We're Home

We heard that cold dry artic air was good for smooth, tanned, moist skin that has endured high temperatures and humidity for a month, so we figured it was time to find out if it was true. Turns out that it is false. If you could transfer those coarse scales that you see on all the parrotfish onto your arms and legs, make the sand fly bites on your ankles itch about twice as much as they did before, and get cracks to appear on your lips, well you get the picture. But we're safely here with forecasted temperatures to be the coldest of the winter for this coming weekend. Timing was off by just a wee bit this year.

We spent an hour or so on the dock for our final morning after the bags were packed. Everyone had a quck shower to rinse the sweat off, the luggage was loaded (should have done that before the shower), and then it was off. Stopped at Bulk Gourmet for some take out sandwiches (good choice) and then the airport. The car rental guys were slow to arrive but we finally connected with them and turned over the keys without any grief from them, not that there should have been any. Flight departed and arrived in Houston on time and the customs and immigration was much better than two years ago. Plenty of time to spare. Much the same on the Calgary flight, our luggage was pretty much first off the carousal, and when we got to the hotel shuttle place, there was our hotel van sitting right there. Loaded up just the two of us and away we went. Very quick to the hotel, probably five minutes, great service at the desk, and the room was really nice. Great airport hotel choice for Calgary: Best Western Freeport Inn and Suites. Now the bad news, 12:30 the fire alarm goes off, everyone dresses and heads for the stairs at the end of the halls, then out into -30ish with a nice breeze. We all gathered in the lobby and soon the fire department showed up. There was some definite odour on the 3rd and 2nd floor and they finally determined that there was an electrical fault in a rooftop heating unit. Meanwhile we have spent an hour in the lobby with the screeching alarms going off. No real harm done and probably a real good learning experience for the hotel as none of the staff had ever experienced this. Sort of used to it from the earlier years at the minesite where something similar was a common occurance.

We caught the shuttle before the free breakfast but they had a take out package for us with some juice and muffins, etc. Nice touch. Trip to Saskatoon was a few minutes late due to de-icing but was otherwise pretty quick. Glen was there for pickup and we were soon home. With the windchill today, snow blowing is neither an option or really required. Good to be home but I do miss that humidity.

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Last Day

The end is near but we're ignoring it as long as we can. No thoughts of packing until tomorrow. Cleaned the fridge of most solid edibles this morning, there seems to be an abundance of liquids still lingering although I'm contributing to the effort tonight. Haven't consumed rye for years.....

Terrific weather morning. very calm and full sun. Morning snorkel, with one interesting little guy that Eileen found. Identity still uncertain but probably some juvenille filefish. Size is about 2 inches, he has a little back facing horn on the top of his head that is barely visible in this picture.

I came back to the casita after the snorkel to change and took a different path back to the dock. Saw an agouti and a whole bunch of black iguanas. My camera was at the dock but I picked it up and came back, Have some great black iguana pictures, plus I got some good ones of a real Monkey Lala, how appropriate.

Monkey Lala

My favourite black iguana picture:

Took a drive up to Sirenas for lunch, we had lionfish fingers, lionfish filets, and lionfish burritos. It was all good but I still question the rave reviews that this place keeps getting. Very unique place and worth a visit but that's about it. This is the second place we've been to lately that has had an abundance of license plates, etc, nailed to the wall where there has been a Saskatchewan plate, How proud are we? Only saw one riders banner this year though. We ended up at Sirenas with all the same people that were at Paya Bay the night we were there, a bit of a noisy group that had boated up from their place, including the loud and proud perky topless one that the girls are still shaking their head about (not topless today)

Sirenas at Camp Bay

It was music day this afternoon up at the Crows Nest restaurant here this afternoon but when we drove by it looked packed. We headed back to the dock for some last day sunshine, music on the ipod, and I fell asleep in the hammock again. Woke up to someone looking for keys in my pockets, guess it was time to head back. Here's Carol in her deck pose, althought she thinks it looks coffin like:

Ended up taking in the last few tunes at the Crows Nest. Then some relax time, followed by dinner at Crows Nest where it seemed to be Cheqaslovakia night (Mark the owner is cheq). Couple more games of dice where I finally won one, overall the rookie and the spouse cleaned up this week. Been a great end to the holiday, spending this week with Carol has been fabulous.

There are still liquids left but I cannot contribute any more to the cause. Mark is making breakfast for us tomorrow, then some packing must be done. Plan to stop for some take out sandwiches at Bulk Gourmet, and then the airport. Somewhere in there we have a 5 day restaurant and bar bill to settle. Been almost like an all inclusive so far,,,, but damn, it's almost over...

 

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Last dives

The end must be approaching, as today I'm doing the last two dives for this year. It was a bit of a challenge, as all of us (11 divers) and gear were loaded into a non-dive boat and out we went. We basically got geared up one at a time and over the side we went. On the first dive I was towards the last one out so it wasn't too bad for me. On the second dive I was almost the first, so quarters were a bit cramped. I was getting ready to roll off, trying to predict a clear path for my flippers as I did a back roll without hitting Stacey on the nose, and ended up whacking the back of my leg on the edge of the boat somehow. That's gonna bruise.

Didn't really enjoy the first dive, there was a lot of current and the dive master was keeping a pretty quick pace. I was getting tired trying to keep up at times when we were going into the current, the strong swimmer that I am. As we neared the end of the dive I was under weighted again, so he had to strap a few more pounds on me. Almost didn't go out on the second dive, but i did come here to do some diving and I'm glad I went. Kept the extra weights on for the second dive, Stacey was shocked to see me strapping on 20 pounds considering one of the other guys that is quite heavy was carrying less than me. Like to know where I have all my bouyancy packed on....is a beer belly a floatation device?

Second dive was so much better, still a bit of current but not so much that I was spending energy and air. The highlight was a vertical chimney that had about a six foot opening, then it dropped straight down about 40 feet, opening up a bit towards the bottom. They told us to go in one at a time with no more than three at once. The yahoo brothers went in ahead of me, so I waited until they had cleared before I went in. Really neat, you position over the chimney, feet first, and just drop straight down for about fourty feet. Would be a challenge for anyone with ear problems, but this year it has been a breeze for me. Here's a picture of one of the yahoo brothers coming out of the chimney, all the bubbles are from others still down.

You might be tired of scorpionfish pictures, but this guy was a master of disguise. So much of the mossy covering of the rock is reddish and this guy really blended in.

While I was diving the girls got Mark to pull out a couple of kayaks for them. He warned them that Torpedo (the dog) loves to kayak. The girls took off and the dog jumped in and starting swimming beside them. They said that she swam a long ways and finally crawled into Carols kayak. They could not believe how long she swam. Mark said she spent the afternoon sleeping. He spent the rest of the trip on the bow watching for critters, etc.

We went up to the main house this afternoon for some jam tasting, one of the products of the farm here. Quite an assortment, all locally grown, and made here. We bought a couple of jars and so did Carol. Toast for breakfast tomorrow....While we were there I noticed several moths on the side of the house, one of which was about the coolest moth I have ever seen. A dry leaf with a head....what is ever going to eat this thing?

Supper at the Crows Nest (on site reataurant). One other group there which were expat locals from Regina. They have a place here and spend six months each year.....must be nice.

Tomorrow I expect we'll do some snorkelling and then we plan to go up to Sirenas for lunch. We were there years ago and apart from the sand fleas it was a neat place. We'll see how much it has changed.

 

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Dive Day

Scrounged through the fridge for some breakfast, which was to include toast until the power went out, but we still got something in our stomachs. Carol decided she was not going to dive but she gave in after talking to Mark and decided to go out on the first dive. The briefing was on the dock and the boat ride was short. We got Carol geared up quickly and into the water right away. I followed shortly afterward. The other three followed and were given the dive signal. Carol and I were both carrying the same weights we had at West End. I couldn't get my face out of the waves. The divemaster saw me trying to get down, stuck two pounds in my pocket and clipped two more on my BCD, and all was good. Carol got down a few feet and was good to go too. Nice dive, although the fish population was a bit low. I had some big problems as we got near the end of the dive, as the weight in my tank dropped I was having trouble staying down. I needed to get in my three minute safety stop and was getting really tired fighting to stay down. I finally made it to the anchor rope and just held on for the safety stop. Got a good picture of my dive buddy though.

We were the first of the two groups back to the boat so I got in, while Carol choose to stay in the water. It was probably ten minutes before the other four came up and got on, so by then her teeth were chattering. Only one dive for Carol today..... Second dive was through a lot of swim throughs and channels. Best sighting was a Southern Stingray, no pictures but some good video. I did see some fish just before we came up that I had never seen before, picture not quite focused but enough to determine that they are Glassy Sweepers.

Boat motor died on the way in from the second dive, Carol was watching from the dock and was very happy that she had not come out on that one. Mark has had a mechanic in this afternoon, they have found the problem but they cannot find the part that they need anywhere on the island. Mark has rented another boat for the morning dives tomorrow. One of his busiest weeks of the year and his boat dies....Very late lunch, (3:00) so supper was pretty light. The girls shared a greek salad and an order of wings, while I had a appetizer order of ceviche, which was a meal in itself. Chatted with Mark about tomorrow, the "torch" on my belt, black iguanas, and armadillos, which we have not yet seen.

Tomorrow, I'm going for two dives but I don't think I have my dive buddy with me. That's too bad but it has to be fun and comfortable, so if it is not, then that's just how it is. If we get back in decent time, maybe a trip to Sirenas for lunch.

 

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Quiet Sunday

Had a make shift breakfast and headed straight down to the dock for a morning snorkel. Nothing too unusual, although I did see a Gold Spotted Eel, that we don't see too often. Carol thought the picture was a Sea Snake, which freaked her a bit but as soon as we determined it was an eel, all was OK.

View of our dock

Goldspotted Eel

There is a type of Black Iguana that is an endangered species and only exists on Roatan. It seemed to be black iguana day here because we saw at least four different ones, most of them right around our Casita.

Black Iguana

We did a bit of a walk about here this afternoon, the girls went for another snorkel, and then we laid around on the dock for a couple of hours. Hopped into the car after that and went further up the road to Paya Bay. Had a drink on their deck (Monkey Lalas made with ice cream but Eileen says she's had better) and then went for a walk around their various trails and beaches. They have some really nice nooks and trails. Their one secluded clothing optional beach was heavily damaged in a recent storm and has lost all it's sand. They're trying to re-do it. They have also taken a trail away out onto a rocky point where everyone seemed to be gravitating towards for the sunset. We didn't stay for the sunset but went back to their restaurant for supper. Great conch soup......

Carol and Eileen on the nude beach

Tomorrow we have the two morning dives booked. I hope the wind drops down again like it did this morning so the boat ride is a bit smoother for Carol. It got quite windy this afternoon and still is, as evidenced by the occasional big acorn hitting the roof. I think the fire flies here have switched to halogen too. I'm watching one out the window now and is he ever bright.

Carol and Eileen on the nude beach

 

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Marble Hill Farms

Well, this is going to be an experience. The setting here is beautiful, with huge shade trees, a lot of which are oaks, with huge acorns laying on the ground everywhere. Completely different leaves than the burr oak that we are used to seeing. Flowering trees and shrubs everywhere. The casitas are pretty basic, bedrooms on each side of the entryway, then six or seven steps leading down to a screened in living area with a table, chairs, hammock, and a basic kitchen. Two big showers and a bathroom off to the side. AC in the bedrooms but also several big shuttered windows for natural breeze.

Our casita

View from the living area

The girls reading

They have a long dock with a dive shop out at the end and a second level sun deck where Eileen is planning to spend a lot of time. Just off to one side of the deck is a small area of coral that I had a snorkel through this afternoon. A surprising number of interesting fish considering the size of the area. Didn't find the resident nurse shark but saw a porcupine fish (pretty big one), Spotted trunkfish, small barracuda, several lobsters, and one turtle.

Spotted Trunkfish

Porcupinefish

Small turtle

Tomorrow is going to be a quiet day, there is no staff on site apart from the owners and security, so no diving or restaurant. We'll make do for breakfast and lunch and then probably check out Paya Bay in the afternoon, and have supper there. They had spots reserved for us for next weeks diving as they only take eight people per day so I'm glad I mentioned that there were two of us that wanted to do some diving.

 

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Last day at the house

Carol and I headed to West End for the morning dives, a beautiful sunny warm day with a bit of wind. The wind was the bad news when I heard they were heading to Spooky Channel for the first dive. I know it's a neat divesite but it's one of the furthest away that they would normally do. The trip there was a bit rough, so Carol was a bit green by the time we got there. I was at the end of the bench so I got geared up and hit the water quickly. Carol was a trooper and followed shortly behind. She struggled a bit getting down but once she was there, it was good although she was cold. Spooky Channel isn't a dive site for fish, it's more about the terrain, where an ancient stream has cut a deep gorge through the shelf. Some neat swim throughs and then we finished the dive on the main wall where the fish life picked up a bit.

This guy is about two inches long, and both Carol and I have forgotten the name that Mal gave for it. The closest I can find in the book is a Pygmy Filefish, but I'm not at all sure if that is correct.

Carol got rid of the remains of her breakfast once we were back on the boat, and once back on solid ground between dives, Mal did not think that she should go out again, as she would be dehydrated, etc. So I've temporarily lost my dive buddy, but we'll fix that at Marble Hills next week. The second dive was straight off the West Bay beach at a site called Mandy's Eel Garden. I've done this one once before but the eels are always pretty neat to see. Hundreds of them poking up from the sand, and then they withdraw when you get too close. Not too photogenic, but these guys are close to a foot long, waving in the air. Reminds me of a series of books the kids used to read that had this little worm like guy in all the pictures, I'm sure he was a garden eel.

Here is a nice juvenille Spotted Drum.

We also found a couple of turtles that were pretty friendly.

While the girls were waiting for me to get back from my second dive the saw a crowd of people on the street and this huge turtle being carried down the street. Apparently some poachers had speared this thing and they were taking it to a ddive shop to see if they could save it. The poachers were nabbed but we do not know the fate of the big turtle. We watched the end of the Canada-USA hockey game at Sundowners which was fun. The place was packed with Canadians, Aaron had team Canada flags hanging out over the street, and everyone was enjoying it. Mal, who is a Brit, couldn't believe how seriously that Canadians took their hockey.

Dinner tonight was at a place called the Frangipani Restaurant at the Mayoka Lodge. A class place all around, beautiful setting, great service and fantastic food. Certainly was not a budget night but worth it. Had a red pepper hummus appetizer that we could not finish because we would spoil the entree. Eileen had a marinated flank steak, Carol had panko crusted mahi mahi with a mango glaze, and I had a rack of lamb with a port reduction. Awesome meal. The first picture looks like we're indoors, but we're sitting on an open deck with that room in the background.

The sunset view from the restaurant.

Tomorrow we pack up and make the move up to Marble Hill Farms. We're really looking forward to this place for some different diving and some real laid back type relaxation to complete our holiday. We do not know the status of internet connections up there, but I'm sure there is something.

 

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