25 Mar--Cayos Diving

Fri Afternoon, 25 Mar. Will wanted to take me to the Moving Gardens because i told him how i was looking forward to seeing colorful coral and sponges. i love seeing the fish ... but the colorful coral is what i wanted to see. and, so far, in Utila and Roatan, i've been disappointed ... the Moving Gardens are off a rocky point and have a strong current, which keeps the corals in constant motion .... swaying with the waves and surge going in .... and going out .... we went down to 90', to a sandy bottom. Will killed several more Lionfish on this dive as well. he just doesn't miss ! and then we ascended to the "Gardens" .... it was everything i was hoping for. this was the first time, i took my camera with me diving ! i know i've been 'bombarding' you all with photos of fish .... this will be different .... i want you to see how absolutely beautiful the reef can be. so, now i'll bombard you with photos of corals and sponges ... really colorful ones ! i was so impressed ! i loved these Green Finger Sponges, they were actually more of a chartreuse color, my favorite color. i hope you enjoy this Underwater Garden as much as i did. my praises to whomever the 'gardener' was :) doesn't this one look like a center-piece on a table? of course, we did see fish as well .... and i saw my first adult Spotted Drum Fish .... as with the Juveniles, they are constantly moving, so i don't have good photos, but they are beautiful. the Juveniles do not have any spots .... so i wondered why they called them Spotted Drum Fish ... after seeing the adult ... i know why ... they are very striking, with lots of spots ! and this Spotted Trunkfish. a Hogfish cruised by .... selfishly, i thought about how good they taste :( before we finished our dive, Will let the Lionfish go. Cayos is just not a place that many people go, because it is just so damned difficult to get here! ....so the reef out here has not been abused nor misused as it has been in the more popular dive locations. after you've been here, you almost don't want to tell anyone about it ... because you don't want it spoiled, you want to keep 'the secret' to yourself. i know what my brother mean't after moving to Wyoming, when he said, "don't tell anyone about Wyoming; we don't want anyone doing to Wyoming what John Denver did to Colorado" ...i understand the feeling .... don't tell anyone about Cayos ! after we got in, i got cleaned up in my cool 'open air' shower, and started packing (again) ... and got ready for dinner. i also noticed that there was some water inside my camera housing ....... this is not a good thing. i'm keeping my fingers crossed, and saying a few prayers, that my camera makes it the rest of the trip! i'll be devastated if it doesn't! after dinner, i visited with the guys awhile, and got to see some of Mike's photography. he's got some awesome photos and has won awards. in addition to being a Dive Master, he also does Videography for customers. his underwater camera is awesome!!!!!!! check out his web page: www.crush-media.com. just as we were leaving, we had an unexpected guest. the guys said they'd never seen one of these here before. i don't want to leave this posting with that image, so i'll show the beautiful sunset we had this evening. from my terrace. then from the dock. before going to bed, i borrowed a larger 'mosquito canapy' for my bed, and also lit one of those mosquito coils ... i didn't want a repeat of last night. i'm just miserable with mosquito bites itching itching and itching :( Rio said he would wake me at 6am so we could leave by 7am for the mainland :(

25 Mar--Diving & Chachauate

Friday Morning, 25 Mar. ok, so, even though i hung my 'safety net' .... i had the blood sucked out of me by mosquitos!!!!!!! i woke up with a line of 9 bites between my right shoulder and bicep !!!!! ...and 7 more on my leg by my knee .... and several other groupings elsewhere on my body. i was a mess ! WTF ? Fresh Meat, they loved me ! whaaaaaaaa Breakfast at 7:30am and more walking around. this is the same island i am on, we are in a large bay. hammocks everywhere in the trees..... it's all very relaxed and calming! ...and although it was very hot in the sun, all the trees made it very comfortable in the shade. 9am was the first dive of the day. we dove Pelican Point, a deeper dive of 85'. i took the Go Pro camera down with me. as Will was descending ahead of me, i spotted a Lionfish on the ledge. i did the 'universal signal' for Lionfish. hands together, fingers interlaced, and wiggling. Mike told me that Will was 'lethal' with the Sling ... he came back up and easily killed it and then cut it. if they are only 'skewered' they can still live, so it's 'humane' to cut them to make sure they are dead ... and then hopefully other fish will feed on them, and eventually they will learn to 'actively hunt' them. it is generally agreed, that 'man' will never be successful in eliminating them simply by killing them. they need to evolve into the food chain. we saw many Moon Jellyfish of all sizes. i'd only seen one of these before, at Glovers last year. ... it's about the size of a platter, and just hangs, and pulsates, with it's fine tentacles flowing in and out. and that beautiful 'clover' shape in the middle ... after the dive, again, i was offered the opportunity to continue diving after Will surfaced. ...this is great fun ! when we got back in the boat, Will asked me if i wanted to cruise over to one of the smaller islands where the Garifuna people lived. the name of the island is Chachauate (cha cha wate). yes! i would! and off we went. photo of Chachauate, the large island in upper left corner is the island i am on. as we approached the small island, the children were playing in the water, and yelled 'tourista'. they are used to occasional tourists visiting their little island. i realized that this was the 'real thing' .... small thatched huts, lined along the shore, small children playing in the water, adults fishing, cooking, relaxing in a hammock .... just living! .....a life that i don't believe anyone in the U.S. could imagine living! they live on rice, beans, and flour, that is bought in bulk from the mainland, ... and fresh fish. i got out of the boat to walk around. this is looking towards the next small island. the kids played on the boat, jumping off, ... just having fun! Will, my Dive Master. great guy ! when we got close to our dock, they said i could jump in with my scuba gear and dive the 'house reef' into shore, ....by myself again :) they told me how to follow the reef to come right into the dock and they would wait for me there. i got down there and saw a turtle in the distance, and started following it. i guess i got off course, coz when i came up, i was quite a ways from the dock; but i made it back ok. then it was time for lunch .... after lunch i went to my room. i felt light-headed and weak. i drank a lot of water and added some Pedialite that i brought with me, thinking i might be dehydrated. i just stayed in my room, although i really wanted to do some more exploring; but i just couldn't 'muster-up' the energy. and, i wanted to make sure i could do the 2nd dive!

24 Mar-Cayos Cochinos Arrival

Thurs, 24 Mar. i woke up every hour on the hour and then went back to sleep until 5am, when i woke up and stayed up ... needless to say, not a good night's sleep ! but, i was excited, and ready to go at 6am. arrived at the Ferry, prepared for the next phase of my Barrier Reef Adventure. Ferry left at 7am and we arrived at the dock in LaCeiba at 8:15. as promised, a taxi was waiting for me and wisked me off to the Shipyard .... these are all fishing boats. at the other end of the Shipyard, i saw the Galaxy Ferry that i just got off of, and the Ferry that took me to Utila ... i thought the Utila Princess was pretty big, ... but was dwarfed by the Galaxy (on the right) ! wow, she's big ! so we left the safety of the port. those are the mountains of Honduras on the mainland. and headed for the open seas with Capt Danny, a local who spoke perfect English! he is great! ... a rough crashing 1.5+ hr ride, about 10 miles, out to Cayos. i've long stopped being concerned about being in a small boat in a big sea with large waves. these guys know what they are doing. Cayos Cochinos is part of The Bay Islands. here is a map showing the relationship of Cayos Cochinos to Utila and Roatan. it consists of 13 islands: 2 larger islands, covered with thick tropical forests and massive striated rocks. and 11 smaller ones, ...the smallest of the islands is no bigger than the boat we were in, it doesn't even have trees ... just grass and sand. all the islands are ringed by white sand beaches. photo from the air. the surrounding waters were declared a Marine Reserve in 1994 with the help of the Smithsonian Institute. because of this, and the fact that the islands are largely uninhabited, AND that it's harder than hell to get to, the reef is in pristine condition and the marine life abundant. the only real inhabitants are the Garifuna peoples. and, oh, ... on the way, i learned that one of the 'Survivor' series are currently being shot on 2 of the smaller islands ! and then they appeared ! i didn't do much research on the topography. i hadn't expected 2 of the islands to be so large, nor hilly, nor forested! we arrived at the Dock at about 10:30am. and Mike gave me a brief orientation .., they are at my service :) they will prepare my dive equipment, .. i don't have to do anything, just show up at designated times for meals and dives :) oh, and by the way, i am the only guest ! ... i am the queen :) then he hauled my luggage up a walkway on the side of the hill to my room. that's my room at the end. ... with an incredible view overlooking the other large island and the sea. my nice clean, roomy, airy room. a huge tiled bathroom, with shutters to let a lot of light in. and, .... my favorite ... an open-air shower ! i got settled in and took a walk down to the shore. and around the resort. .... i now see why the resort is called Plantation Beach ... it is both a plantation and a beach. lunch was at 12:30; and then my first dive at 2pm. everything was already taken care of, i just got in the boat with Danny the Capt, and Will my Dive Master. Our first dive site was Lion's Head, a rather shallow dive at 40' with a beautiful sandy bottom and lots of large coral heads that we circled around. we had an awesome dive. i didn't take a camera with me, so you'll just have to take my word for it :) after about 45min, Will signaled that he was going up, and that i was welcome to continue to explore as long as i had sufficient air ... which i did. so i found another large coral head, and did a spiral around it starting at the bottom and working my way to the top, going around several times until i surfaced. ...... the first time i've ever been diving 'by myself'. at this point i wasn't very deep and the boat was just above me on the surface, so i was 'ok' with it. i feel very comfortable when i'm diving :) when we returned, i went for a snorkel at the 'House Reef' right out front. the clarity of the water was incredible ! and i got a not-so-clear photo of another new fish that's relative to the French and Blue Grunt .. named the Spanish Grunt. a French Angelfish, also not so clear ... and saw another Filefish and a Porkfish ... but no good photos of either :( i went back to my room, and met the resident iguana, who seemed unconcerned with me. then showered with REALLY HOT water and got ready for dinner at 6:30. after dinner we stayed around in the dining room, visited. then to bed ... i was tired ... and no one there stays up late.