A Quiet Week on the Bay Islands

It’s been a quiet week on Roatan: lots of sunshine, trade winds blowing steady breezes and lazy days at the beach and West End. 

It's a great place to chill.

We decided this week to spend the last month of our stay without our trusty truck.  Walking or taking a taxi or water taxi to get around is easy to do and we want to try something different to see how it goes.  

Sometimes the Cruise ships can't Dock when the Wind is Up 

We are looking forward to another visit to Mango Creek Resort in Port Royal next week.  This time we are going with a large group and staying overnight.  It will be great fun I am sure and we have wanted to spend more time at the resort.  Here is a link to it if you want to take a peek. http://www.mangocreeklodge.com/ I plan to take lots of pictures and Michael will use the camera underwater at Pigeon Key…we may even get a chance to stop at the island of Morat.  No one stays there as it is reported to be a place for the duppies (spirits). We will also tour Anne Jennings Browne’s old homestead in Port Royal…the hub of pirate activity on the Spanish Main.

We don't see that many Sea Birds Here.  This Pelican was a treat to watch.

Today is a cleaning day – laundry and such.  I also need to cut some fresh flowers for the house.  I’ll write more after our trip next week.

Another Beautiful Day Ends in the Bay Islands

What Too Much Rain Can Do!

After writing my blog on springtime in Roatan, I must have angered the weather gods because a cold front that brought snow to Dallas decided to stall on top of Roatan.  It then produced copious amounts of rain.  We are still trying to establish how much rain fell but have heard it should be measured in feet not inches!  I heard 16 inches in just one day and it has rained hard for 2 days with rain continuing all week long, so it is difficult to get a good estimate.  Regardless of the exact amount, our property manager has lived here for 15 years and has never seen it rain like this….even Hurricane Richard didn’t produce this much rain. We feel bad for the folks visiting the island for just one week because there have been limited amounts of time for getting outside and enjoying the island.  In fact, late yesterday afternoon when we went out for dinner, the beach was packed with folks soaking up the very last rays of sun they could get!

Bottom of the Hill into West Bay Beach

Tabayana Beach

Infinity Bay's Restaurant Construction

Infinity Bay Gardens

West Bay Beach Access Road

When the rain stopped for a while on Tuesday, Michael and I headed down to West Bay Beach as we were getting reports of the flooding occurring there.  Flowers Bay was flooded, part of West End Road through town washed away taking a power pole with it.  We were without power for 8 or 9 hours while RECO walked into town with their tools and equipment to replace the pole and reestablish power to this end of the island.  Residence past Cannibal Café couldn’t get their cars out at all.  There were countless mud slides, even taking out part of the road near the zip lines at the top of the hill.

More

Road in West Bay Beach

 Thursday when we went for groceries, most of the slides had been cleared making the roads passable but we were amazed at the number of them. Part of the rock wall near Infinity Bay resort collapsed from all the runoff water bringing rocks down onto some of the cars parked there.  With more rain coming, more flash floods and mud slides are possible.  The water around the island where the runoff entered the sea was reddish brown with mud.  The rocks near Byte on the Beach have sand covering most of the holes in the rocks where the moray eels hide….hopefully the sand will wash out and the eels will be back.

Too Sweet

Things are getting back to normal, storm damage being repaired and the reef will be clear soon.  Here are a couple of pictures taken from Sandy Bay, a dock out from Blue Bahia restaurant.

Sandy Bay Kids Dive for Shells

  These babies are so cute.  I think the kids in the water were in charge!

Not My Valentine Day Dinner!Here after the storm, George from Infinity Bay prepares a special dinner for a couple on their honeymoon...How cool is that!

Foster from San Simon Beach Club

And this is another nice young man, Foster, who works at San Simon on the beach.  He was glad to see a break in the weather too!

Follow the links to see some additional photos. https://picasaweb.google.com/gallown/20110218RoatanWinterStorm?authkey=Gv1sRgCLnXxtOmpvvJBw#slideshow/5575121001815295986

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=126776387396069&set=a.126776337396074.25045.100001911263546&theater

Springtime Comes to Roatan!

Double Bougainvillea

Spring is in the air! Roatan plants are bursting with unusual and colorful flowers.  I have always wanted to live in a place where the shrubbery has flowers and Roatan is that place. 

Coral Tree in Bloom

 The most beautiful plant I have seen lately is the coral tree. I thought that was a nice name but could not imagine why it was called the "Coral Tree".  The leaves are variegated, yellow and green….no coral color anywhere.  But they are in bloom  now and the name  has meaning.  The flowers are the most vibrant coral red and look like a large daisy.  They are in bloom everywhere.

Coral Tree Blossom

Bees on the Palm Tree Blossoms

The palms have large flower like plumes and large red seeds hang dripping down in large clumps. Bees are swarming over the palm plumes making the trees hum. Hibiscus of every color and shape decorate the yards around the villas. As the grounds crews try to keep up  (they landscape by machete)….the fronds grow inches in a day.  It really is a glorious time to be here.

Bees swarm on the Blossoms

Bright Red Palm Seeds

Sunset at the Meridian

The other evening Michael and I decided to take in a sunset down at the Meridian Beach.  We had it all to ourselves and it was a beautiful spot to watch the sun go down.  Our only company was a large yacht that I learned belonged to the owner of Tigo…one of the internet service providers on the island.  As you can see in the photo the yacht comes complete with its own helicopter…..wow!

Tigo Yacht Complete with Helicopter!

Hope you enjoy the pictures and that Spring comes to Florida soon!

Double Hibiscus

If you are interested in what a Roatan Super Bowl party looks like follow this link to some cool pictures from the Infinity Bay Party.

  Super Bowl Sunday at Infinity Bay

Sandy Bay, Roatan, Bananas and Lionfish........

Windy Day on the South Side of Roatan

Rescued Bananas

I wanted to give a banana report! The bananas have safely been harvested, hung, ripened and eaten!  After determining that the bananas were ready, we had one of the locals cut the bunch from the tree and hang it from the deck to ripen further.  To my surprise, once cut, the bunch quickly turned yellowish.  There were way too many just for us; it was mas grande, has our gardener Johnny stated.  I asked him to cut me a hand to keep for myself and to distribute the rest to others in the villas.  You can see many other bananas growing as small fingers on other plants in the yard so we will have additional bunches in the days to come.

Yummy Apple Bananas

Long Docks at Sandy Bay

Sunshine/Hobbies Cafe at Sandy Bay

Sandy Bay

Michael and I visited Sandy Bay this weekend, at the farther end.  It was very nice, the beach there is wide and the water shallow out quite a distance.  They generally construct long docks out to deeper water.  We ate at the Sunshine café/Hobbies and had a wonderful fresh fish sandwich.  We plan to return on another occasion to try snorkeling there.  We have been told the reef is in even prettier condition than West Bay as it doesn’t get any cruise ship traffic stepping on it.  I’ll take my underwater camera.

End of the Dock in Deeper Water with Reef Access

Sandy Bay next to Lawson Rock

Lion fish at Pigeon Key picture taken by Scott

The local dive shops are planning a “lionfish kill” tournament next weekend.  You register and get a kill license from the marine park and then you are allowed to “stick” the lionfish.  It is illegal to use a spear gun here. The lionfish don’t have any natural enemies here, although they are trying to train grouper to eat them.  Apparently the fish have to learn not to eat them tail first because of the spikes….  They are also posting recipes and even recovering the meat to cook.  Lionfish are invasive and hurt the other fish populations on the reefs.

Paddle Boarding comes to West Bay Beach

I think I'll stick to Kayaking...

......and Beach-combing.....

........and sitting!!!

Life is Hard as an Island Kittie

We finally have the 4 wheel drive fixed on our rented truck and we hope to explore some more remote areas now that the rainy season has slowed down.  Tomorrow we hope to explore Turquoise Bay resort toward the East End and do a “Super Bowl” grocery run..unless we decide to head down to West Bay beach and watch it from one of the super bowl parties on the beach!