Mon, 31 Jan.
no lobster, no conch, no red snapper, no grouper ! ......not that there isn't any here .... it's that we shouldn't be eating it because it is a 'threatened' species ... hummmmmmmmm. this reminds me of Glovers last year. i may have to reconsider volunteering for conservation groups! ...just kidding, but i am glad i ate all i could while in Caye Caulker without feeling guilty!!
that's what i learned our first day of work that began with a meeting at 8:30 ... then 8:45 ... then 9:00 ... Utilian time :) it was orientation for Nicole, Chris, Abi, and me. Tim has been here a week already. we met with Monica, who is the educational and public relations director. then we went around and told something out ourselves and what we have done and what our interests were. (i should have said i didn't know how to do nathin;). then Monica and Trish had a meeting and came back to us with our assignments. Holy Crap ! this is like WORK ... no, it is work! i'm going to have to dust off my brain and try to remember how to think again! here are my assignments:
--Veterinary Clinic Assistant.
1st and 3rd Tues of the month.
10am up to 8 hours.
--Bio-degradable Products.
research products.
inform and encourage stores to carry.
--Hydrogen Peroxide.
mix to strength.
distribute and encourage use.
--Develop Eco-Tours Program on Utila.
Snorkeling, Kayaking,Terrestrial Savannah, and Mangroves.
develop Strategic Plan (i may be calling on some of you to help me with this!)
eventually will be run by locals, this will create jobs.
--Develop a Recycle Program.
in conjuction w/Abi.
--and in our spare time, we will all be involved in the following:
--cleaning and mounting a Pilot Whale carcass that was washed up on shore;
for display in our Visitor Center.
--Lionfish hunting and killing.
--Patrolling the Sea by boat; and Savannah on foot (translate: biting insects).
8am on Tues, Wed, Thurs.
informative and observatory roll.
report abuses to municipalities.
did i mention that my stay here has been extended for a year??? ...they must think so ! i left the meeting in a daze!
at 2pm we all (volunteers) went to the Iguana Research Station, just up the road from us. here they are breeding the Ctenosaura bakeri, called ‘Swamper’ Iguana, because it lives in the mangrove swamp area. this particular species is endemic to Utila. that means, it is ONLY found here, no where else on the earth. ..how about THAT? i might mention that one of the reasons they are becoming extinct is because the Utilians eat them; ... along with loss of habitat. it is important that we can identify them from the other iguanas on the island for our 'Patrolling' responsibilities. the Iguana Station gathers the eggs, raises them for a year, then releases them into the swamps. they also have 'volunteers' and they gave us a tour of the facilities and introduced us to the Swamper. we all agreed we are living at a 5star hotel in comparison to their dorms!
here is a photo of the volunteers who gave us the tour. they use these extra huge tweezers to feed ting crabs to the iguanas.
here are some photos of the Swamper. he's not very colorful.
but he does have some pretty spines on his back.
and the HUGE Green Iguana .. he has such pretty colors!
also in residence is this pigeon. it is the only one on the island. it is assumed that he lost his way and ended up here during a storm, and never left.
on the road back home, ... look what i saw !!!!!!!!
no it did not have a 'tag' on it. if it would have, i think it's GPS would have malfunctioned, because it is way too far south!
Abi actually had just been in Mexico to see all the monarchs in the trees, so she knew the story. of course, i had to tell mine too.
Tim, the other American, started 'entertaining' us at the Iguana Station because of his reaction to an ant biting him, and also seeing a rather large Banana Spider.
before we left for dinner, he almost jumped off the deck because he thought he saw a bug. and at dinner, it just escalated to the point where we laughed so hard, we could barely eat our food. he has an extreme phobia about the purity of the water he drinks and all the other things that might make him sick. and he makes no apologies about it; but expresses it with the funniest dry sense of humor. he's done a lot of traveling, but in civilized countries. it's going to be great getting to know him.
we went out to dinner at Picolo's, an italian restaurant in town. good food, and a great time.
me, Tim, Abi, Nicole, and Chris.
earlier today we heard about a bar called Main Street, that was having shots of some special local liquor for 5 limperas ... that's about a quarter US. so we had to go try it out. they tasted pretty bad, so you had to drink it like bad tequila ... we had 2, just to make sure we didn't like them.
i've been fortunate enough to get hooked up with a great group again. this will be a very enjoyable month ... and the best part is that we will all be here for the month.
the big red fish is a 'yellow fin grouper' ... it is more red at deep depths, but has yellow fins. nice starfish too.
we got back around 10am and spent the rest of the day working on our projects. Gato Gordo was totally enjoying the day on the stairs.
and later in the afternoon, he moved down a few steps to this position.
and he's adopted us as his evening 'home' .... he makes himself comfortable in the kitchen.
and then moves onto the bed.
i noticed on our way back from town that my favorite restaurant, HotPot, had a sign out front that said 'Fresh Shrimps'. i went there for dinner tonight and they did not disappoint.
