22 Mar, Thurs

Thurs, 22 Mar ... i met Christie at the RMP at 8:30 and we drove about 20min to Coxen Hole to the Jonesville Private School ... it costs about US$50/mo to send a child to school there. they were 5th and 6 graders who were very happy to see her .... they were nice to me too :) then we drove to West Bay. while we were waiting for the boat to get back and the kids to arrive, Christie saw a local boy walking around selling shells, etc .... she went over to him ... the 'etc' were 2 SEAHORSES ... dead and dried of course. she took them from him, because it is illegal to have. she showed me that one of them was pregnant, ... you could see by it's full tummy ... now i was really sad :( when the kids arrived and came over to the table, there was some discussion about how sad it was that they had been killed ... one of the boys spoke up right away and said ... and the one is pregnant. i was impressed that he knew that. we made our way to the boat and down to the 'glass bottom' ... ok, so i always thought it was glass 'bottom' ... it's actually glass side windows ... but it's pretty cool ....i think it's a great way for people to be exposed to the underwater world ... and hopefully make them aware of it's importance ... it just made me want to get in the water !!!!!! ....we did see a small turtle swimming and a Flounder swim right up on top of piece of coral and change colors to match.... we got back around noon and i immediately got myself ready to snorkel ... since it was already 1;30pm, i just went in Half Moon Bay again ... Todd had said that he had seen lots of things under the dock where the Submarine is. ... there is a small Submarine here that you can go in that will take you down to 2,000 feet ... yes .... 2,000 feet .... not for me !!! ....so i decided to see what i could see, .... glad i did ... i immediately saw these 3 Reef Squid ... who were perfectly happy to have me photograph them for as long as i wanted ... i snorkeled for 1hr and 45min , and they were still there when i left. ok .... so i took about 50 pictures of them .... it's hard to decide which ones to show you :( it was such a fun day of seeing new things .... i LOVE seeing new things .... inside the dock supports is a great place for sea creatures to live ... lots of lobsters of course and anemones ... and now that i know what a Sea Pearl, ... Sailor-Fisherman's Eyeball is ... i'm seeing them everywhere ... here 3 of them are together on the post .. kind of 'mossy', but you can still see their 'marble-like' coloring ... on the same post as the lobster, was this Banded Coral Shrimp ... i have never 'spotted' one of these by myself before; someone has always pointed them out to me .... but today i spent a lot of time looking at everything in a small area ... and it paid off ... notice, he does have little transparent legs out front of it ... also on the same post was this tiny juvenile Queen AngelFish was stunning ..... while the French and Gray AngelFish juveniles are black with yellow stripes and very different from the adults ..... this little guy is almost an exact duplicate of the adult ... only so tiny ... about 2in in size .... he was 'electric' ... Christie said she had never seen one before ... yeah me ! ... you can also see another Banded Coral Crab beneath the AngelFish .. this Christmas Tree Worm found his home on this a different post ... and this creature .... a Rough File Clam .... i had to look up in the books ... who names these things ????????? ....i could be a lot more creative with the names ! .... so strange and scary ... this Magnificant FeatherDuster Worm was flowing with the waves . i've never seen this crab before either ... although out of focus .... i was still able to identify it as a Nimble Spray Crab .... not sure how the name relates to the crab ... maybe because his legs are all 'sprayed' out ....check out the yellow spots on his legs ... then i moved out from under the dock, back out to the grass to check on my Reef Squid ... yep ... still there ... then i saw this Sharp Nose Eel moving through the grass ... in search of something to eat ... i was taking a video of it, when it flew into the air, in an attempt to eat a tiny red fish, that happily swam to safety ... you'll have to wait until i get all my video together and put it on YouTube .... someday :) yes, this was a great day under the dock !!!!!!! before i quit, i swam out to the deeper water and saw this poor TrumpetFish ... in about the same location as the one i saw yesterday .... someone took a bite out of it's tail .... :( ...remember how i commented on the tail the other day .... :( it was so still i thought perhaps it was dead .... but when i moved closer it swam away .... but ... poor baby !!!!!! on my way back to shore, this fish was lazily weaving itself in between the blades of grass, unconcerned about my presence ... but yet hidden enough that i couldn't really tell what it was ... after looking in the books and checking with Christie, she decided it was a Graysby ... never seen one before ! ... when i got out of the water, i saw Todd. he had not seen any Reef Squid, so i told him where i found them; and off he went. home, cleaned up, and back to The SunDowner to meet Ron and Patricia .... i stopped at the 'taco' place on the street for dinner .... damn good taco's .... 3 for 100L... (5USD) ... double the price of Utila ... but the 'sticker price shock' is beginning to wear off ...

21 Mar, Wed

Wed, 21 Mar ... today is the tomorrow i was waiting for ... and i still don't feel that great. when i got outside, i looked in the trees and saw the monkey ... but this one looked smaller ... and ... it has a tail ... there must be 2 of them .... well, now i feel better, that there isn't just one monkey all by himself. ...i got a few pictures of him ... later in the day, Michelle told me there are actually 3 of them; ...and yes, one does not have a tail. she said they can be very destructive and torn the screens and gotten into the cabins and made a horrible mess :( ...they have lots of cats, dogs, and birds here; so i'm thinking they are 'animal people' ... so i hope they can learn to live together :( went to the RMP, and .... my orange juice was there ... i don't know how they do it, but it is the best sweetest OJ i've ever had ... the minute you open the top, you can smell the oranges ... that made me feel a little better. Todd and i finished putting the fish net on the rest of the bins; and then called it a day. Christie asked me if i wanted to join her tomorrow. she was going to a school .... first thing i asked was, 'do i have to talk to the kids?' :) ...she said no ... so i said ok. she does a presentation on the reef, fishes, corals, etc. on one day with the kids in school, then a day or so later, they all get to go on the Glass Bottom Boat to see what they learned about. tomorrow we do both, but with 2 different groups of kids. ...sounds like fun ... i've never been in a Glass Bottom Boat and have always wondered if it was any good ... now i'll find out .... i forgot to mention, when i met with Christie on Monday, i also met her Mother. they were both born in Honduras, but her Mom spent time in the U.S. .... where? ... Ohio ... really? i'm from Ohio .. she said she lived in Tiffin !!!!!!! ....that's where i was born!!!!!!!!!! ... she said Mercy Hospital? yes, i think so, .....(Mom.... is that where i was born?) ...she said that is where one of her son's was born too !!! .... so we hugged on the street ... Christie turned around to see us ... and said ... 'you two bonded already?' ..... small small world !!!!!! i got a Baleada ... which is a nice warm fresh tortilla, with refried beans; ... and i ordered chicken and avocado ... it was good and i needed food. ...went home, and still didn't feel much like doing anything .. but i thought maybe if i went for a snorkel, i'd feel better. so i just went out to Half Moon Bay in the center of the village. i crossed to the other side of the bay and saw this TrumpetFish .... notice his placement of his dorsal and anal fins and their coloration ... you can see why they call it a TrumpetFish because the shape of his head and lips looks like the mouthpiece of a trumpet .... and he was right in front of this Flamingo Tongue ... i took this photo with my macro lens, i usually use the 'underwater' auto setting on my camera; because it is supposed to adjust the color; but it doesn't have a macro feature; so i thought i 'd try not using the 'underwater' feature ... on this Flamingo Tongue ...and i think i like it ... and am going to try it more often ... then went outside of the entrance a little way .... i saw this Midnight ParrotFish .... they are very large, and very dark blue .... i couldn't get a good picture of him unfortunately ... also saw this HogFish with his pretty subtle colors ... you know a HogFish by his spiny dorsal fins (the ones on the top) .... then crossed back to the other side and snorkeled outside the entrance along the other shoreline and saw this Blue Indigo Hamlet and this TigerTail Sea Cucumber ... which i saw last year for the first time ... and i still think it's very strange .... their skin is kinda saggy and looks squishy .... maybe it's old :( a pretty Blue Tang and this very decorative Reef Sea Urchin ... much more interesting than the Long Spiny Urchins which are just black .... and i swear this NeedleFish was trying to show me his teeth ... they've always looked very benign to me ... but he looked menacing ! ... this is a Sergeant Major, which is usually yellow and white striped; ... but the male turns this pretty blue color when it is defending it's eggs .... which you can see as a purple mass behind him ... he darts out at everything and will even nip at you if you get too close ... but he is only about BlueGill size ... you can see he legs of a hemit crab beneath this conch shell... well barely ... this is why they ask that you not take shells from the seas ... even if they are dead ... they can still become homes for other creatures ... i sure see a lot of Lobsters lately ... since it is their mating season .... it is illegal to hunt them between 1 Mar and 30 June here in Honduras .... they must know this :) i'd been snorkeling for 1.5 hours and i was cold, i wear gloves because my fingers get cold, but the tips were numb ... time to go in .... back in my room i was happy to have a hot shower ... but i still couldn't get warm. .... i put on my sweats, undershirt, and sweatshirt and climbed into bed; i was still shivering ! ... after awhile, i decided i must have a little bit of temperature. i took a motrin, and stayed in bed ... again ... for the second night in a row ... hopefully tomorrow WILL be better !!!!

20 Mar, Tues

Tues, 20 Mar ... ... i can not and will not, ever again, ... mix drinks with wine ... promise ! ...i didn't feel very good this morning; but got myself up and headed to RMP to see what they had for me to do. Christie had started making some recycle bin frames; then she got some old netting from fishermen (reusing); and i needed to put the fish netting around the wooden structures with a staple gun. simple enough. i got started and another guy showed up and asked if he could help doing anything at the Marine Park. his name is Todd, and she put him to work with me. we worked for awhile; then she asked him to make some square tops for bins with the skill saw. ...i was glad she didn't ask me to do that, ...i don't like skill saws very much, they scare me :( ...when he finished that, he came back and helped me again. ...i wasn't feeling any better, ....it was hot and where we were working there wasn't any air, .... around 12-1pm, we called it quits for the day. .... i went back to my place and sat at the restaurant and used the internet for awhile .... but the kids had gotten out of school and they were all in there, ... doing something noisy :( .... i wasn't going to last long down there with all that noise. i was ready to leave, but needed something to eat ... a mango smoothie ... yeah, that's what i needed ... they are expensive here ... but i'd have to say, they are worth it .... you get more than you can eat ... i put the last part of it in my freezer ... i had to stop and take a picture of the 2 white cats ... actually they aren't totally white, they have a little orange stripe ... i should have known ... aren't all orange cats mellow ? they are both very large cats, not fat, but big ... this one has blue eyes and this one has longer hair with tufts between it's toes ... when it rolled over to have it's belly rubbed, it has a piece of bone out of place on it's chest ... not out of it's skin; but it sticks out..... doesn't seem to both him though ... they are all very affectionate ... the black and white one comes to visit me often; let's himself in my room :) by the time i got to my room, i realized i was getting a migraine ... and ..... i had 3 new roommates ... a couple from somewhere, and another girl from somewhere else ... i don't remember, ..... and i'm sure i wasn't a very good welcoming committee. ... the rest of the day was wasted ... i never left the room ... missed dinner, ....missed The SunDowner and my friends. i went to bed early and happy that the day was over, and couldn't wait to have tomorrow here when i will feel better ! ... and vowed again, before i went to sleep ... no mixing drinks !

19 Mar, Mon

Mon, 19 Mar .... got up and worked on my photos, and then headed to meet with Christie, at the RMP. ... she was coming down the stairs as i was going up.... she said she was just leaving and that i could join her. the Mayor was coming to meet with the people about the road .. and more specifically about the new public bathrooms, which i was witnessing while i waiting for a taxi yesterday .... it seems there is no communication here, and he decided to put the bathrooms right in the center of the 'round-about' at the entrance to the village ... unconcerned about the hazards associated with children running across the street to get to the bathrooms from the beach .... and the first impression of tourists .... there was also no forethought about exactly 'where' the structure should go ... they 'stole' 12 ft of beach and narrowed the roadway, when it just as easily could have been moved 12ft further from the beach ........ oh, it went on and on ... it was an unorganized mess, the people of the village weren't happy, but unfortunately they don't have a 'village council' so there was no agreement even on the part of the residents and business owners ... and the only thing on the Mayor's agenda was to vent his anger because someone put something on a blog about his intention to build a Marina for the Yachts, which he says isn't true ... it was all about him, ... and how it made him look. ...and i mean he was angry ... you could tell he was 'hot' about the whole thing!...... i hope he doesn't come after me because of my blog now ! :) then someone handed their cell phone to him and he said that some lady offered some of her land that was right on the beach; to use for the bathrooms. so now, all that work and money, and cement in the middle of the road ... for nothing .... and since it's a 3ft tall cement pad, they can't use it for a road, or even make a 'green space' out of it ... crazy ! there was also concern that no one is overseeing the quality of the work that is being done on the road construction, and the new sewer holding tanks are leaking; and bulging at the sides ... and their solution is to put some sealer on them ... it is a real mess ! ...i wonder what will happen next ... stay tuned ... island drama ! i will meet Christie tomorrow morning to decide where i can be of help for them. she mentioned making some recycle containers for people to put recycle plastic in ..... sounds familiar, huh? before i left i remembered there is a guy that comes to the village on Tues and has gallons of fresh 100% orange juice .. i remembered this from last year and i asked Christie and Nic if they would get me a gallon when he came by ... they said they would ... i left them money ... i got something to eat and came home and worked on my blog ... always trying to get caught up ! ...then laid down for a little nap ... i heard something running across my roof ... i looked out the window and saw a monkey on my porch railing. Axel had said there was a monkey around ... someone's escaped pet, coz i guess they are not native to this island. i grabbed my camera and he leaped to the trees ... i walked out on the porch to see if i could find him ... it was so comical ... i was bobbing and weaving to try to see around the trees and leaves .. and i could see him ... doing the same thing ... he'd move, then peek through the trees ... then move again, peek ... i was doing the same thing ... it was quite funny ... at one point he came out on a palm branch and was quite close ... he was larger than i thought ... i wondered if he was going to charge me ... but i saw he was just trying to get to the papayas in the tree between us ... you can see the unripe papayas, about tennis ball size, in the foreground of the photo ... then he tore it open and began eating it ... he is a White-Faced (or White-Throated) Capuchin, ... a medium sized monkey, ... info i've read said it has a tail that is often carried coiled up ... but i sure don't see a tail on this one, .... supposedly an intelligent animal using tools as weapons and for getting food. can live to be 50yrs old .... poor little one ... all alone on this island :( i walked to The SunDowner again and visited with Ron and Patricia ... they invited me to dinner on Sat night to celebrate Patricia's birthday. ...watched the sun setting over Half Moon Bay ... also met a pretty lady, Gracie, from Italy. ...she had a Pina Colada that was too sweet for her, so she gave it to me ... they are really good there :) while we were sitting at the bar, i started talking with a pilot from Houston and his son ... i was ready to leave, but he enticed me to stay by ordering me a Monkey LaLa ... hummm ... they are really really good :) ...interesting guy that's been a lot of interesting places. it was time for me to get something to eat; and they invited me to go to dinner with them... we went to the Ceviche place that i went to the other night ... that is some great Ceviche ... and we split a bottle of wine .... then time to call it a night

18 Mar--First Roatan Snorkel

Sun, 18 Mar ..... Roatan .... i woke up to the sound of rain ... ahhhhhhhhhh yes ... a welcome sound, since i didn't have anything planned ... and rolled over and went back to sleep ... it was wonderful .... it stopped around 8:30 and i got up around 9am ... i slept good in my new home. it was a beautiful sunny day. Axel was in his hammock reading and we talked a while, ... yes, nice guy. i decided to treat myself to breakfast at Earth Mama's ... which was also here last year. they have nice food and also do yoga and zumba, and other 'girl' things. their sunday special is Eggs Benedict with a Mimosa for US$8 ... i didn't need the Mimosa, but it was a good price for the special ... so i forced myself. they also had WiFi and i spent quite a bit of time there ... i needed to buy some water, which turned out to be difficult since it was Sunday and most of the little markets are closed. ...then back home ... gathered up my snorkel stuff and headed for Half Moon Bay in the center of West End. ... about half way there, ... i realized i left Earth Mama's without paying !!!!!!!!!!!!! ...and i didn't have much money w/me in case it got stolen again. i stopped at Earth Mama's and my waitress quickly ran over to me with big eyes! ...i apologized and told her i would have to return w/the money after i snorkeled. she said to be sure to give it to her and not to tell her boss, coz she would get in trouble ... i felt really bad ... but she thanked me for coming back. so in the water i went ... maybe i'm mistaken, but it seems like there is more algae growing on the coral than last year ... maybe not .... i snorkeled around for a little while ... but all the time thinking about getting my money and paying my debt ! as soon as i got in the shallows i spotted this Barracuda ... it was the prettiest Barracuda, i've ever seen ... usually they are just a silver color and swimming freely in the water. ... he obviously had changed his color to match the grasses he was hiding in. i didn't see too much since i was only out there about 40min ... i did see this big Ocean TriggerFish .... these are pretty big fish ... probably 18" ... that was pretty exciting ... i remember i saw one here last year too ... maybe the same guy ... there were 3 lobsters hiding under here, just like at Rock Harbor the other day ... perhaps because this is their mating season that they are congregating ?..... this is a little Yellow Tail Snapper and a Squirrel Fish and a nice anemone a SpotFin ButterFly Fish and a Four Eye ButterFly Fish and the ever-present ParrotFish i quickly came home, rinsed off, and threw my camera in fresh water; and went back to Earth Mama's, and paid my debt ... how embarrasing :( came home and cleaned up, laid in the hammock working on my blog, until time to head for the Sundowner. Ron and Patricia were there, again, not much of a sunset ... boy, i remember last year ... there was just one spectacular sunset after another ... i was going to go to Ronnie's Barefoot Bar for their Sunday BBQ, but Ron and Patricia invited me to go to Splash Inn for a Pizza ... that sounded good too, and so did company .... so i had a Blue Cheese and Ham pizza .... good, but i hardly could taste the Blue Cheese ... tried to sit outside at Ruby's in the dark to use the internet ... but the mosquitos got me about 4 times, and i gave up ....