Monday, February 23, 2015

Bonacca, Guanaja

I thought I would share what I read from a guide book on Bonacca 

It was built on rickety wooden causeways over a maze of canals, founded in the 1830's by immigrants from the Cayman Islands. They constructed their homes on what was then Hog and Sheen Cays. These two tiny little islets, with a total of one kilometer of land space connected by shoal, have since built to cover 18 square kilometers by generations tossing their garbage out the window and eventually covering it with sand, shells and coral. This came from Moon Handbook on Honduras. 

People come from all over the surrounding cays to get supplies on Bonacca. Supply boats come from the mainland once a week. The kids of Guanaja learn to drive boats rather than cars. You will see little boys with a shell of a boat out paddling and fishing. I've seen one boy pushing a boat under a structure from a canal. I guess they store boats under the structures to clear the canals. 

They have the canals for the bugs. We hear the sand flies don't like the salt water so it keeps them away. I've read that the mainland doesn't have the sand flies problem as well as Roatan. Well that will be a plus for Roatan that go against all the tourist shops that I don't miss. 


Sunday, February 22, 2015

Enjoying Honduras more every day

We have met several "Gringos" that have decided to stay here for good. I can see why. Honduras seems to be a secret paradise. Cruisers and Divers have discovered it and a good amount have stayed. Rich green mountains, blue green water, tons of reefs and weather stays in the 80s. And they have only seen one hurricane in 50 years. Our only problem we have is the sand flies. Being from south Texas it really shouldnt be an issue but we are new blood so we have some adjusting to do. 

The locals have been so great. In the town, where the markets are, people are so helpful. Im constantly asking for directions because it is a maze. We have made friends quickly with some of the locals. Rosalinda, who owns a restaurant/bar on the island even let us see her home. I have asked if I could come spend the day with them and learn some of their cooking secrets. Shawn makes great fried chicken and ribs. And I love the fried plantains. 


Nora seems to want to take Fairlane frome us. Hahah I think she will bring her  back when she finds out what a princess she is 

We also enjoy a quick quesadilla at Lilly'. She is a sweetheart. I promise to get picks of my new friends soon. 

I did make Lisa stand with us for a picture. She owns and operates a gem of a place on a mountain, Mi Casa Too. I might have to make her adopt me because she has a place I would love to live in. A great wrap around porch that has an incredible view of "the bite". 


You have to hike a bit but its worth it. 



We have done some hiking with fellow cruisers. 




I got to play with a monkey as well. Makes me want one. Ill have to post those pictures later when I get them. 

We are planning a trip to the waterfall. We need to hire a water taxi because its on the other side of the island and our two horse putz-sea would take forever. 

We are thinking of staying in the Bay Islands longer than the 90 days. We hear it isnt hard to extend. 

Oh here are a couple of pics from last night Manati' 









 


Saturday, February 14, 2015

San Pedro, Belize to Guanaja, Honduras

Thirty days was quickly ticking away. That was the amount of time we had before forking over more money to stay in Belize. Many of our friends had skipped over Belize because they charge more than the rest of the Western Caribbean and each port seems to want something different. Not to mention their beer is two to three bucks a bottle and their bottles are smaller. Hahah. Never the less we had to check it out for ourselves. It was for sure more expensive. When I say expensive I mean states prices. With us being on a tight budget we really can't do that for long so we decided a month was enough. 

I enjoyed Caye Caulker' dirt roads and slow living but I enjoyed San Pedro' beach that you can walk forever and the water seemed clearer. It was as if we lived in an aquarium. We would watch the rays and huge starfish. At night schools of big fish would come around.  It was simply amazing. 

On our way back from Caye Caulker we found we still had a fuel issue. Then Steve dropped the lid to the racore filter into the bilge. If you dont know Steve he has a Charlie Brown personality or Beaver Cleaver. You never hear him curse. I did the day he dropped that lid. Hahah. He was beside himself. A new racore housing is $600 there in San Pedro. 

Luckily, the guys at TMM had an old housing they hadn't thrown away lying around. I love mechanics, they never throw anything away. 

So it took a process of changing All the filters and going back over the system to make sure everything was the proper amount tighten.  He ran her several times for over an hour and half and he called her good. But of course that was yet to be seen. 

On Tuesday morning we went to check out. We were nervous because earlier a guy was fined $1,000. We never did hear for exactly what but it made us very nervous. Once we heard that story we changed our plans of seeing more of Belize. Our thoughts were maybe we could reduce having any problems if we checked out in San Pedro. Since we checked in there maybe they wouldn't ask for any forms we didnt have. 

It worked, we payed approximately $65 and we got out of there as quickly as we could. We got through the reef and had no issues with the engine. We had a nice easy trip to Guanaja. Very little wind and at some parts of the trip the water was so glossy. At night the bio-luminescence would ripple in our wake. It was magical.  

Since we dont like arriving at night we took it slow. We even did some fishing but didn't catch anything. We used the drifter for the first time. It was just a nice easy trip. 

We arrived in Guanaja on Thursday, setting anchor around 11:30. We anchored in a little cove which they call the bite. There are a few boats here.  The cove is surrounded by hills or mountains. Steve and I disagree on that term. Him, being from Texas calls them mountains and I, being from California, call them hills. In any case, Im in paradise. 

Guanaja is like nothing I have ever seen. There are several Cayes surrounding it and the town is on one of them. The whole Cay is completely full of houses. No roads only walk ways they use to be wood planks but now is concrete. 

The people are very friendly. Walking in the town maze we pass the same ladies or men sitting outside chatting. Our check in process was simple and reasonable. A guy named Red assisted us in the process as well as showing us around. 

In the "bite" there is a restaurant named Manati. A German couple runs it and lives on the second level. Im in love with the whole thing. So far Im in love with this place. My pictures dont do it justice. I might not want to leave. 
























Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Some snorkeling pics from Caye Caulker

I stoled these pictures from a fellow traveler that posted some photos from their snorkeling trip in Caye Caulker. I wish I could of gotten some photos. Luckily they were able to. 









I really need to get myself a waterproof camera or something. I sure love snorkeling. It is absolutely beautiful around the reefs







January' spending

Well we expected to spend more here in Belize so we weren't surprised to see we went over our thousand dollar monthly budget. We decided to only stay a month. We will head to Honduras' Bay Islands soon. Praying for a nice weather window and no engine problems