. but i eventually got them out there and they realized what i was talking about. we were out quite awhile and saw a large Porcupinefish that was down quite deep. i did some free-diving down to try to take photos, but was not successful ... he was deeper than i thought. then Nicole spotted this Nassau Grouper. what a great find! i love these Groupers and they are on the 'threatened' list. Groupers are one of the large fish that might one day eat the Lionfish, so we need to keep the species strong. while we were out in the deep i drove down and took this picture of this purple sponge coral. and then we spotted this Rainbow Parrotfish .. notice how brown-red his head is and his tail is so blue. typical of this fish. he was a big one too ! check out the teeth on this Blue Tang ! i saw another Indigo Blue Hamlet .... i saw one of these when i was diving and never thought i'd see one again, nor get a photo ... yeahhh i think they are cool looking fish. a 'family' of sea urchins. i love the way you can the pectoral fins on this Blue Parrotfish ... they look like wings ! we snorkeled around for awhile and made our way back into the shallows. after we were finished, Chris and Nicole both commented that this was the first time that they felt comfortable and were really able to enjoy it, and were glad that they experienced the 'wall'. i saw Nicole's Facebook page today and she said "conquered the fear and snorkelled right out to the drop off! And stayed afloat! Amazing. Getting the hang of this flipper malarkey after all" maybe i will be a good "Snorkel Guide" :) i went home, showered and captured this sunset as i was walking to met them again at their hotel. we had some rum and cokes and then had dinner at the Argentinian Grill. it's a very well known, recommended, and expensive restaurant. unfortunately, i had the worst meal i've had yet. i ordered Wahoo and it was dry and tasteless; the twice baked potatoes looked and tasted like they were made in the morning and reheated several times ... :( Nicole and Chris both enjoyed their meals ... sometimes you just order the wrong thing. i might go back there again, but only for that Flan that i saw them serving for dessert, ... it looked awesome! after dinner i said goodbye to my last 2 friends, and wished them safe travels :(

1 Mar, Tues.

Tues, 1 Mar Happy March ! time is going so fast already; must be almost spring in Michigan! i went to Rudy's for French Toast and OJ ... and wireless internet service. i was there a long time downloading pictures ... so long that i felt guilty, and ordered a strawberry lemonade. it was good! Jimmy said he was going to get internet service for me ..... i can also go to a cafe where i can buy a package for 2weeks; but don't want to do that if i'm going to have it in my room ... we'll see how this goes. i really got spoiled having service right at BICA anytime day or night, and not having to drag my laptop to a cafe! i walked around Roatan for awhile, and found a couple cheap light weight tops to buy. it really is hot here and my clothes are too tight fitting to be cool. also saw this cute little puppy and his mom. he was way too busy to stop for a photo. then i met Grazzia at 2pm and we talked about other things i'll be doing. it is possible that i'll be a 'Snorkel Guide' on Fri for another group of students. i'll like that !!!!!!! home for a swim and a shower, then i walked back into town to meet Nicole and Chris. it's a leisurely 10min walk from my place into town. we decided to 'treat ourselves' tonight to some Thai food that is quite expensive. we sat at a table on the dock over the water. it was pretty and the food was wonderful. tomorrow we'll meet and go to West Bay for the day. some info about Roatan: Roatan is the largest of The Bay Islands, at 32 miles long and from 1-3 miles wide. A small mountain ridge runs along the spine of the island offering expansive ocean vistas with the highest point at about 900 feet above sea level. The island has varying topography from white sandy beaches, iron (rocky) shoreline, mangroves, tropical hilltops, lush valleys, and reef surrounded waters. map of Roatan. i am at West End, which is at the bottom, on the left side (west side). it's a big island, and, i'll probably never experience 99.9% of it. i don't see me leaving West End, ... and i can walk the entire length in 15min ... and i'm learning to walk slower these days too :) it's a very small 'world' i'm living in here ... smaller than Utila ... smaller than Caye Caulker. but i like it and i'll do fine as long as i have my internet connection. :) here is a map showing West End area. my "world" starts at the 'dot' at Half Moon Bay, and ends at the 'dot' across from West End Village. You can also see West Bay, at the south tip where i'll go tomorrow with Chris and Nicole. it's supposed to be the longest white sandy beach on the island. it's about a 30-40min walk along the beach. in 1993 Marine Reserve was established, it includes about 8 miles of coastline, starting at Lawson Rock going south around the West Bay.

28 Feb--Roatan

Mon, 28 Feb. i slept until 9am !!!!!! i slept good, never woke up once. got ready and walked to Roatan Marine Park. Grazzia was not there, but another volunteer, Alex, asked me to complete some paperwork and we talked about what i wanted to do and some of their projects. on Thurs i could help them with a Beach Cleanup. there is a group here, of junior & senior high school students from an environmental school in Minnesota. they are learning about environmental issues and diving; and will do a beach clean up. there was a LOT going on in that small office, so i was able to check my email. there was an email from Pamela back at BICA. she said the Lionfish-killing-sling was missing and we were the last ones to use it; did i know where it was? .....amazing how we're not even there and we can cause trouble!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! also had an email from Chris and Nicole .... they are here in Roatan!!!!!!!! they went to the mainland with Tim and went white water rafting. the got flipped out of the raft and Chris hurt his foot and was not able to do any hiking, so they took the ferry to Roatan. i am really excited that they are here!!!!!!!! i emailed them where they could find me at 5pm so we could meet. another volunteer, Jannita, showed up at the RMP, and the 3 of us went to Sandy Bay to look at the beach area where we will do the clean up. we took a minivan collectivo taxi just a few miles up the road. we walked the beach and decided we would split into 5 groups for the clean up. there are not a lot of big bottles on the beach, but a lot of small pieces of plastic, bottle caps, etc. i suggested that rakes would be helpful since the pieces were so small; and there is a lot of organic matter, that doesn't need to be removed, but put in a pile to make it look nicer when we are done. we will start early, but it will be hot. we agreed to make sure they have water, sunscreen, hats, shoes, and safety first ... you never know what you might find ! i walked around looking in stores for awhile. i found this cute Floating Bar, .... it actually goes out in the water on Tues and Fri nights. then took another swim and headed for the shower ... the hot shower. i examined the shower.... i find it a little scary that there are some electric cords going to the shower head, all sticking out with those connector-things that you splice wires together with .... this is how i get hot water .... it heats up the water as it hits the shower head ..... pretty ingenious, huh? ....and pretty scary! upon further examination, i see there is a switch on the shower head ... i turned it ... it's either down or off; ...it's much cooler now :) i went to my 5pm meeting for the Minnesota kids, and it was a good introduction meeting abut RMP for me as well. i took the opportunity to introduce myself to them and remind them about sunscreen, safety, etc. after the meeting i saw Nicole and Chris !!!!!!!!!!!! how fun to see them again. we went to for a reasonably priced meal. they were doing some sightseeing tomorrow, and i needed to meet Grazzia at 2pm; so we agreed to meet for dinner at 7pm.

27 Feb--Vern's Cat to Roatan

Sun, 27 Feb. the alarm went off and i was up and gathering up last minute things, and the clothes off the line that were still wet from yesterday, and stuffing them in my bags. i ordered a taxi because my bag is heavy and the wheels are falling off and i didn't want to stress them dragging it to town. the taxi came a little early, so i was flying around at the last minutes. still grabbing things and hugging everyone saying goodbye. Abi was leaving today also, for Brazil. Tim was leaving for LaCeiba, then down through Honduras and then back to Roatan (so maybe i'll see him again). Chris and Nicole were going to LaCeiba with Tim. then out the door i went to the dock and got on Vern's Catamaran. Vern is from Alaska, but left there when he was about 18 and started travelling. he ended up here. Vern's Catamaran. i got settled in there with 7 other people. it was 6:30a and most everyone found a place to sleep. i went up front for awhile, 'by the trampoline'. ... but the seas were way too rough for me to be up there. a couple were on the trampoline and were getting soaked with the waves crashing on them. i headed back for drier ground inside the cabin. as we headed out to sea, the waves kept getting higher and higher, and the swells were getting bigger and bigger. you can't really tell from the photos; but it was REALLY rough! View to the side. Those are big swells ! ...at least i thought so. i eventually asked Vern if this was typical. he hesitated a bit, then said, 'yeah, this is a bit rough for a morning'. the catamaran handled it pretty smoothly, but it was intimidating! i stayed 'down below'. View from down below, looking out the back. another view out the back. i stayed down below enjoying his music, old music: Cat Stevens, Van Morrison, Carole King ... good memories music. i eventually feel asleep for about an hour or so, and realized the boat wasn't heaving as much, and i looked out, i could see the island of Roatan! it was a 4hr ride, we arrived around 11am. Grazzia, the Director of Roatan Marine Park (RMP) was waiting for me on the dock. all the employees at both BICA and RMP are young .... like 22-24! we went to the office to meet someone to take me to Fort Saphrey, where i will be staying; but Nic showed up and offered to take me now, rather than wait for 'whoever'. Grazzia said to meet her at the office at 10:30 tomorrow. ...i like these hours! Nic drove to the end of the road, parked and said, we will walk the beach from here.......... Nic carried my big bag and we walked in the sand past Ronnie's Barefoot Bar. note the sign ........... in case you can't see it: "make love not war .... HELL, do both, get married". just a short distance down the beach and i saw Fort Saphrey. right on the water ... nice sandy beach right in front ! no one was there, but i told Nic i would just wait .... he'd been nice enough to bring me here. i walked around, and soon a girl and a guy walked up the beach. they said the 'manager' was in the back ... further back than i had looked, i thought it was a separate property and didn't want to 'snoop'. i talked to the guy, Bennie from Australia, for a minute while his girlfriend, talked to the manager, Jimmy. eventually i introduced myself to Jimmy and he showed me a couple of rooms. the rooms upstairs, right on the beach had a shared bathroom. i chose a room back about 100yds with my own private bath. :) below the rooms on the beach is a shared kitchen that he will give me a key to; but offered to get me my own small refrigerator. the sink in the bathroom was leaking and he fixed that. the windows were stuck shut and i told him i wouldn't use his electricity for the A/C if i could get the window open for a breeze, so he got them open. the screen is torn, i put some duct tape on it, and immediately put up my 'safety net' to protect me from the bugs. there is a ceiling fan ... it's a room with a small window, but if i open the door, i get more light in .... this will be fine. i got partially settled and went for a walk. this part of Roatan is what is called the 'West End'. it's on the west side of the island ......duhhhhhh., and where most of the Dive Shops are. but, it's not the most western point ... West Bay is at the western-most end of Roatan. the main road is not paved, it is sand, ...like Caye Caulker! yeah! they do have cars, vans, trucks here ... a few motorbikes; ... but they don't drive like they are at a speed track. THANK GOD! i won't feel like my life is in danger as i walk down the road, like i did in Utila! that was my main complaint about Utila ... they REALLY need to enforce a speed limit there, it truly is dangerous! i checked out the menus of the restaurants that were open .... most are in US$ ... that's not a good sign! ... it is quite a bit more expensive than Utila. i could eat dinner for 120-140L in Utila ... here it will cost me 240-300L (US$6-7 vs US$12-15) ...and the worst part ... my US$1.25 rum and coke will cost me US$3-4! i'll be packing my rum here! i did find a nice place for fresh fruit smoothies for 30-45L here which was the same at Utila. could i live on smoothies? i came across the Booty Bar that was roasting a huge piece of beef on the grill. they were having a Sunday Special: Roast Beef, potatoes, mac salad, fresh bread for 100L ... that's where i'll eat dinner tonight. if i can find specials like that each night, i'll be ok! while walking around i saw Bennie from Australia again. he said he was going to Booty Bar for roast beef tonight and i could join him. he also mentioned that on Sat night, they have Roast Pork, also for 100L.. this is great news! i went back to my room, put on my swimsuit, and went for a swim right out front :) i like this! went to my room to shower and change for dinner. it is hot here, and the swim cooled me off some, but i was anxious for a nice cool shower. i turned on the water .... it's HOT! what? ...a HOT shower? i was shocked at my reaction .... i didn't want a hot shower, i wanted a cool shower, and there was only one handle... no way to make it cooler. this was so funny ... all the months here, using a cool shower, thinking it would be so luxurious to have a hot shower ... and now i have one, and i don't like it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! go figure! i went to Booty Bar and Bennie was sitting inside at the bar with a friend. this guy had just been on a dive 120' down to a wreck, and found this bottle of booze that had been down there for 7 years, so he said. he poured me a shot and said i had to try it..... i put my tongue in it, and it was pretty horrible. here is a pic of Bennie (with hat) and the other guy and the bottle. Bennie and i ate dinner. first time i've had beef here. you couldn't cut it with a plastic fork and knife. so we at with our fingers and pulled the meat apart. it wasn't very tender, but it did have a good flavor ... all in all a good meal. after dinner Bennie wanted to get a cinnamon roll with ice cream and showed me the best place. i passed on dessert, and went home. Ronnie's Barefoot Bar, right next door to my place, had a band tonight. i stood at the beach looking at all the stars ... awesome! went to my room and could still hear the band ... boom boom boom, loud and clear. i thought i was back in Utila listening to the Bar in the Bush! they finally quit about 10pm; at which time i could now hear the TV in the room next to me, ... some loud horror movie!!! i grabbed my ear plugs and turned off the light! i'm here ... in Roatan beginning a new adventure!