30 Mar--Coxen Hole w/Greg

Fri, 30 Mar .... got up early and got all my diving gear together in case Greg and i wanted to do an afternoon dive. then headed to work, .... as i was painting, i heard a lot of birds chirping ..... i kept looking at the sky to try to see the flock of whatever it was that was flying over ... but saw nothing .... then saw the 2 guys walking down the street with these poor little darlings ... and, yes, they are REAL baby chicks !!!!!!!!! .....dyed all those bright colors to sell as Easter chicks ... they were so cute, soft and cuddly, and it made me sad to think what their fate was ... they were selling them for US$1, and said they had already sold 30 of them ,,,,, i was just finishing up the painting when Greg arrived from his morning dive, grabbed a brush, and helped me finish the project. i mentioned that i wanted to go to Flowers Bay to see if the Inez and Tony were at the house where i worked last year with the students from North Carolina. Greg said he wanted to go to Coxen Hole to buy a cell phone ... so we deciced to do that instead of diving. it was a really hot day to not be in the water; but we prevailed. took 'collectivo' taxis to Coxen Hole, ..... Coxen Hole is not really a tourist place, but it is close to one of the Cruise Ship Docks ... while walking down the street looking for ice cream, we saw another 4 boxes of Easter Chicks :( ....... and ...they have NO ice cream in Coxen Hole :() and this cute kitty with a black spot just under his nose ...... that was quite content with his life in Coxen Hole .... Coxen Hole didn't have the cell phone, so we took another 'collectivo' taxi to French Harbor ....a larger 'town' with a Mall, ....with Wendy's and Applebees! :( ....Greg got his phone, we got ice cream ... and went to a REAL air conditioned, brightly lit grocery store! ... with fully-stocked shelves and beautiful produce .... it's been over 3 months since i've been in such a store .... and ... to my surprise ...... yes, that is Pabst Blue Ribbon and Strohs ... in French Harbor, Roatan, Honduras !!!!!!!!!!! ...i must admit i was impressed by their 'presentation' in the store .... took another 'collectivo taxi' to Flowers Bay ... Ines was on the mainland, but Tony was there. it was great to see Tony and and hear all about the plans they still have for the site; but it was sad to see the 'structure' from last year had colapsed from the wind, rain, termites ... you can still see the plastic bottles that the girls filled with sand last year ... and the trenches were still dug out .... but it really looked 'sad' .... :( i didn't notice this tree last year with the 'fruit' on it .. they were like watermelons hanging from this tree ... the fruit looked very strange hanging on the tree :~ ....Tony said after they dry, they cut them in half and make bowls out of them .... kinda strange .... back to West End, cleaned up, ... Justine got home as i was leaving to meet Greg and Ron and Patricia at The Sundowner; .......said she'd meet me there .... after an hour or so at the SunDowner .... Justine and i joined Greg and several of his friends, from Utila also, for dinner at Cannibal ..... this is Mitch, me, Jen, Chad, Justine, Greg ... and of course ...... Cannibal ... home to bed

29 Mar-Snorkeling w/Friends from Utila

Thurs, 29 Mar ..... did more painting on my SLOW markers, in the morning i have been keeping in touch with Greg from Utila who is arrived in Roatan today for a few days ... and around noon he and a friend Mitch from Canada, stopped at the Marine Park .... i was ready to quit for the day, we decided to meet at 1:30 and then walk to West Bay for some snorkeling. it was a REALLY hot day to walk to West Bay ... we probably should have taken a Water Taxi ... but it was a good experience for them. ... while diving in Utila, Greg was the Dive master that 'guided' me on some of my dives ... today i got to return the favor and 'guide' them on a snorkel trip in West Bay. they both like to free dive down deep .... here is Greg and Mitch, checking out that nasty LionFish they were really impressed with the many large groupers that they saw they didn't see this Graysby ... but i did, and got a photo of it as well i also spotted this Gray AngelFish .... i was hoping to see more ... but since we got such a late start, we decided to head in ... on the way, Mitch got our attention and pointed out this Scorpion Fish ... another first for me .... they are VERY hard to spot because their form matches the coral, and barely looks like a fish at all .... this one is facing to the right .... and is all 'nasty' looking .... you can see that they have very large pectoral fins .... in the shallows i saw another Magnificent FeatherDuster and a different FeatherDuster ... a Split Crown FeatherDuster and this beautiful piece of new white coral .... was very conspicuous among all the dead coral around it .... :( the guys were both impressed with the clarity of the water, and all the marine life they saw here, ....'just' snorkeling, compared to even diving in Utila ... this is making me not want to go back to Utila ... where the snorkeling isn't as good, .... and especially since they haven't seen any Whale Sharks .... and i'm beginning to think our little dorm room up in the trees would be a better place to spend Semanta Santa, than on the streets of Utila. .... decision time !!!!!!!!!!! we stopped at the Thirsty Turtle again for something to drink; then caught a Water Taxi back to West End. we walked around and checked out some of the Dive Shops here and got prices to dive. Greg wanted me to dive with him tomorrow; but i really want to finish up the SLOW channel markers, and tomorrow will be my last 'work' day at the Marine Park. we stopped into the SunDowner and i saw Ron and Patricia; .... then i was finished .... the guys went on to eat, etc., .... but i came back, got cleaned up; and fell asleep .... it's fun meeting up with friends again !!

28 Mar--Ceviche w/Friends

Wed, 28 Mar .... at work, Nic, the Director of Marine activities, asked me to help him with a project. ... he had 10in PVC pipe that he was going to put in the channel and along the shore as markers that say "S L O W" ... and he needed SLOW painted on 3 sides of them ... so here i am ... Christina, Justine and i agreed to meet around 12:30 to make the Shrimp Ceviche for our dinner tonight .... then we were going to the beach .. it took us longer than i thought it would, .... and i decided not to go to the beach with them .... at about 6pm i started making the Guacamole, Enric came home, followed by the girls and we finished making the Guacamole and it was quickly consumed by all :) ....Enric bought a half a chicken and we ate our Shrimp Ceviche and rice .... then fresh island fruit ....great dinner! .... followed by a nice visit, and some wonderful guitar medleys, .... during dinner the big cat with the blue eyes came to get some attention. ...anyone that's ever had a cat, ....knows what he and Justine are doing :) .... really fun night with really nice new friends .... i've been so fortunate to have met such wonderful friends during my adventures ... !!!!

27 Mar, Tues

Tues, 27 Mar .... at work, ....i painted new recycle bins my favorite green/chartreuse color only to find out i was using water-based paint and needed oil based exterior paint .... so the second coat will be the darker green color same as the other ones :( this cutie, Uma, belongs to one of the girls at the Marine Park office .... she is so soft .. and has such big feet ..... such a sweet gentle dog .... worked until 1:30 then came back to my dorm ...... hummmmmmmm ... when i left this morning the girls were sitting on the porch, so i didn't have to lock the door, and consequently left the key in the room .... certainly someone will return soon ... i went down to the restaurant and worked on my blog and before i knew it, it was 5pm .... i asked the Manager for a key and got up to my room about the time Enric came in and said the girls were at The SunDowner and he was here to bring me there .......... we'd have to do dinner tomorrow night ... so off to the SunDowner we went ... met a few new people, then tried to find someplace cheap to eat ... ended up next door, at Rotisserie Chicken, and had shrimp.. a good end to a rather disorganized day ....

26 Mar--Making Friends

Mon, 26 Mar ... over the weekend i had a few roommates come and go ... one couple for a night .. and another guy from Mexico for a few nights .... but some have stayed .... Christina is from Switzerland and is getting her Open Water Certification .... Justine is from France ... who by the way, lived in Kalamazoo for 5 yrs, and taught French at WMU !!!!!!!!!!! ....and Enric from Spain arrived .... such is life in a 6 bedroom dorm :) ...i didn't think i would like living with so many people, but it's actually quite fun .... i've been here a week already... and the plan is to return to Utila next Sat. the following week is "Holy Week" ... "Semanta Santa" here in Central America. i didn't realize that "Easter Week" was such a big deal here in Honduras. i've been told that it's like a week-long Mardi Gras on the islands ... with lots of locals from the mainland ... and lots of "Spring Breakers". ..... this has kind of 'stressed' me out .... i don't want to be around lots of drunk people, noise, chaos .... I AM GETTING OLD !!!!!!! :( i'd been warned to make sure i have reservations for that week because everything will be booked. ....so i decided a few weeks ago, before i left Utila, that i'd rather spend that week in Utila, and booked my room at Hotel Utila again. ....but now that i've been here awhile, and have made friends here .... i'm thinking it might be nicer and quieter to stay here, up in the forest, away from the all the chaos on the streets in Utila ... what to do ????? ....decisions ...... in the morning i worked on the netting for the Recycle Bins then it was 1:30pm .... i had my snorkel gear with me, so i just went back out to the submarine in Half Moon Bay again, to see if i could see any more new things and i did ... this is an Arrow Crab ... probably named for the shape of it's body although out of focus, .... notice the pretty blue pinchers, on an otherwise brown body .... and this Corkscrew Anemone seems to be appropriately named .... these are SharpNose Puffer Fish ... they are really tiny ... only about 1 inch long .... and i am still fascinated by this Rough File Clam this community of life is on one of the dock posts ... i don't know what all is here ... but it was interesting ... and colorful ... and this lobster was the most colorful lobster i've ever seen ... they are usually a reddish color .. but this one was blue purple another first for me .... this is a Oscellate Swimming Crab .... then 4 unskilled snorkelers came under the dock .... and stirred up all the sand with their fins .... that was the end to the visibility under there, .. so i called it quits for the day ...... i passed the red seafood truck on my way home and bought some shrimp ... i was going to suggest we do a dorm-room dinner. my roommates were sitting down by the office when i arrived. i presented my idea and we agreed to do dinner tomorrow night .... but now, they were on their way to Happy Hour and asked me to join them ... i got cleaned up and we had a nice visit at Foster's over the water, on hammocks .. then to the Cannibal Cafe for great Mexican food ..... this is Enric, Christina, and Justine ...Enric calls us 'his girls' :) fun day .... fun night

25 Mar--West Bay Snorkel

Sun, 25 Mar ... although i was going to get up early and walk to West Bay this morning .... i got kinda lazy and before i knew it, my little kitty friend had let himself in the room again ... and on my bed ... i didn't have the heart to disturb him .... i mean could you resist this face ?.. reminds me of the Chessie Cat logo for the C&O Railroad .. i took the Water Taxi to West Bay ...no cruise ships today :) i snorkeled out to the Wall and the Deep Blue and saw these fish i hadn't seen before ... they are quite large and are called Permit ... here we go with the name thing again ? cruised along the Wall over the coral for awhile, didn't see much else, so decided to go closer to the shore ..... on my way in i found this Porcupine Fish ... i was so excited that he didn't swim away when i dove down to get a picture he'd swam a short way, then come back ... we played this game for a long time while i got my photos this was such a great time for me .... i've always loved these fish with their big eyes and sweet face; but have never been able to get this close to them .... i used my macro lens again ... i'm really happy with it that made my day ! i continued to cruise around the sandy areas with reefs on either sides .... and i saw a lot of fish in this area ..... first these Blue ParrotFish .... one of the identifying feaures of the Blue ParrotFish is it's squared off nose .... they aren't as big as the Rainbow ParrotFish of yesterday, but larger than the rest of the ParrotFish family then i saw 2 more Scrawled FileFish although they are usually pretty quiet, they just weren't in the mood to being pursued ..... i struggled to get a few photos of them while i was chasing a FileFish, i spotted this French AngelFish and snapped this shot ... in the past i've spent a lot of time trying to get a good photo of this fish ... and today .... one picture ... and it was a good one .... then i saw this HogFish, with all it's pretty markings .... pretty nicely camouflaged .... and again i was reminded how adept these fish are at blending in with their environment .... this is the very same fish .... just a few seconds later ... starting to loose his coloring .... and now ... turning almost white while swimming over the white sand .. ... ...like magic ! ... amazing they can change color so easily .... remember the HogFish has the dorsal fin with the long spikes ... and then, as if i hadn't had been rewarded enough today .... this Queen AngelFish swam right in front of me, .... i was able to dive down and get this one too .... you have no idea how many times in the past i've tried to get a decent photo of these fish today was just my day !!!!!!!!