Time to catch up!!

Beautiful Hybiscus flowers in bloom.

We have been super busy, so I have not journaled/blogged for the last few days.  Time to catch up!!

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Hearty little plant growing in the old coral bed!

Crabs getting breakfast!

First task of the day: sit down by the water and take pictures of the wonderful little crabs!   They are fun to watch.  Amazing how they are finding little bits to eat on the platform and can grab hold and not get washed away by the little waves.

After the photo shoot Sandy, Harmony and I met Scott in town.  Then Devon, the photographer, and his wife, Diana, met us for a morning visit.

Amazing how they can hang on when a wave washes over them!

Stacy, Diana, Devon, Sandy, Scott and Harmony

We all went to breakfast at the Bayside Cabins Restaurant, right on the water (actually, where Sandy and I snorkeled yesterday!).  It was nice meeting Diana.  She is originally from the mainland of Honduras.  She met Devon here in Roatan, he had already moved here.  I thought Diana is the reason he stays here, when actually Devon is the reason Diana stays here!!  She prefers the big city with shopping and “things to do”.  They were fun to chat with.

The Meridian Condos.  Finished units on the water, unfinished units behind.

The rest of the morning was spent with them driving us around the island to see some of the sites that we definitely would not have seen without their guidance! 

Our first stop was The Meridian.  An exclusive condo area that was being developed years ago, then the contractor absconded with the money and never finished the facility.  It is in a gorgeous area.  The building has continued and is currently being worked on.

Harmony at the beautiful beach by the condos.

Stacy and Sandy, beautiful weather!

One of many panoramic shots I took of the beach.

Devon showed us how to take these fun action shots!

We wandered down on their beach area and got tons of gorgeous (and FUN!!) photos.  

I hope Scott's daughter gets to see this picture!  Her dad rocks!!!

Diana and Devon, our wonderful hosts for the day!

Local resident!

Then we drove through several developments in the West Bay area:  Turtle Crossing, Turrets, Lighthouse Estates.  These are fancy houses of varying degrees of cost.  Some of the homes are on the water, others are up the steep hills.  All have beautiful views.  We did lots of walking and photo stops.

Next stop was at The Lighthouse, across the road from a local rum distillery.  It was closed.  Scott was disappointed!  Then we went to a development high in the hills where we got to look over Sandy Bay, where we stayed at Lawson Rock with our WV group.

Nice spot to spend a little time!

How's that for a Blue Crab?!?!?!?!?

We stopped at the airport to allow Scott to check in.  While we were waiting, the baggage guy found a giant blue crab that he was showing all of us!  It was HUGE!!  We saw folks we had met at the clinics and had short little visits.  What a small place!

Scott and Diana (and the rest of us!) enjoying a fresh fruit frozen yogurt!

Then off to French Harbour to have frozen yoghurt.  It is made with fresh, frozen chunks of fruit, you pick what you want then it is added to a machine with a frozen packet of the “yoghurt” and ground/mixed together.  Delisioso!!!

Out next stop was into the golf resort area where we could look down from on top to the HUGE golf course that is on the water.  Quite beautiful.

Finally took Scott back to the airport for his flight back to Montana.  And we got to stay!!

Devon and Diana dropped us off back in West End to continue our explorations.  What a wonderful time we had with them.  It was so nice of them to spend the day with us!

Linda and Stacy returning from a dive.

That afternoon Sandy, Linda and I went diving at Seagrape to Dixie’s Place.  The current was very strong so we did a “drift dive”.  The current really pushed us along.  I imagine it is like being in space with zero gravity.  We are “weightless” in the water and just let it take us along.  We saw a sea turtle (!!) among all the gorgeous fish and pretty corals and sea fans.  Amber was our dive master and there were only the four of us:  Sandy, Linda, Gerard and me.  What a difference compared to diving with Coconut Tree which was always 8-12 (or more) divers!

Bar-b-que lunch on the beach!

We met up with Harmony and all went down to the local beach for bar-b-que.  This man and his wife have a big oil drum bar-b-que and grills beef, pork, chicken and fish.  He had fresh caught tuna so we all had that.  It was scrumptious!  The meal came with potato salad, beans and fresh hot tortillas.  And lemonade to drink.  All for only $5!!!  We will return!

Sharing a laugh with Harmony!

Back at our room, I finally took the time to start studying for my advanced diving courses.  Sandy had signed up to do it in Seattle, but I just did not want to dive in cold water.  So we are signed up with Coconut Tree and will complete it in two days.

More adventures tomorrow!!