Shake, Rattle, and Roll...

Greetings All!

Internet services are finally being restored on the island to the point I can post again. The 7.1 Temblor hit about 2:30 in the morning three nights ago and shook us all awake (yes, we were actually in bed by 3:00!). There is a window right by our bed and the 500 gallon watertank sits on a 10 foot high platform about fifteen feet from the house. Lights from the neighbors make it visible and I was most anxious for which direction it might tumble. Fortunately, only the 5 gallon waterjug sitting on our kitchen counter fell over. The resulting flood from it was managed with a single roll of paper towels. Otherwise, we were all a bit shaken and high from the adrenaline rush, but otherwise no damage at our house. The local market lost 18 bottles of rum, however, and THAT was a much agrieved loss here on the island. The local counsel gathered to discuss the problem and it was settled that the lost rum should be mourned by a night of drinking at one of the many bars on this island. That's pretty much the solution to every problem around here though, so things usually work out.

We tried to go diving the next day, but the captain of our boat apparently doubles as a videographer and was off the island all day covering the earthquake. So we ended up snorkeling instead for the day. The reefs here are beautiful and we couldn't wait to get out deeper the next day. We finally got into scuba gear on Friday afternoon and dove at two of the great reef spots just on the edge of the Utila lagoon. The reef rises to just a couple of feet from the surface, and drops down to 60 feet in an almost sheer wall. Diving along the wall is an experience in reef life and it is teeming with eels, angelfish, porcupine fish, jacks, etc. This is a photo of our dive shop and boat we went out on:


Utila is a divers little community of natives and imports. About half of the full time residents are expats from Britain, Australia, Germany, and the U.S. Most of them own bars or dive shops, and all of them hang out and drink together most nights. My access is a bit slow, so I'm posting what I have for now. I'll write more tomorrow, there are some fascinating characters on this island and I'll tell you all about them, and spend some time talking about how to get around this place and operate in the local customs. Till then, thanks all for your emails and concerns about us after the quake. The media made it out to be a bit more severe than it actually was here, I think, though it did give us quite a scare.

Till then, I'll leave you with a couple of images of this island paradise:
Be well and safe journeys,
Greg and Tricia

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Part of trip: Honduras 2009

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