Spectacular Snorkeling

That's really the only way to describe it....spectacular. I so wish I had had an underwater camera on Saturday when we went to West Bay (Tabyana Beach) with friends Kristin, Debi, Bob and their daughter, Emily. We started out at Infinity Bay Resort and swam and snorkeled straight out over the reef. It was a beautiful, clear day, the best kind for seeing the most color. And boy! did we ever see a lot of colorful fish!! We also saw some of the largest parrotfish I've ever seen, up to 3 or 4 feet in length. I had never seen an adult Midnight parrotfish (navy blue, as you might imagine, with vivid blue streaks along its back), or an adult Rainbow parrotfish, who is a rather garishly painted creature with an orangey/gold head and front half of the body, back half green, orangey fins edged in green, greenish lips outlined with a darker gray or black, a bit of blue splashed over the eyes. (Think Andy Warhol.)

We also saw several large  black and yellow French Angel fish and the brilliant blue and yellow Queen Angel fish, just beautiful. There were lots of the blue and yellow striped grunts, yellowtail snappers, blue tangs, younger yellow tangs, dark blue damselfish with brilliant blue dots, many types of black and white  or black and yellow butterfly fish, a black and white spotted trunkfish, Sargent Majors with their black and white stripes and a smudge of yellow on their backs. silvery red squirrelfish. There were many, many small fish in blue, purple, yellow, and multi-colored hues. So much fun to just hover over the coral and watch the fish swim.

Another highlight of the day was the large sea turtle. Bob chased him and we chased Bob. After that, I headed back in. I happened to look down and realize the water was incredibly deep and dark blue and then up and back at the beach and could not believe how far out we were (read: how far out I was!!). My first thought: "uh, oh. I have a long swim back." But I made it without any problems. Thank goodness for fins, though, otherwise I might still be out there!

Island Visits

I've been neglecting my blogging and now have a backlog of things to talk about, so this is the second blog for today...



Today was just a fabulous day, starting with worship at Sonrise this morning. The teams from Michigan and Minnesota were loading up their luggage, ready to depart for the airport right after worship. Don worked with these teams this week, building a house in Flowers Bay for a woman from our church. I'll let Don tell you about his experience in another blog.

The second thing I noticed today was that the church was packed, and not just with the teams...there were a LOT of people there from the colonia. No doubt the result of the teams working up there this week. Amazing. And tons of kids in childrens' worship. One of those people attending today was our gardener, Enrique...then I noticed his son, Carlos, was also there. Very cool!!

One of the teams put on an incredible skit, telling the story of the Bread of Life, pretty much in pantomime and with great music in the background. We had singing in Spanish and English.
 The sermon was delivered by a pastor with the Minnesota team and as usual, was translated by our friend and former Spanish teacher,  Esmerelda. Just an excellent message and great worship.

We thought there was going to be a baptism today, in the sea, and we were looking forward to that, but for some reason, it was postponed until next week.

We had been invited to come visit our friend George, the cab driver we recently helped, at his home and meet his wife. (I blogged about him coming to visit us recently and bringing his three sweet children.) We had told him we would be there around 1:30, after the baptism. Since that was postponed, we first had lunch before going to George's house. As we walked up the steps to the house and saw the chicken being barbequed, we had a sinking feeling that we had just made a faux pax. Yup, they were expecting us for lunch, and his wife had been cooking all morning. Oh my! Somehow, when Don and George were making plans, that was not well communicated. It really got lost when George and Kris first talked and then Kris had Don follow up with George. We felt just horrible!! But they were very gracious about it, and his wife packed up plates of food for us to take home for our supper tonight. We had a lovely visit and enjoyed meeting his wife and two of her sisters. George is "Spanish", meaning he's from the mainland and speaks Spanish (although he is bilingual); his wife is an islander and speaks English, so we are getting quite an education in Honduran life and culture from the two of them.  Next time, Kris will fix lunch for them - and make sure that is clearly communicated!

We're blooming!

We have these fabulous green and yellow leaved trees growing on our property and I have not been able to find out the name of it. 

They bloom in February and March.

I love the leaves, but I really love these magnificent flowers. I think they look somewhat like a bottle brush at one end.  I like that all the trees don't bloom at the same time so it prolongs the flowering season. Last year we didn't have very many blooms, but it is looking like this year will make up for it.

We're also seeing a number of different looking lizards, like this guy sunning himself on the rim of our chiminea.

This is a closeup look at the Pride of Barbados. You can see why it is one of my favorites.

Such a beautiful, elegant flower. I just had to share it with you. 

Enjoy!

Before and After Enrique

Top photo: before

Next photos: after

Enrique spent two weeks working on our hillside. We were very pleased with his work. He didn't overdo the trimming, and, as you can see, things are blooming again. This morning  I decided to walk down the steep driveway to nowhere just down the hill from our house and then climb up the hill directly behind our house in order to get some photos of the newly cleaned up yard. I was able to climb a little bit higher this time and get some better shots than in the "before" picture. And I didn't even slip-slide down the hill on my bottom this time, and I did manage to avoid all the fire ants, except one. Ouch!

Going down.

The climb back up. Good workout. Note to self: might be an idea to wear shoes other than flipflops though.

Snakes!!

This has been an exciting week for discoveries on our hillside - more so for our gardener, Enrique. Yesterday, while cleaning our front flowerbed, he found this boa constrictor curled up and sleeping.

He said the snake would sleep during the day, awaken around sunset and be active at night. I had a better view of the snake from Don's office window. Sure enough, during sunset, the boa began to stretch and move around.

That's when I realized that he was shedding his old skin. See the difference from his head compared to the darker skin of his lower body?

He seemed to be fairly big. I kept waiting for him to stretch out fully and come out from under the plants, but the light was fading, and I was not able to see him in his full glory.

Merlin came by and was horrified, wanting to know why we didn't have Enrique kill Mr. Boa. We rather like him - as long as he stays outside!

The day before, as Enrique was trimming and cleaning around the ficus trees up our hill, he had even more excitement when he encountered a coral snake - very poisonous. It's a wonder he didn't fall down the hill and slide into the ravine during that discovery; he was standing on a very steep section of the hill and was very startled. Now, he said it was a coral snake, and perhaps it was, but there is also a false coral snake with the same colorful stripes, only the pattern is slightly different. I'm sure he didn't pause to consider the pattern! Don and Lance also saw a coral, or false coral, snake one night while walking down the road on our hill after parking the car. We've also seen tarantulas on our road after dark. That's why we always carry a flashlight at night - never know what you might step on.

Early in the week, while Enrique was trimming the banana trees at the top of our hill along our property line, our neighbor's mom, who has Alzheimer's, wandered out through their gate and fell again. Enrique found her and ran to get help. Sadly, she may have broken her hip this time. It's a good thing that Enrique was there to assist her.

So Enrique has had quite enough excitement for one week. Now, if he can keep from getting blown off the hill today during our 40 mph gusts, he can have a day off for some much needed rest.

Poinsettias in the tropics

This is a poinsettia growing in our neighbors yard. It wasn't there last June when we left, but I noticed it right away when we returned in January. It is at least four feet tall, maybe more. I read in my tropical flower book that poinsettias can reach a height of 12 feet or more if not trimmed. This one hasn't been. They will bloom almost continuously when cut back once or twice a year.

I wonder how tall it will get. 

Spanish Lessons

We've been continuing our Spanish studies and have been meeting with our friend, Kristin, and pal, Olman for bilingual lessons. Olman is a young, Spanish-speaking security guard whom Kris befriended last year. He is as eager to learn English as we are Spanish....actually, he's much more enthusiastic. Look at that big smile! He gets so tickled when his pronunciation is correct; he has as much difficulty as we do with making certain sounds. He is also really excited when I am able to roll my r's.  Kris and Don have been taking turns preparing our lessons and we all learn together. Olman will quiz us, too. We have lots of fun. 

After our lesson, we gave Olman a ride back to West End. Kris needed a few things, so she came along. Don is sitting in the shade, waiting for her to finish her errands.

This is one of the vegetable vendor trucks. They pick up fresh produce from the mainland, brought over on the ferry, every Tuesday and Friday. There are always two or three of these trucks parked in West End. I like how he hangs his scale from a branch of the tree. 

Kris is buying some avocados. The island avocados aren't producing yet and neither are the mangos.  We like doing business with this man, but we'll often see who has the best looking produce. 

Our Spanish lessons come in handy here; most of these vendors speak Spanish.