.Hola,
14 /01/11 After Christmas back in the UK, We have set off again, This time we have headed back to Roatan an island 40 miles off the coast of Honduras, Its 30 miles long and at the widest 2 miles across, The island now has its own radio station, that has newly opened, It gives up to the minute traffic reports on the islands only single lane road, Ferry details until 6.30 am (that's when the only one of the day departs) and airport information on a Saturday. The island has 3 languages Spanish, English and a form of Creole, The main town of Coxen hole, named after a pirate, where the cruise ships dock on Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Our base is in the diving mecca of West end, A small village located at the west end of the island (pretty simple naming). Its at one end of the islands main road which branches off into an unmade sand packed track which is simply called the "road" that follows the beach for about ½ mile, We have started a dive internship at a busy shop called Native sons, Its fun and are working with a good team of fellow Brits, an American and a Canadian, Its all pretty intense at the moment, but the diving is to die for, We see Turtles most days, the sea is 27 degree's at 100ft/30m, and excellent visibility of 50ft/15m and getting better everyday. Oonagh was even lucky enough to have seen a pod of Dolphins swim bye, We start at 7.30 am, We takes turns to run the shop, Set up equipment and prepare for dives, clear up afterwards, as well as seamanship and finishing at 5 pm ??? Then studying for theory exams into the evening, Physics, Physiology and various other dive related subjects (how I wish I'd listened at school !!).
We found an apartment pretty quickly about mile out of town above some shops, Split level, 2 beds, Air con, communal pool (small but deep) and washer, If your on the balcony and stand on a chair you can see the sea over the jungle about ¼ mile away. Getting to and from town we just hail down a passing bus packed with the locals and try to pass the time of day with limited Spanish ( believe it or not is improving quite well) or we walk if we don't have the correct fare. The only problem we have is on Sundays, Which is our day off, We have to get everything completed on the early before they turn the electricity off, Sundays is overhead cable maintenance day due to lack of traffic on the road, and it can be off a while.
As for the weather its hot, hot, hot, 30 degrees + everyday, dropping to 21 degrees at night, The sea can have a bit of a swell which can make it interesting getting back on the boat when the winds blowing from the opposite direction. Shorts, No shirt or shoes is the dress attire. We now have wet suit and booty suntans which look bloody stupid when we take our clothes off, we try and blitz these hideous white bits on our day off. As for food, Fish, Shrimp, Squid are caught fresh in the morning, We are now cooking thanks to a crash course given by Oonaghs sister Jayne, served with local fresh vegetables and fruits which are sold from the back of a truck, Homemade Balliaros,s and pastillios sold by local children who are to young for school but old enough to work make do for Brunch/lunch and are a tasty bite.
13/0211 Oonaghs birthday and all change on the weather front, 3 days of continuous rain of biblical proportion, On Monday 11 inches fell in the morning, Washing part of Main street away into the sea, including a parked car, new rivers appeared, mud slides, Had the locals muttering they had never seen it so bad (maybe they didn't realise we are here). Its all cleared up and a hammerhead shark has appeared on the reef, ooh exciting !!!
As for us we are having the time of our lives really enjoying ourselves meeting so many interesting people from all over the world, Sun on our backs, Working in another world and its our hobby
Adios the Chaffer's.