Tamara's Honduras marine expedition diary
Added to website: 20 April 2002
Week 1: January 3rd 2002
After months of working in every job I could lay my hands on to save up money to join this expedition the preparation was underway. Two huge rucksacks lay at the bottom of my bed full of swimming costumes, medicine, clothes, mosquito net, flippers and anything else essential and useless that a girl like me needs for two months of her life. Everything including the kitchen sink was hoping to reach the same destination - Roatan Island, off Honduras in the Caribbean Sea.
January 3rd, my departure date, soon arrived and it was up at 5.30am to travel to Heathrow Airport, where I met up with five other volunteers for my expedition and a member of Coral Cay staff. At this time we were all asking ourselves, what is expedition life going to be like and what would the food be like?
We soon arrived in Boston and transferred to Miami but when we arrived we met our first hurdle. Coral Cay had booked the hotel, we knew exactly where we were going but the manager hadn’t checked his reservations! We sorted it out and managed six hours sleep. Back to the airport, the next day this time to fly to San Pedro Sula, well that’s what we thought anyway! Here came our second hurdle. Due to adverse weather conditions my travel group and I were diverted to El Salvador. A nice country, but not where we intended to be! After phoning Coral Cay base camp, at Beach House Roatan, they reassured us that there would not be a problem. So, unphased, we relaxed sat back and enjoyed the fantastic scenery of the airport!
Eventually we arrived in San Pedro Sula and got a plane to Roatan. Everyone seemed to want to carry my bag, so that was fine by me.
As we approached Roatan I became personally acquainted with my first Honduran mosquito. Suffice to say, the relationship did not last long! The plane that felt and looked like it was out of the dark ages safely landed in Roatan, as it apparently always does. Upon arrival it was hot, humid and foreign.
The coach pulled up at expedition base and my heart was racing. What was everyone going to be like? What would my room be like and would my bed feel like concrete? It was pitch dark when we arrived so I had to wait ‘til morning to see the view and area but everyone was so welcoming and the staff were lovely. Beans on toast then bed!
Morning came and as I opened my eyes…WOW! What an amazing view. A palm tree grew near my window and behind lay warm, clear blue Caribbean Sea. The steps of the room lead directly onto soft white sand laden with beautiful shells, and mangroves in the sea. This is going to be my own tropical island for the next two months. I knew instantly it was going to be the best two months of my life - it is paradise!
I made my way up to the dining area in a daze taking everything in and also trying to wake up. It was 5.30am! So early, but time to listen and learn.
Week 2: January 10th
Straight into Knowledge Review modules for the PADI Open Water Diving Course and also a lecture on “Dangerous sea creatures, fish, corals and anything in between that might mistake you for a fish and eat you!” I listened carefully, forgot most of it and just hoped and prayed I wouldn’t meet a scorpion fish, sea urchin or shark while I was here. I have come to the expedition with absolutely no diving experience so would I drown?
Afternoon came and with it a snorkel swim in the nearby lagoon. It was so warm and the views underwater are just amazing.
Every new day we learn more and more about diving and see more and more amazing island inhabitants. Already, I’ve seen lizards, vultures, herons, pelicans, woodpeckers, dolphins, octopus, barracudas and also the occasional cockroach…under my bed! AAARGH! Well it is a tropical island. My diving seems to be coming on - the teaching is superb.
Unfortunately on Tuesday, my fourth day the weather was too bad to scuba dive but there was still plenty to do and learn. On Wednesday it was back to diving, now however, diving no longer in confined water but out in the open sea where the sharks swim! A shark didn’t eat me, but instead I was stung by a sea urchin, one of those things I was aiming to avoid, but I did sit on it so I can’t blame it really!
I’ve been here only a week and am already a qualified PADI Open Water Diver, soon to become a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver. There is no phone, no text messaging, no TV or radio but it’s fantastic! I’ve enjoyed every moment so far. The other volunteers and staff are friends already, the food, well the food - interesting, but I’m getting used to it! Items at home that are essentials become useless and other things I’ve never used gain the value of gold. My ball of string is a rare commodity and my penknife causes jealousy!
I can’t believe a week has past. On one hand it’s gone so fast but on the other we’ve done so much I can’t believe it is only a week! Seven weeks to go and looking forward to every moment.
Signing off for now. Going back to my Caribbean paradise from this westernised computer room!
Week 3: Janurary 24th
The science programme has finally finished, lasting 12 days! It concluded with tests (which I think were difficult). The fish validation test was the best. It involved the new trainees diving with an old volunteer who really knew his stuff. We just had to identify and write down the same fish. Sounds easy? There.s 177 species and the sea is very big! We had to record every fish 2.5 metres either side, and our results had to agree 60%
Another test was algae, this was impossible to learn! OK, so there may have been only 46 to learn - but this time it was in LATIN!!!!! Oh My God! sprang to mind as I skimmed through the book and saw words I couldn’t even pronounce let alone spell. And to top it off we had less than 24hrs to learn it!
My brain whizzed into action and any moment not diving was spent learning. The test was good, well not like a normal test. We had live specimens of algae on a plate and had to identify them. Believe it or not most people did really well. Then came coral! Uh-oh. I failed! Retake beckoned. We swam along a coral trail and identified what we saw. Everybody passed, eventually. 80% pass mark!
Finally, the benthic validation test. This was a test recording all coral, sponge, algae and substrate and recording the abundance. It was difficult, since under water time is restricted to 37 minutes maximum.
This week I think we had the hottest day yet. I felt like I was permanently on a sunbed. You couldn.t escape the sun and the rooms were hot too, so I just lay in the sea for hours. Then it rained. I wanted to take a photo because we.d never seen rain like it but nobody wanted to drown on the way to their room, so you.ll just have to imagine it. You couldn’t see a thing, it was like a waterfall from the sky!
The dive trainees completed their Navigation dive which was good fun. I had absolutely no idea how to use a compass let alone underwater. We had a good time and everyone can now use one (although I was holding the compass back to front at one time, but don.t tell anyone!) It means that I.m now a qualified Advanced Open Water diver.
As the science programme has ended and we are all trained to recognise weird and wonderful creatures under the sea the surveying has begun.
Surveys are the tools of Coral Cay Conservation. A four person dive team conduct each survey. A fish, an algae and inverts, a coral person and the leader of the team. In ten metre transects we spot and record everything however big or small, beautiful or ugly onto our slate. It.s then written onto a form and imputed to a computer where clever people in London process the data and draw detailed maps which decide where marine protected areas are to be recommended. It feels like all the learning has been worthwhile.
The surveys are really good fun. Today we saw what seemed like millions of Blue Tang Surgeon Fish, probably nearer fifty, but it.s an amazing sight, and even better when you actually know what you are looking at.
I’ve signed up to do the PADI Rescue Diver course starts tomorrow. As far as I can tell its like an advanced life saving course. We.ve done the medical training, including learning CPR and are now going to learn search and rescue techniques. There will be a pretend scenario which should be great fun, but we have to act seriously.
Today the volunteers who have been here more than 6 weeks took a long weekend. Some have gone to the mainland to explore, others have stayed on the island to do more diving!
At breakfast Colin had his radio on BBC world service and I heard my first news in three weeks! When I say news, I mean football results!!! Apparently Tottenham beat some team 5-1!
I’ve been here three weeks now which I can’t believe. Time has flown past, but in another way it feels like I’ve been here forever. I’m making some really good friends, of all ages. Five weeks to go in this tropical paradise.
Now its time for a lecture on threats to coral. Better go and listen! Better go and learn!
Week 4: Jan 31st
It’s been the best week yet!
Four weeks since I left home. Four weeks since I heard a familiar voice, and saw a familiar face. Should I be homesick? Am I supposed to be sad? ‘cos I’m not!!! I’m having the time of my life and to be honest haven’t missed my family. I’ve missed my best friend and boyfriend. I miss their company but everyone here is turning into a family.
I’ve come to recognise and see a number of different characters and personalities. There are the fashion-conscious people, the paranoid, the whingers and complainers. Then there’s the laid back and chilled out. The wealthy, successful and the .mumsie. figures, who are really sweet! There’s the vegans and the veggies and the ‘I eat everything!’ (that’s me!). The physics geeks, the know-it-alls and the know-it-nothings! The smokers and the eco-warriors. The people who have the best sense of humour I’ve ever known and those who have no sense of humour! The mixture of people is incredible and it is hard to see any divisions. I feel like I belong and have made some friends for life.
I wonder what people think of me? ‘Tam’, ‘t’, ‘Baby’, ‘Skinny little runt’, ‘Washer Women’ and ‘Kit Kat’ are just a few of my nicknames. Let me explain the last two. Washer Women - what is wrong with cleaning my clothes, sheets and towels? I’m clean, that’s all! As for Kit Kat, a group of us went to the diving shop. People bought the essentials like masks, snorkels, wet suit and watches - but ‘t’ bought ten Kit Kats! (as well as a logbook).
Friday evenings at CCC expedition base camp and it’s time for ‘Slippery Dick and Hero’. The week’s nominations for stupid and strange actions are voted for - the winner is the Slippery Dick. The Hero is the Volunteer who has done something good for everyone, for example bake a birthday cake. The Hero then decides a forfeit for the Slippery Dick. This week Lewis was Slippery Dick. He is a reserved, quiet character and had to dress in leather jacket, shades and bandana and dance with Vicky a local Honduran who was voted the Hero. Last week Steph was Slippery Dick - he had to wear a G-string all night!
On Saturday I spent over five hours in the water. I learnt all the skills required to become a Rescue Diver to save conscious, unconscious and injured divers. In a practice exercise we rescued ‘Wilma’ a weight belt from the seabed. I towed Rhiannon to shore and gave her a fireman.s lift. After the exercise I successfully dumped her and she in turn paid me back!
On return to expedition base we appeared to witness a prison break. Many of the guys on camp, of all ages had had their hair completely shaved off! Di, the Project Scientist had her scissors and shaver out. One by one each victim surrendered and the hair quickly travelled from head to floor. Some chickened out but most were more than happy to have one less thing to wash.
The evening continued as Saturday nights do. The music rocked, the drinks flowed but thankfully the scissors and shaver had gone to bed. My long blonde hair was safe!
Sunday mornings bring hangovers and bad moods, especially when a massive camp clean up is on the cards. I removed enough sand from my sheets, clothes and floor to build a three-storey sand castle.
In the afternoon we left expedition base for the first time. Helen, the Expedition Leader, young, energetic, friendly, and chilled out character took us to Anthony’s Key. We sipped cocktails (virgin, of course!) looking over the Caribbean Sea, and some ate their first ice cream in months. We returned to base to the smell of a BBQ. It was the best meal we’d had, I ate enough to last three days.
Monday was no diving day because the Old Vols had returned from long weekend. It’s important to have one day a week off diving to restore natural nitrogen levels. At the increased pressure underwater the concentration of nitrogen in the blood increases. No Dive Day ensures that the body can revert back to normal levels and dramatically reduce the possibility of diving incidents.
It may have been a no diving day but we needed more energy than ever, it was Sports Day. Long Jump, Sumo Wrestling, Girls Swimming Relay Race, Potato and Spoon race (no eggs available!). Three-legged, piggyback, running relay, mask snorkel and fins and limbo. The losing team will have a forfeit on Saturday chosen by the winning team. I slowly walked back from the playing field along the beach, completely exhausted, as was everyone; when ‘PIZZA PIZZA!!’ to the normal person, you would probably think ‘Nutter!’ but no this was really meaning EMERGENCY, HELP! Or alternatively move your arse it.s your rescue diver scenario! Ben, one of the instructors had apparently (for the scenario) broken his leg. I ran to the scene, it looked so realistic, all bent out of shape.
After dealing with Ben and getting my breath back, chilling out, lying in the hammock Matt came running down the pier ‘MISSING DIVER! I’ve lost my buddy!’ I was in the water with my scuba equipment, adrenaline rushing and arms paddling, or should I say swimming smoothly through the water towards the casualty, within minutes. The rescue was very successful and everyone passed. I am now a qualified Rescue Diver.
There was also a real casualty today. Matt, the equipment officer, the type of guy girls die for, somehow slit his knee open. He was brave, as a guy with big muscles usually is, but Pippa the doctor, sweet and gentile character, insisted on stitches. Was this to heal the wound or to do some real doctoring rather than looking in people’s ears constantly?! This didn’t stop Matt from sticking his head into the compressor room looking for the air cylinders nor mending the engine of ‘Tornado’, one of the three speed boats, for the second time that day
.A feature to camp life this week has been ‘Ming Disease’ aka ‘Tropical Impetigo’. Several people have it. Peter, Sam, Celia, Steph, Caroline and Steve just to name a few. There is bacterium naturally on the skin. When a mosquito kindly eats you for breakfast and you itch and scratch all day causing infection. Each evening I put antiseptic on every bite and spray 100% deet around my net. People think I’m absolutely mad but as yet I am Ming Disease free.
The surveys continue. This afternoon I am ‘Physical’ for the first time. He/She is the boss of the team and can make or break how the survey goes. Yesterday we went over 9km from base and the reef varied dramatically. It was bare bedrock, and dead coral, very disturbing and very different from the reef just on our doorstep.
This morning, in fact all this week, it has rained and rained. We were rocked by waves whilst on the boats and placed our masks on our faces to protect ourselves from the rain. Soaked right through, we’d not even been in the water yet. In the water the visibility was bad. The words ‘This is not a holiday, it’s an expedition’ ran through my head.
I WANT THE SUNSHINE BACK! This is the Caribbean, not England!! I think I sent it home in a letter signed off ‘Sending love, hugs and sunshine, t xxx’. Well, can I have it back please?
It’s now the end of my fourth week; it has been the best week so far. I am half way through my stay in Roatan. It’s unbelievable, it.s gone so fast but also feels like I’ve been here forever. We.ve got our own little family. Right this minute, when I turn this laptop off, I’m going on a survey to Turtle Bay - sounds cute doesn’t it?
Signing off for this week, now as a Rescue Diver in search of turtles, dolphins, sharks and SUNSHINE!!! (and maybe a missing diver if I come across one…)
Week 5: Feb 7th
Fifth week in paradise!
I’ve been here for five weeks and feel at home. There are a few items that I’m so glad I bought and others that I really wish I had.
I’m not a chocoholic at all, but I wish I had some hot chocolate. There is no chocolate here as it just melts within seconds. I would die to taste a Kitkat or bar of Dairy Milk! Hair conditioner is a must. I have long blonde hair, which is now like straw, both in colour and texture. I bought two bottles of shampoo by mistake. I wish that I had 1000s of pens and a million hair ties - I’ve lost them all! They just float away when I.m underwater and the pens get permanently borrowed.
For breakfast we have toast. It’s a good idea to bring some sort of spread with you. Some people bought their own marmite or jam.
I’m so, so glad that I bought British stamps with me. Every time a person leaves to go to the UK they post letters for us. I have loads of stamps so I’m ok, but others don’t and had no idea that they should bring them. A solar battery charger is fantastic too - I’ve been listening to my walkman a lot.
A mosquito net and deet spray are lifesavers, literally. The risk of malaria is very low but there is a risk. I’ve avoided being eaten to death simply by covering myself with deet and hiding under a mozzie net. Antiseptic cream is so, so useful. In the tropics every cut or bite, however small becomes infected within hours and the only prevention is antiseptic cream. Two towels is a good idea too, one for salty water drying and one to dry off after the shower.
The accommodation here is a two storey wooden house. Downstairs are the bunk beds, upstairs are two bedrooms and the living area. This room acts as the sitting room, kitchen, classroom, and on Saturdays turns into a dance floor. The room extends outside onto the balcony where we spend a lot of our time. There is also a balcony downstairs where we abandon all our belongings and lay in the hammock listening to the waves and watching the world go by, or alternatively wrap yourself up in a cocoon and sleep.
The bedrooms consist of homemade bunk beds, some really strong and others not so! Put it this way, I wouldn’t volunteer to have a heavy person on the top bunk if I were on the bottom!
The extension to the whole area is the pier. In the sunshine this is where everyone hangs out. I love it, you can lie there for hours listening to your walkman or sitting on one of the boats reading a book. At night the view of the stars from the end of the pier is amazing, far better than in England which I can’t quite understand as I thought the stars would look the same everywhere!
Then there’s the scuba shack, compressor shed, and homemade hut, which I, yes me, hung the door to!! DIY! AAARRGH! I also made some shelves this weekend so my stuff doesn’t have to live permanently on the floor. Building shelves was an interesting experience. I measured the space for the shelf, 42cm. Matt cut a piece of wood to 42 cm. It didn’t fit in the hole!! Well nobody told me the tape measure didn’t start at 0 cm…
There’s the obvious space we have like the beach and the sea. When diving we go on Top Banana, Tornado, or Dogs, the speedboats. We go about 500m to 800m out to sea so can always see land, except when the weather is so bad you can.t even see two inches in front of your face. We can go just down the coast for five minutes or quite along way, depending on the survey site. Dives last no longer than 37 minutes. Each diver has a profile, which has to be stuck to, if not you have to abort the dive. We dive in buddy pairs and fours for surveys. It often takes longer to prepare and clear up after a dive than the dive itself, but it’s all worthwhile.
The sights, smells and sounds are different, very different here from home, but I’m now so accustomed to it that returning home will feel so strange. The view is the same virtually all round the island - a border of mangroves and palm trees leading to calm blue sea. Looking inland there are forested hills with buzzards and eagles circling constantly.
Everywhere the wildlife is incredible. Both in the water and on the land I’ve encountered creatures I’ve never seen before. Geckos, lizards, pelicans, eagles, herons, vultures, woodpeckers, scorpions, fireflies, dolphins, turtles, and hundreds of fish. The sounds of day and night vary. At night I lay in bed and can here some sort of insect whether it’s cockroaches, mosquitoes or grasshoppers I don’t know, and don.t really want to find out, but all the same there’s a permanent buzz from the moment the sun goes down. The palm leaves rustle in the wind, which sometimes sounds like rain.
It rains so often it is hard to tell whether its raining or not so the only way to tell is if its so loud the roof sounds as though its about to fall in, or the rain is seeping through the wooden slats in my room and I’m getting wet! The sounds after sunrise include people like me shouting, “Who’s hidden my fins?!” “What reg. number am I?” “Matt HELP!” and the sound of the compressor shed shaking as Leutral fills the tanks. Then of course if above all that noise you may be able to hear the tranquil sounds of birdsong, or the waves lapping against the pier. The smells of this place, well, you really want to know? Flowers, and the freshness after the rain has past on the one hand and on the other hand depending on the wind direction, the occasional unpleasant smell!
This week there’s been a huge influx of new people. Twenty-one new names to learn and twenty-one more people’s worth of space to find! The two-storey house is full and with only one toilet downstairs for twenty-six people, patience can wear a little thin. This morning I got up at 3.30am to go to the toilet and there was a queue!
The new vols are a mixed bunch, generally nice though. I still don’t know everybody’s name but I think we will be mixing well in a week or so. There are a couple however who are the prime example of not having read the Expedition Guide. Yes there is time to lay around on the beach sunbathing, but not all the time. There is time to swim and play football but we are here on a conservation project to survey the reef.
If you are thinking of coming on a CCC expedition it is fantastic. It’s the best decision I ever made. You need energy, enthusiasm, and you need to like the sea! You don’t have to be the best swimmer in the world or be big and strong. Just come determined to enjoy it, and its fantastic!
When the new vols arrived we played loads of friendly team-building pranks on them, which they all believed. We told them that we got up everyday at 5.30am to do aerobics, they all got up! We told them that Rachael, Andrew, Mike and Helen were from the BBC making a programme about Gap Year students! There would be hidden cameras and secret filming all the time. It was so funny as they were all looking for the cameras and asking when they would be interviewed. We told them last night that it was all a joke, and some were really disappointed. I remember when I arrived. I looked at the old vols like they would know everything. I’m an old vol - I know nothing!
On the same day as the new vols came there was this weeks “Slippery Dick!” This week the winner, or you could say loser was Caroline! She’s the most mal-coordinated clumsy girl I’ve ever met in my life but also so much fun and a right laugh! She was Slippery Dick not for falling off the boat or falling over her equipment but for asking if the Pope was a Catholic!!!
There was another post delivery this week - I got nine letters!!! I was so happy and was wearing a beaming smile for hours! I had four from my parents and some from friends. It is a little frustrating not being able to answer their questions immediately. I write letters in reply knowing they won’t receive them for over two weeks.
This week we’ve started a new survey method. It’s a global method of data collection on the state of the reefs. It is know as Reef Check. The data is put onto the internet as well as used by CCC. It is very different than the normal CCC surveys as we collect far less data. It’s good to have variation in what we are doing. The new vols are busy learning to dive this week but next week people like me will be taking them out on fish validation tests. Shall I be cruel or shall I be kind? Mmmm…!
Last week I asked for sunshine, as all we had was rain, rain, and rain! All we’ve had since Friday is pure sunshine. I’m so sizzled that I feel like a burnt rasher of bacon. My hair looks like I’ve poured peroxide all over it and I look like a tomato. At the moment everyone is sunbathing on the pier but I’m too red and sore to even want to look at the sunshine.
Ming Disease is still around. Caroline is healing well, Sam not so. I had a scare this week, my finger - am I a ‘Minger!’ AAARRGH! - well, maybe (it’s healing well, but I stink of TCP permanently.)
Yesterday I had my first trip in a car for over a month! I got a taxi to Coxen Hole, the capital of Roatan. This capital city consists of a supermarket, and a bank. I changed my travelers. cheques and bought a huge box of cookies, which is rapidly disappearing. I also renewed my visa in a hut that looked and smelt like the public toilets, but I now have a stamp on my passport that looks official, kind of. Chris and I walked along the street and this group of locals stared at us as we walked past. Had they never seen two white, blondes before?! We stuck out like a palm tree would in Oxford Street!
Roatan is a fantastic place. The locals are chilled out, and relaxed. The weather is perfect, and the food is good. The volunteers are great and the scuba is amazing. Only three more weeks to go. I’ll combat Ming and sunburn and return as a blonde beach babe!
Whoever you all are reading this, hope you find it interesting and can imagine this amazing place! Having the time of my life. Byeeeeeeee * T
Week 6: Feb 14th
Happy Valentines Day, people!
Today is Valentines Day, so where are all my Valentines Day cards?! Actually, I did receive one in my last sack load of post, as well as a heart shaped chocolate. The first taste of real chocolate in weeks! The post delivery is becoming more frequent and more reliable, although a letter I sent to my boyfriend in Warwick was returned with a lot of foreign scribble on it! It’s so good receiving post. When you can’t talk to or see close friends and family it’s so strange not knowing what they’re up to and what is happening in the world and, when a letter does arrive, the news is often so old it doesn’t really matter. We heard yesterday that the Queen’s sister has died, I wonder if this is a big thing in England or just passed by unnoticed? It is so cut off here that news like that doesn’t have any impact. It is going to be very strange returning to the real world; it feels so far away. I’ve been here six weeks and it feels like years. (In a good way!) Everyone is so adapted to life here. To go back to the developed, civilized world with perfect hygiene, normal food, English weather, hot water, TV and radio and duvet covers minus the mosquito net will be SO weird. I’ll be so out of touch, I mean, what’s happened in EastEnders?!
There have been two birthdays this week. Two birthdays means two helpings of chocolate cake (and parties - see pics!). When it’s someone’s birthday, people make cute homemade cards out of cornflakes boxes and shells and sweet wrappers, and presents vary from coconuts, and shells to mosquito spray and string!
At the weekend we had a meal to die for. On Sundays, the volunteers cook lunch and dinner and this week I could smell it from the end of the pier…it was bacon sarnies! When on a desert island, where meals consist of rice, rice, rice and a bit more rice with coconuts, watermelon and bananas, freshly fried, hot, crisp bacon is a huge luxury.
On Monday someone announced “It’s Pancake Day tomorrow!” On Tuesday, Rachael, Rhiannon and I made mixture and fried and tossed 156 pancakes! Three for everyone here. We never did check if it really was Pancake Day or not but, if it was, we celebrated it in style. I’ve not been so full in days, but I can still smell the pancake cooking oil on me. This morning I was in the kitchen my 5.20am making new mixture and frying pancakes for breakfast! It was worth it. Put a smile on a lot of faces.
This week, science week has begun for the new vols and I, as an old vol, had to teach the others what the creatures in the sea are. We’ve been on snorkel spots in the lagoon and this morning I went out diving with Dave on Fish spot, basically pointing at every fish and writing down its name. Dave is not anyone. He’s the new SO - Science Officer. He knew more than me and I was supposed to be teaching him! We saw the biggest Midnight Parrot fish in the whole universe! It was almost 3ft, maybe bigger. (That’s big by the way!).
Last night, there was a creepy crawly alert in the shower, actually two creepy crawly alerts. “Operation Find and Destroy” was activated, and completed unsuccessfully. Toilet A contained a HUGE spider, identified as a possible Tarantula. OH MY GOD! SCREAM! Toilet A is only 10ft from my bed! We all gave up and went to sleep as we realized we had to be up in six hours. All that was found was a moth the size of a black bird and a baby gecko that was very cute, but I wouldn’t say cuddly. Then came Toilet B. Heather was simply minding her own business in the toilet when a scorpion crawled across the floor! The door was slammed shut and this morning it still is.
This afternoon there was a Whale Shark watching session. We were casually sitting on the balcony when Matt and Ben shouted “WHALE SHARK!” That’s the signal for everyone to run at top speed with mask, snorkel and fins and jump in the boat. Why would anyone in their right minds want to get in a boat and find a shark I ask? But hey, I joined in. We found out where the shark was when all the tuna fish jumped out of the sea although we didn’t actually see the shark.
Time passes and the days and weeks merge into one. There is no need to know the day of the week, unless it’s a Wednesday as that’s anti-malarial day. There is no need to know the news as it doesn’t affect life here. The weather forecast might be good, but it is so changeable and extreme that you have to learn to adapt as no-one can predict it. Our lives revolve around the sea and, without it, I think I’ll feel lost.
Two weeks and I’ll be back to the hustle and bustle of the rushed hectic lifestyle that is England and I’ll leave behind the warm, laid back lifestyle that is Roatan. Two weeks left, and the count down begins and it’s time to find some wild dolphins, and man eating sharks!
Hope all is well in the English winter *signing off* T xxx
Week 7: Feb 21st-28th
On Saturday I did three dives, on the reef normally we just do two dives a day. I was buddied with Suzanna, and our profile was 18/37 (18 metres for 37 minutes). There were Moray Eels and Groupers guarding their territory around it.
In the afternoon I was doing a fish validation test. I had to identify and count all the fish I saw for half an hour (that’s a lot of fish!) and Dan, a new vol. had to do the same. The fish we saw had to agree 60% for him to pass. It wasn’t very nice to think that I was supposed to see what he was seeing otherwise he would fail! Anyway, I’m told he passed.
Then came the night dive. I’d never done a night dive before as all the other ones had been cancelled due to bad weather. The sea was so calm and the visibility was great, but it was so dark and “little t” is scared of the dark! We had very bright torches but it’s scary when you look behind and all you can see is darkness and you look in front with your torch and all you can see is eyes looking at you! Not big eyes though, nothing that would eat me, just hundreds of shrimps and the odd Dusky Damsel who is upset because my bright torch just woke him from his sweet dreams! Anything that would eat me I was unable to see as sharks are black/grey but I was trying not to think about that, although everyone had a laugh recalling all the species of creature that could eat me so fast I wouldn’t even notice I was being eaten, and others were creeping up behind me scaring me half to death! I was too nice, or too petrified to do the same in return!
The night dive was an amazing experience but other than shrimps, lobsters and crabs I didn’t see anything different from usual except that it was dark. It was my last opportunity to do a night dive, so I was glad I did it.
On Sunday the volunteers cook the meals. My group cooked dinner and we had sweet and sour pork and garlic bread - no Uncle Ben’s sauce, pure home made everything here! It was delicious.
There was very little diving on Monday as the weather was not very good, the waves and current were strong so the less experienced and more nervous divers did not go diving.
Pippa, the medical officer is leaving and we heard her leaving speech last night. The staff here are like a family and they all seem really sad to here her go. It won’t be the same without her!
The weather is perfect today so it’s back to normal diving. It is amazing that after two days of not diving I feel like I’ve not dived in ages and am really looking forward to it.
I’m writing this week’s diary a day early as tomorrow I go on my long weekend. I’m so looking forward to seeing the island and doing something different. I’m planning to go canoeing, and possibly do a shark dive on the other side of the island and also eat loads and loads of food!
Only a week until I leave for England and continue my travels around the world. There is a quick turnover of people here so it never becomes dull or stale with the same personalities and characters, and there is enough people to ensure you’ll make some good friends and can avoid any you don’t particularly get on with.
Since I wrote yesterday I’ve made a decision - Chris is going travelling around Central America for the next week and has invited me to go with him, so I am! I’ve had the best time of my life here, better than I could have ever hoped for. I’ve never felt so happy, and to see the rest of the island and the rest of the area will finish the trip off perfectly.
For anyone who is thinking of coming on a CCC expedition…do it! I will never regret it, and am so glad I found out about it. There is fun, learning, sunshine, diving, swimming, games and laughter, what could be a better combination? I’ve made friends I’ll never lose, gained memories I’ll never forget and had experiences that have changed me for the better. Roatan is amazing, the people are fantastic - it really is a dream!
It has been a pleasure writing about my stay in Roatan, and I hope I’ve persuaded a few more people to come! Signing off * T
The team here in Roatan is the best!
Looking back
Here is my last diary entry, looking back at the best bits!
Coral Cay Conservation is over; Im back home after two months away, what a culture shock! The journey went like a dream with every connection meeting and no delays. I arrived home to hugs and kisses, but nothing at all had changed. No real news to rock the world. Had time stopped for two months? Was it all a dream?
It went so quickly and was the best time of my life. Here are a few highlights of the best time.
The Rescue Diver course, wondering whether you were doing more harm than good. Sports day in the undress race, and watching mask, snorkel, fins race. Scuba Diving with turtles, sharks and fish that before I came I wouldn’t even know existed. Starting not knowing anything about diving and leaving being able to dive. Arriving and going in the sea not knowing whether something was a coral or an algae or knowing any fish and leaving being able to identify and record what I saw.
Walking along West Bay beach on my long weekend wondering whether there was anywhere else on earth I’d rather be or if there was anywhere closer to paradise than this. Kayaking with Andrew along the coastline looking through water clearer than glass. Kayaking with Claire along a river full of crocodiles wondering whether I would get out alive! Lying on the pier counting fish during the day and counting stars at night and seeing my first shooting star.
Being told you were boat marshalling twenty minutes ago so “Move! It’s not rocket science, you know!” Turning on the GPS when your in the middle of nowhere looking for a buoy. Having a cockroach taking up residence in my shoe.
The most amazing feeling was the way I adapted to not needing a mobile, and TV, computers or stereos just being completely content with great people and incredible surroundings. It is so strange to think I’m back home, back to reality but the camp moves on the same as ever. It simply was the nearest to paradise I’ve ever been. I will return, one day!
Tamara xxx
