7 Mar, Mon.

Mon, 7 Mar. the group met me on 'my' beach at 7:30 this morning. we had our snorkel gear, and yes of course, our trash bags :) we headed down the beach picking up trash as we went. by the time we got to Luna Beach Resort, we had filled some bags and they let us put them in their trash. i've been wondering how the logistics of this were going to work. we continued, picking up trash for about 2 hrs, everyone was hot and tired and the bags were too heavy to continue carrying ... so we left them on the beach and will ask the Marine Park to stop and pick them up. when we arrived at West Bay, i was happy to see that there were no cruise ships in that day and the beach was WAY less crowded and rather pleasant. we continued way down to the snorkel end again and got in the water. it was another great day of snorkeling. i took 2 of the students out to the 'wall' again ... they loved it too. we saw more Blue Tangs today along the wall. there were a LOT of these Jelly Fish in the water today. they were about 5" long and 2" wide, ...they were easy to avoid ... thankfully. Coral. this was a VERY large Blue Parrotfish that i couldn't get close to. their squared off nose is characteristic. a Parrotfish ... but this one was showing unusual coloring ... i think it's beautiful. there is an entire sandy area that has lots and lots of large of Sea Cushion Stars. and also Sea Urchins .... i thought it was interesting how one of them has collected the skeleton of a tiny dead Sea Urchin. this is a Mutton Snapper. they have a spot on their back near the end of their dorsal fin. you can see the spot on the left side of the fish. they are big fish, about 18". this blue and yellow Wrasse kept attacking this poor tiny little Sharpnose Puffer Fish. poor him :( he as only about 1/2" long. a baracutta uncharacteristically hovering on the bottom ... they usually hang out nearer the surface of the water. an unusual view of a Needlefish near the surface. he looks huge, doesn't he? ...but was only about 15". we snorkeled around for an hour or so until we started to get cold and i got a weird cramp in the side of my ankle.... have not had that before. so i went ashore and took off my fins. about that time one of the girls yelled that there was a turtle ........ WoW ... my first turtle since i left Belize. i left my fins on shore and bolted with my camera. he was happy to let us all swim around him and enjoy his serenity. i don't know how he got that tattoo of a fish on his shell :) that was a great experience, as always ! we took a water taxi back, and they dropped me off at my place to change, and then i walked into town to meet them to do more 'clean-up'. they need to do so many hours of 'service' ... and they hadn't met their quota yet. i don't have such a quota ... at least not in my book i don't! so, when i learned that Heather and Grazzia were going to Flowers Bay to look at the place where we will be going tomorrow; i opted to go with them :) we met with Tony and Veronica who will guide us on our project. given the work (manual labor) that needed to be done, they were rather surprised when we told them the group consisted of 14 GIRLS and one boy. more on this project tomorrow. we got back to West End in time for me to walk home to the other end of the village, shower, change, and walk back to the other end of village to The Sundowner to meet Marti. had a drink there, met a few of her friends, and then we both went to Cannibal Cafe for great Mexican food. i think Marti will be a good friend to do things with. .... yeahhhhh ... a friend ! she is a Dive Master and has done a lot of travelling. she even lived on Caye Caulker ... back in the 'good ole days' ... (the 70's) .... and knows a few of the people that i know on Caye Caulker! ...and she also lived on St Johns for awhile.

6 Mar, Sun.

Sun, 6 Mar. ...and i can add to yesterday's post, that about 3am this morning, i was rudely awaken by the neighbors next door. i don't think the Spanish language has a volume control ! she woke me up, out of a sound sleep. they were sitting outside on the step ... right next to each other. why did she have to be talking so loud. i got up, turned on the light, opened the door, and asked them to please be quiet. ...and put in my ear plugs and went back to bed. ... i could still hear her! i woke up and got ready to go to RMP by 9am for the beach clean up; the same beach where i was with the Minn group. i met Heather, who i will be working with this next week, and her group of 14 students from college in NCarolina; here for a week. they made PB&J sandwiches for lunch and we left in taxi's for Anthony's Key Resort. it's a Dive Resort, with a Museum and a Dolphin Show, and a Marine Science status; and is listed as being 'eco friendly'. a beautiful place with really nice people. i learned later that 'Anthony' is the Major; and he destroyed plenty of the reef building his resort :) ....no surprises there. but he has provided lots of employment for people on the island. walking in the area, the security guard pointed out this very large iguana. we attended the Dolphin Show ... and i couldn't help thinking about The Cove, you can rent it on DVD. an interesting documentary about the fate of Dolphins in a cove in Japan where they select and ship dolphins to 'Dolphin Parks' around the world. i recommend watching this with a box of kleenex and a disclaimer .... but it's important that people know about it. anyway .... it was a nice little show, but as i said, i watched with mixed emotions. from there we went to the Museum, actually quite nice, and i could spend a lot more time in there. ate our PB&J sandwiches and walked to Sandy Bay Beach for cleanup. we worked for about an hour and it looked pretty good when we left. the same little boys and some of their friends were there to help again. but got a LOT more attention from the 'girls' in our group. they even got GLOVES today and a free lunch. note the sandwiches and gloves ! this is Wendal. got back to RMP and some of the group went snorkeling. i didn't have my suit nor gear and it was too far to walk back home to get it. so i spent the next hour or so using the internet at RMP. i sent the photos to the group of kids i snorkeled with from Honduras mainland. i got an immediate email back, thanking me. with this comment: 'my dad saids hi hehe, he thinks it´s a really nice details you did with us', she invited me to come to their home and gave me her cell phone number ..... that made me feel good. i walked home around 5:30, in time to catch the sunset. notice the 'heart' in the sand again .......... awwwwwwwwww . couldn't wait to take a shower. i felt really hot, sweaty, and dirty. there wasn't any breeze today. then i laid down for awhile until dinner time. i could have just stayed in my room, but ventured out. walked past Ronnie's Barefoot Bar next door and down the street into town. 2 places i thought i might eat were closed on Sundays ... so i ended up back at Ronnie's for BBQ chicken for 100L ...and live music ... i'm there now, and it's reggae so far. last week it was something else undesirable until 10pm. we'll see how tonight goes. and ... a nice surprise. there were 2 women visiting in front of me talking. they got up to dance, and asked me if i wanted to join them. sure says i. we talked the rest of the evening. these are women more my age. both have lived in Michigan at some point in their lives. they have been coming to Roatan for years. Chris was leaving in the morning; but Marti will be here for awhile yet. we exchanged emails, and i agreed to meet Marti tomorrow for Happy Hour at The Sundowner. .... a friend ????????? !!!!!!! the NCarolina group is meeting me in front of my place at 7:30 tomorrow morning. we are going to walk the beach down to West Bay (cruise ship haven), collecting trash as we go. not sure how this is going to work, but we'll see. once we get there, we'll snorkel on the reef there. should be fun and an opportunity for me to take more photos of snorkelers.

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 :(