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Published: September 1st 2007
A Wiley Fish
Always on the move, and hard to catchLately Trevor and I head to the ocean instead of to our cubicles each morning. What a difference a matter of months makes...
We dive twice a day off the coast of Roatan in the Bay Islands of Honduras, and since this is the world's second-largest barrier reef, there are over 44 dive sites within minutes from us. Our master diver is a 38-year-old ex-marine from the islands/Milwaukee named Alenger (aka our good friend Al) who guides us through underwater ship wrecks and spots sealife galour. During our 10 dives, we saw sea turtles, stingrays, green-eyed eels, baracudas, jelly fish, lobsters, crabs, countless fish, and even dolphins on the way. We enjoyed the moseying seaturtles most, but also discovered a new favorite fish. You can spot the damselfish by its bright, yellow tail, but the real beauty is its little blue bod dusted with sparkly, sapphire flecks. The babies are all gleeming glitter and look like bright blue disco balls!
We finally learned to enter the water James Bond-style with a backroll from the boat. I guess you could say things are gettin' pretty serious. Our favorite dives were Canyon Reef where we squeezed through coral coves to explore
A school
Some little fishes that seemed to like hanging with us a reef labryth (we renamed it "Rollercoaster Reef") and the notorious "night dive" where we explored the ocean by flashlight. We saw a giant, sleeping seaturtle, along with lobsters and crabs as big as our heads, and fish trying to catch some Zs. The real action kicked off when we turned off the lights and were able to make our very own fireworks show - phosphorescents glow like turqouise icicle lights when you move your hands through the water. We hear they're even better and brighter with less moonlight, so we'll try to dive by night again soon.
We saw Hurricane Dean pass over us mid-trip, but not to worry, people were downright excited about the weather. There were finally waves on the usually calm beach, so kids could swim and we decided we like hurricane weather - it's slightly cooler so it's a nice change from frickin' hot and it's breezy to fend off the sand flies and mosquitoes. We found a little beachside apartment with a kitchen (plus hammock outside, of course) and we're making our own meals to save money for diving, making dishes like Pesto-Mushroom Pasta, Veggie Burritos, Coconut Curry Shrimp, and Dang Quesadillas. We
Some Coral
I tried to get a pic of a turtle, but all I found was this stupid coral. stumbled across a rare find just after we discussed which beers we missed most: two Miller Lights glowing in the grocery fridge light - made just for us.
We also snorkeled, got our bronze on, and explored the island by scooter. Scootin' was an adventure in itself. The first day, our scooter broke down at the bottom of a trecherous dirt road. We tiptoed to the entrance of a nearby house to find a five-foot parrot and half a dozen monkeys leashed to a zipline. Who on God's green earth would have leashed monkeys in her yard, you ask? We were about to find out. The snooty, Cruella Deville-type was, in fact, the richest lesbian in Roatan, who owns a shipping company and half the island. She was also disgusted that we had the nerve to break down near her property so she barked orders to get in her pick-up, and prompty deposited us at the local Texaco to wait hours for our ride. The next day, the island was out of gas so we were stranded yet again. We joined a scooter gang to search for gas, but had to call our same faithful ride for a refill.
Yep, we made a lot of amigos here in Honduras.
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My Heroes
Liz and Trevor - Reading every word with amazement and awe at what you are doing. You are my heroes.