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Pura Vida!
On Half Moon Bay beach Roatan is like a magnet. I ended up spending almost 2 weeks there, which cut into my Guatemala trip but I was having such a great time I just couldn´t leave. Lorna stayed 4 days, until Saturday after which her 2 weeks were up and she (sadly) headed back to London, and I stayed on in Roatan taking my time to complete the Advanced Open Water qualification.
We stayed at the lovely Posado Arco Iris (where I´d stayed with James) and we absolutely loved our room which was so different to the awful room we had in La Ceiba! We basically swam and dived each day, and enjoyed sunsets at Sundowners sipping Monkey La Las with our friend Calvin and others we´d meet along the way. It was Pura Vida. On Lorna´s last day we´d decided to skip diving and go visit some dolphins. We went on a dolphin snorkel trip, which was absolutely amazing! We all got in the water with dolphins and the trainer started off by telling us about the mammals and letting us pet one and feel its teeth and tongue (!). Then we snorkelled with them for about 30 mins. There were so many of
them and sometimes Lorna and I would find ourselves being surrounded by about 5 or 6 coming from all directions. Then they´d come right up to our faces! I came nose to nose with one for a few minutes and it let me pet its face and body. It was soooo cute! I loved that moment.
On Saturday morning we enjoyed an early breakfast overlooking the sea before taking the kayaks out for a little tour around the West End bays. We spent some time swimming and enjoying life before Lorna said her farewells and left for the airport. It was a sad moment... I think Lorna was feeling both sad and relieved as some weirdo had been stalking her at Purple Turtle for the last two nights and we had to get Calvin and our South African friend Buzz to walk us back to our hotel each evening. We were so (ridiculously) scared one night that I jumped in Lorna´s bed and slept there. It was dark out and the trees were swaying in the wind all around us. We imagined we´d been followed home by the stalker. All of a sudden we heard a scary noise on
the roof and a black cat leapt down with a loud ´meouw´ on to the window sill outside my bed!!! We both jumped with fright then laughed hysterically as it was something straight out of a comedy horror film!
After Lorna left I spent the rest of the week diving and enjoying the island. My favourite dive had to be the night dive we went on. We jumped in the water as the sun set and darkness took over - there was only a sliver of a moon. We each had torches and observed the underwater nightlife which consisted of lobsters, sea urchins, maggot things that swarmed all over our hands (!), and a weird long slug that looked like a giant caterpillar. But the best was yet to come when we all sat on a sand patch about 20 feet under water and switched off our torches so that it was near pitch black. Suddenly we could see the green bioluminescence scattering like fairy dust from our hands and bodies each time we moved them. It was SO beautiful! As if that wasn´t enough we started to see "string of pearls" - a round glowing pearl-like organism (white-blue
in colour) appears out of nowhere, then another appears below it, and then another and another until it looks like a vertical string of pearls. So as we sat there in the dark, one string of pearls appeared, then another, then we looked over at the coral and thousands started to appear before our eyes. So we swam towards them and then through them, and it was like floating through a magic land of fairies. Completely dark except for these glowing pearls and the green bioluminescence. I don´t think any hallucinagenic drug could come close to what we were seeing and feeling! I reached out my hand to touch one and it burst like blue stardust against my hand. Swimming through them was one of the most beautiful moments I´ve ever had!
I´ve also grown fond of deep diving (after my initial fear) - my favourite was around a shipwreck that we went into and explored. There were some huge morray eels living inside, which are so cute especially as they try to look so frightening by opening their mouths and showing their teeth! I think I experienced the effects of nitrogen narcosis on that dive as I was
incredibly happy, feeling elated and completely relaxed...like nothing could phase me until our dive master told us to come up out of the deep.
So I had a great week in Roatan. Met loads of lovely people and went to a fun beach party, watched a couple of people do their snorkel tests including Morgan from Coconut Tree who had just completed his dive master - a snorkel test is what you have to endure once you become a qualified dive master: they equip you with a mask and a snorkel with a funnel attached to the top, then pour the most awful concoction of alcohol down the tube so that you´re forced to drink it all in one go. I´ve seen many a person vomit from this, but Morgan impressively held his own! On my last day we played cricket on the beach outside Sundowners as the sunset. I didn´t want to leave but it was time to pack and prepare for my last week in Central America, and I was determined to see Guatemala!
I´ll add more pix later as I can´t seem to in this internet cafe!
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ainspee
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baby news!
Annie, I know this isn't the best place to share news, but just want you to know that you're an auntie again! Anais Elizabeth was born last sunday (May 7), a week early, and is bloody gorgeous! We are now home, and I did leave a msg on your mobi, but wasn't sure when you'd get it. Your travels are making me green.... Speak soon, yah? Pee x