utila carnival (july '08)

the end of july is carnival season on utila (don't worry Rio , we're not trying to de-throne you). 
after two nights of neighborhood 
celebrations saturday is the "big" parade and fireworks. with about 50% of the islands vehicles (about 15) and virtually all its citizens participating, utila carnival is tons of fun for locals and visitors alike. winding its way from chepas beach through town to the lagoon, it's very cute and a great time was had by all . most in the crowd followed their favorite float until the center of town was gridlocked and the kids in the drumming band got to really strut their stuff. it was nice to see so many of the expats involved (many are from new orleans , so its in the blood). during the day it's a family affair but at night things heat up and the bars along the water front are hopping, a prelude to "sunjam" only two weeks later . 

COMING IN SEPTEMBER, utila independence day and the strange ritual of a boxing ring in the center of town and all challengers welcome !

my first five months of living at treasure beach on utila (jan.-may '08)

i've had a wonderful time during my first five months on utila and i've really got to experience the good life in the bay islands of  honduras .  we are really happy with the construction of our house at treasure beach.  

the man who sold us the land , roger white,  held my hand during the whole process (my construction experience was in residential rehabs and high end retail store design in chicago), his tropical building expertise and friendship really made what could have been a nightmare, a dream . the construction crew did a great job under tough conditions (ie. 3000+ bags of concrete and sand plus 600+ rods of rebar all hand carried and shuttled by little boats to the beach and then hand carried to the job site in 90 degree heat , that alone took several weeks) . its very labour intensive construction as the only mechanical/elecrical tools that are used are saws.  the guys showed up six days a week , very week , peter my foreman was awesome; a real craftsman .

after this first five months i've really learned to appreciate the design of our home, it really catches the prevailing east wind, which blows most afternoons . i have all the french doors open 24 hours a day and the shutters let the cool breeze blow right through the house , while keeping the bugs out . the only a/c i've had to use was in my bedroom at night and then only once or twice a week . most of the gringo's i've met here are running a/c constantly because of the "americanized" design of their homes or hotel rooms . the "grand bahamian" style home is really the way to go here on utila. 

i've done lots of diving and decided "c.j's drop off" is my favorite dive sight, love the deep one's !  we saw whale sharks again which is an awe inspiring experience no matter how many times you get the chance. 

fishing with junior diamond was fun and something i'm going to get a lot more serious about in the future, watch out wahoo !

i choose not to have a t.v. and i'm glad, instead i spent a lot of time enjoying the island nature and star gazing  . the trees in honduras produce the most gorgeous flowers and every other week a different kind was blooming in the jungle behind treasure beach. however, the reef in front of our house was THE constant source of amazing sights , day and night . very week i saw something i'd never seen before . one night it was thousands of bioilluminesent jellyfish floating by , another it was a fish spawning with millions of glow in the dark eggs everywhere and big eagle rays gliding by eating them . many nights i would end up falling asleep on the end of the pier after watching that nights amazing events .

a small new resort called "utopia" is about fifteen minutes walk from our house and it was nice to have a place to stroll to . i usually spent a couple of evenings a week down there having dinner and drinks , the food is excellent , easily the best i've had in honduras . the chef hugh and the barmaid ryan became good friends and they would usually come to hang out and snorkel at our house on their day off . 

living close to the cays is very convenient for buying supplies and for grabbing the occasional lunch at "fishburger" or "hermans cay view" restaurants. the caysians still live pretty much as they have for years, fishing everyday and collecting conch and lobster during season. leading up to easter every house on the cays had huge sides of fish drying on its roof in preparation for good friday. every time i visit the cays i see something i want to take a picture of.

well, i'm off to the states for a few weeks so that's all for now . i shall return to utila soon .