15 Mar--Kayaking & Bandu Soup

Thurs, 15 Mar ... i woke up to pouring rain ... damn! ..the last time it rained, i had my Diving Course ... did i mention i don't like it to 'rain on my parade' ? ...i laid there for a little while, then decided to get up and get everything ready in case it stopped raining. at 7am it had stopped, but it was still cloudy. i walked next door to where we were meeting, and no one was there ... i walked around a bit, then i went back to my room and laid down .. a few minutes later, Greg knocked on my door .. .apologizing for being late .... it was clearing up by then, so we decided to go on our kayak trip. last night a drug plane crashed on the Utila runway, and no planes could take off until they got it cleaned up; so Heather joined us since her flights were cancelled ... Jeff never showed up, ... we left about 8am. we had to kayak in the bay awhile get to beach, ... then we carried our kayaks across the beach to the lagoon rather than kayaking all the way around to the lagoon entrance, which would have taken us another 1/2 hr or so because it was pretty rough out there in the bay. we crossed the lagoon and found the entrance to the channel which took us through the mangroves to the other side of the island. it is about an 1.5 hr trip to the other side; through some really narrow passages through the mangroves ... with the mangrove roots on both sides of us, making it difficult to paddle. ...someone should invent a retractable paddle ... it was a nice slow trip and we finally made it to Rock Harbor .... we walked on the beach for a bit, then headed out to the rock island, beached our kayaks this island was volcanic rock with coral imbedded into to ... interesting geology lesson here ... we snorkeled around for awhile .... saw this very strange iridescent marble-balloon looking thing ... Greg called it a Sea Pearl ... it is also called a Fisherman's Eye and a Sailor's Eyeball ... this is actually a plant, an algae, ... and it's claim to fame is that it is the largest of the bubble algae, but it is also thought to be one of the largest single-celled organisms in both the Animal and Plant Kingdoms. .... pretty cool! .... it wasn't completely round, but had a pointed end, like a hot air balloon .... it just floated near the sandy bottom ,,, how strange i had never seen the 'foot' of the Flamingo Tongue, that attached to the Fan Coral there were 3 lobsters hiding under this coral .... this is another Christmas Tree Worm ... but notice the coral that it is on ... it's a Star Coral, and you can see all the little 'stars', which are open when they are feeding .... you don't normally notice these from a distance ... i've been studying the different types of coral ... something that i usually ignore because i am focused on looking at the fishes ... but the corals are living animals as well, and are a very important part of the reef. this is a Brain Coral ... but there are many different kinds of Brain Coral as well ... and are identified by their particular patterns of the individual ridges, but you really have to look closely to identify them. they also have different growth habits or shapes ... this one is unusual also saw this Bearded FireWorm ... the little 'hairs' on it can imbed in your skin and be very painful .... i haven't seen one of these since i was at Glovers 2 yrs ago ... then back to the beach ... Greg and Heather ... and headed back through the mangroves ... saw this bird, which i thought was a Great Blue Heron ... but it had yellow legs, and i've never noticed yellow legs on a Great Blue before .... i checked with my 'bird expert' Alex, and he reminded me that everything gets more colorful when the males are showing off .... :) Greg had to work at 2pm, and we made it just in time. when i got back to work there was a note that 2 guys wanted to go on a Whale Shark boat tomorrow. i had another couple that was interested a few days ago; and another guy that had stopped in. so, IF those 2 guys want to go, ... and IF i can find the other 3 people, ... and IF they all still want to go, ... we could have a boat tomorrow! ... IF the weather cooperates; and according to 'windfinder.com' it should be a good calm afternoon. that would be great because it would be good for Ashley and Kelly to actually experience at least one trip before they have to do it themselves, by themselves. ...but that's a lot of 'IFs' .... the 'kids' at the Dive Shop have been busy making a lot of plans lately! ... and tonight is Bandu Soup night .... that's a local soup that is made with lots of coconut milk, green bananas, plantains, yucca, carrots, onions, cabbage, shrimp .... Seth, our boat Captain was the chef ... adding all of the ingredients in just the right order at the right time ... the fish was put in towards the end ... that was a King Fish ... Bread Fruit was also added on the top ... which went in last then the secret spices ... then he personally dished out each bowl, making sure that everyone got some of everything ... it was Awesome ! ....this is Kelly and i enjoying our portions ... a new guy was there that was starting his Dive Master training, ... he made this 'grasshopper' out of a palm leaf .... fun night with great people !

14 Mar, Wed

Wed, 14 Mar .... got up today hoping we might have a Whale Shark boat .... but i went to the office and no one had shown up or signed up .... i don't blame them.. ... i wouldn't spend US$60 to go on a boat ride when no Whale Sharks have been sighted ... i've been here since, .....when? 6 Feb ... it's now 13 Mar ... over 1 month ... and not one Whale Shark sighting ... that is really unacceptable :) Kelly and i worked for awhile inputting some data on the Whale Sharks ... but we can't do anything more until we get more information from the Manager. walked into the Dive Shop to check one more time to see if we had anyone interested in a Boat trip .. nada ... talked with Greg and he said a couple people were meeting at the Israeli Restaurant for lunch .... Greg has been really good at including me in the activities at the Dive Shop ... i appreciate that ! .. so i joined them ... good food, ... and another option of a place to eat. i even had some leftovers for tomorrow. i asked them about using the Kayak's to go snorkeling at Rock Harbor ... Greg said he'd been wanting to do that ... so we're going tomorrow at 7am ... and he's been there before and knows the way ... that's important because there are a lot of channels through the Mangroves and i think if you got lost in there, you'd be lost for days :( after lunch, came back and Jeff was there updating some files ... i'm glad he knows about this computer stuff ... he'll be a good person to have around while he's here. told him about the Kayak Trip and he's going to go too; so there will be 3 of us .... Greg also invited me to join a huge group for dinner tonight at RJ's ... so i did some shopping, cleanaed up, and met at 7pm for dinner. there must have been 30 people in our group ... and i met a few new people ..... it was fun.

13 Mar, Tues

Tues, 13 Mar went to the Bakery again to have my Bacon Broccoli quiche before going to the Vet Clinic; that's a great quiche! the Vet had spent some time yesterday putting posters up all around the 'Campanado' (where a lot of the locals live) that today was a FREE Clinic to have your dogs and cats neutered .... they are REALLY trying to get these people to get their animals 'fixed' ..... unfortunately, not one showed up to take advantage of the service. there were still 5-6 surgeries today; but they were from other people who have moved to this island and are caring for their pets. ...nothing eventful happened there today .. and Gordo Gato was back at his home :( ...well good for him, but sad for me .... i'm happy to report on the starving dog from last week's Clinic. ....that day, they stopped to buy some dog food and took the dog to this really nice couple ... who are good at finding homes for strays ... they sat with him for about 2 hrs with his head in their lap ... then a friend showed up, conversations ensued ... and the guy said he'd been looking for a dog ... he took the dog food and the dog home ... and he's doing really good ! ::) happppy ending. ....the sad part is that a few days later i saw a brown dog in exactly the same condition ... there is so much of it here ..... i worked until about 12:40 when i left to get back in time for my meeting at the Whale Shark Office. the girls, and Jeff, and i spent quiet a while explaining our questions to the Manager ... and we hope she will get back to us soon with some answers. i've been wanting to kayak through the Lagoon and Mangroves to the other side of the island to Rock Harbor, where the snorkeling is supposed to be pretty good. but i was not successful in arranging this excursion last year and so far not this year either ..... i mentioned this to Jeff and he said he'd like to do that trip too. so, we decided to meet tomorrow morning and just do it ... i told him i'd get permission to use the kayaks . i stopped into the Dive Shop and was invited to join the group at the Bar-a-cuda Bar upstairs from the Whale Shark office for a BBQ tonight ... i went to the store and bought a pork chop steak and some zucchini and went to the Dive Master 'House' and helped Chad and Greg clean shrimp and cut up vegetables for dinner. ...this was a great fun evening with my fun diving friends. ...and probably the best meal i've had since i've been here. we had veggie kabobs with this great cheese that was soft on the inside and toasted on the outside, shrimp kabobs, beef and pork steaks, and chicken, rice, and a fresh salad. it was a really fun evening !

12 Mar, Mon

Mon, 12 Mar .... i made a decision this morning ... i'm leaving on Saturday ! ..there ..... it feels good to make a decision. i sent an email to Vern and reserved my place on the catamaran to go to Roatan. now i need to find a cheap place to stay ... not an easy task on Roatan ... it's much more expensive there ... to sleep and eat ... but i hope i will enjoy the snorkeling as much this year as i did last year ... worked in the morning .... no Whale Shark boat today either :( ...i set up a meeting with the Manager for 1pm tomorrow with myself and the girls to try to find some answers to our questions ... around lunch time i walked across the street to the store and found Valentine ... with her head in a bag of cat food .... i think the people that own that store are extremely tolerant of her and the other cat that 'lives' there ... the cats are constantly tearing into a bag of cat food that's on the shelf for sale ... and i'm not sure if they finish one bag, before they tear into another bag ... :( anyway ... i picked her up and we spent some time together ... around 1pm, and got my gear around to go snorkeling ... it was pretty calm this morning, so i want to go back to the Iron Shore to snorkel in the 'quiet little 'bay' by Rene's house ... where the boa was ... on the walk, i realized that the wind had really picked up ... it was actually a bit difficult to walk .. i was beginning to question my decision to snorkel out there ... the weather had changed dramatically since this morning ... and, it was MUCH worse than a few days ago when i was there. their little dog barked when i came up to the house, and his wife came down and we visited for awhile. she took me out to the shore and showed me where to snorkel and .... told me NOT to wear my fins ... she said the current was really strong between that rock island and the shore, ...where that 'nice little quiet bay' was .. and that it was shallow there, and when the current started to carry me away, i could just stand up .. and it would be much easier WITHOUT fins on .... ok, so i followed her advice ... and WoW .. i was glad i did !!!!!!!!!!! i could not believe how strong the current could be ... and she was right ... when my body was in the water, it just took me away ... but if i could stand up, i could be in control ... the problem was standing up ... i literally had to put my feet out in front of me ... as if i was sliding down a mountainside, trying to find footing to stop me. ... unbelievable! i quickly figured out how to maneuver .. but it really was a lot of work ... i was out there for probably 15min when i realized that this was not going to be a very long snorkeling experience today. ...i lasted less than an hour ... this little fish was incredibly curious of me, and would not leave me alone .... same fish, different lighting .... always trying to get a good photo of the Yellow Tail DamselFish ... it's electric blue dots just entice me ... but they are SO quick, darting in and out of the coral .. it's impossible .. but i'll never quit trying ... this is a Squirrel Fish peeking out from his hiding place ... he would not move from there ! ... and notice the large Black Spiny Sea Urchin on the left .... i spent the rest of my time watching this Juvenile AngelFish ... ... lazily swimming around, in and out of the currents ... impressed that they can deal with the force of the waves and currents so much more easy than i could ! ...at times i had my feet planted firmly against a rock, and one hand on another rock, my camera in the other hand ... barely in control ... i especially enjoyed watching it, ....attack and nip and chase away this Bar Jack that was 3-4 times it's size ! when i got out of the water, everyone was gone from the house ... i wanted to thank them again, ... but ... so i started walking home. a nice man in a 4-wheeler asked me if i wanted a ride ... i accepted ... he took me half the way ... i stopped to get a Mango ice cream on the way home :) i got home and cleaned up and tried to relax ... but ... where i live has turned into a Day Care Center for wild noisy kids ! ... i couldn't take the noise any longer, so i left, and retreated to the Dive Shop. while there i learned of a BBQ tonight at the Bar-a-cuda Bar; dinner tomorrow at RJs; and a Bandu Soup party on Thurs night .... lots of activities my last week in Utila ... :) i went to Buccaneer's for Tuna Fillet w/Lemon Garlic sauce ... it was good ... then came back home ... the kids were in bed by now and it was quiet ... while i was sitting outside working on my blog ... i heard the familiar 'meow' of Shark Bait ... he found me again ... so he was rewarded with some food :)

11 Mar--"Fun Dive"

Sun, 11 Mar .... ready to go diving at 7:30 this morning .... my Fun Dives. Greg was our Dive Master for the day. Our first dive was at The Maze Dive Site on the North Side. it's a Wall Dive and we went down 100ft, .... coz i'm an Advanced Diver now :) ... but i didn't have a very good first dive. i had trouble descending, i don't know why. so when i got down there, i was a little stressed. ... and my mask fogged up, .... and for some reason, ... it was leaking, so i constantly had water up my nose. ... i don't like that feeling. ....i dealt with it; but i felt like i was using up my air more quickly than usual. but Greg said that part of that was because we were down so deep, and you do use more air at depths. i had my camera, and it was a good thing, because now i can look at my photos and see what i could NOT see during the dive coz my mask was fogged up , ... Greg kept pointing things out to me/us; and i'd look, but i couldn't see :( as soon as we got down to the bottom, Kelly spotted this Southern Stingray ... although common place in Belize, it's a big deal here ... it's the first one i've seen since i've been here in Utila ... it was large enough i could see it :) but they aren't as 'friendly' as they are in Belize ... it took off right away :( ...bye bye ... i mentioned that i don't like Wreck Dives, ... and now i think i don't really care for Deep Dives either .... it's darker down there ... so more difficult to take photos; ... and because the light doesn't reach that far, there are no colors ... i like COLOR !!!!!! so i 'fixed' this Barrel Sponge with my photo program and made it Red :) ...in reality it is some shade of brown. ...this shows you that you can't believe everything that you see :) ... the other reason i don't like Deep Dives is because there aren't as many fish down there .. you will occasionally see a really big one; but how often does that happen ?????? ..not often enough for me! ..... and i don't think i particularly like Wall Dives either ...... maybe it's because they are usually deeper dives .... you usually start out a Wall Dive deep as you are going away from the boat, ... and then half way, when you turn around, you ascend and then you can see more fishes, and there is more color, ... and by this time, my mask was starting to unfog ... there was color .... even reds ... and fishes .... i saw this TrumpetFish and a Squirrel Fish we also saw a Giant 4ft Goliath Grouper right at the end of our dive as we were doing our 3min safety stop. he was truly HUGE ... i've never seen anything so big since i've been diving ... MASSIVE ! ...accept for Dolphins and Stingrays .... Greg took my picture as we were 'hanging' at 15 feet ... so in the boat and we headed back into calmer waters to the Little Bight Dive Site ... this is where i was for my Buoyancy Skill training ... this was a MUCH better dive ... my mask didn't fog up, nor did it leak .... i'd like to figure out why it leaked during the first dive so i know what not to do in the future. i liked this dive site much better ... it wasn't as deep, only about 60ft, and it had some nice white sand on the bottom, which reflected the light, so it was lighter down there. there was part of a Wall, but we just passed by it on our way to other fun stuff. we were searching for Dwarf Sea Horses that live in the sand, but never found any ..... but i got to practice my 'hovering' skills as we passed close to the sandy bottom, but not touching the sand coz it would stir it up and make visibility poor. we saw these Garden Eels the other day when i didn't have my camera ... i had it today; ...but they proved to be difficult to photograph .... there were hundreds of them ... everywhere you looked across the sand .... they are tiny, about the size of a pencil ... and they come out of the sandy bottom and just sway back and forth, until you disturb them, and they retreat back into the sand. .... this is a not so good close up attempt .... Greg also pointed out this Peacock Founder ... i never would have seen it ... you can hardly see it when you know it's there ! ... you can just barely see it's outline .. and it's two eyes are at the top middle of the photo .... amazing !!!!!! later in the dive he saw a baby one too .... ! it was so cute ... but my battery had run out by then ... cool things in the sandy bottom ... these Magnificent (that's their real name) Feather Dusters ... they are actually worms, that live in that paper cylinder that you see ... when disturbed, they retreat back into their paper tube 'homes' ... i'd seen them before tucked next to some coral, but i've never seen them out in the open like this .... they were striking ... and so .... 'feathery' ... moving back up to the wall and coral, we saw this SaucerEye Porgy ... this is a new fish for me and i had to get the book out when i got back to identify it .... and this Yellow Head Wrasse ... got back, cleaned up, and not much going on in the afternoon ... no Dock Party, and no Chocolate Mousse today :( i got an email from Maya Vista in Tela ... and i can get a room there for US$25 / night ... and i'm going to treat myself as a going-away gift :) ....i'm excited to go somewhere i haven't been before .... so.... at least i have part of a plan for my the remainder of my 'adventure'

10 Mar, Sat

Sat, 10 Mar spent some time this morning trying to decide what i'm going to do between now and when i have to head for the North Country. when do i want to go to Roatan? ... i still haven't heard from Marti; and i do want to spend a little time in Roatan. ... and i really don't want haul all my 'stuff' there for just a week. ...so i'm thinking if i want to go, i better make some plans and find someplace to stay. i want to go, but i kind of dread trying to find some new friends :( ...so i spent some time online looking for cheap places to stay and sent a few emails of inquiry. ...i also sent an email to Maya Vista in Tela to see how much a room there would be ... looks like a nice place ! stopped at work and talked with the girls for awhile; me, Ashley and Kelly then went to the Dive Shop office, and signed up for the Sunday Fun Dive tomorrow morning. 2 free Fun Dives are included with my Advanced Certification, so i might as well use them up now. .... then i went for a walk and headed to the West shoreline where i went with Ronnie a couple of times. it's still really windy, so i didn't take any snorkel equipment with me ... ...about half way there, i realized i didn't have my camera with me ... i should know better than to leave home without it :( i spent some time walking on a rather nice beach for this island. and walked out to all the volcanic rock that the waves were crashing into. that rock is very interesting ... there are peaks that are taller than i am, .... which is really tall :) ... in all kinds of strange irregular formations. ... wish i had my camera :( i started walking back and passed an older gentleman with a dog; ... we passed each other, then he stopped and said, "do you want to see a boa?" .... now what made him think that i would want to see a boa? ...i guess i just look like a 'nature girl'. ...he tried to explain to me where it was; but i wasn't sure; so i asked him if he would take me there. he said he would ... it was laying on the fence right on the entry arch to his house, right out by the road. WoW ... he was so pretty. ... and just laying, head down, on the fence, with the rest of his body horizontally on the supports. my new friend's name is Rene' ... pronounced the French way :) .... Rene' said the snake had probably recently eaten and had been there awhile digesting it's food. it was about 5-6ft long ... but had a small head, i thought. ... i touched it, snakes are so soft and dry. i've always liked snakes :) .... i was so sorry i didn't have my camera :( he asked me if i wanted to see his gardens ... now how did he know i liked gardening? ........ he and his wife have been living here 1/2 time and 1/2 time around Nice, France, for 10 years and said there were no plants here when they started building. it's a beautiful garden, with lots of flowering and fruit trees; ... he also showed me his little greenhouse with tomatoes growing in it. i spent quite a long time with him. he said his wife was out front, snorkeling in a little bay area that is kind of protected by a little volcanic rock island. ...he said if i wanted to come back and snorkel there, i could leave my bag at their place and he would tell his wife to expect me. nice man .... i'll take him up on it, some day when it's not so rough and windy. i stopped at the store and bought some groceries and a cup of Mango ice cream that they just got in :) ...then stopped in to visit with Valentine for about 1/2 hr .. i took a nap and got up and went to The Driftwood for Ribs ... i've been thinking about them for a week or so, and it's Saturday night ... so i went. Jungle Jim was there, and the Vet Loretta and her husband Rodger showed up a little later; so i had company to visit with. .... the Ribs were great, and they fell off the bone, just like i like them. Bruce, the owner, is from Texas; and he said he guessed he paid attention to at least one thing while he was growing up :) when i got home, i sat out in the 'corridor' using the internet coz it's faster out there. ...Shark Bait came around ..how did he find me? .... i keep a little food in my room ... so i gave him some ... probably not a good idea to feed him here ... but he found me out .... and i actually saw him here one of the first nights i was here, i just didn't realize it was him, cause he swiped at me .... he's a smart cat too ... these cats here have to always be on the defensive if they want to survive. i even met a sweet little 6yr old girl the other day that was laughing when her dog was chasing a cat ... i almost started yelling and chasing her around to see how she liked it ... but decided to just 'scold' her, ... then she said it was ok coz she didn't like cats !