Arch’s Iguana Farm – Page 2

It’s a sweet gig

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03/15/2016 My niece’s daughter Jillian and her friend Caeli arrived on Saturday afternoon. Since I was tied to the airport I had Bill pick them up and take them to the grocery store before they came back here. I got home around 5 and de-stressed for a bit before we got the girls some dinner.

Sunday morning we were all awake bright and early for another day of adventure on the Radical Catamaran EXPAT day. There was supposed to be a full boat but approx. 10 people cancelled due to the weather. Both of the girls were really excited and looking forward to the day. I have to say I was very lucky to be able to go two Sundays in a row. We started out sitting outside, enjoying the scenery until just outside of Oak Ridge, it started to rain. And it rained hard for a little while. Most of the people were under cover, eating cookies and muffins. The sea was a little rough then too. As we neared the first snorkel spot the sun came out and it was a beautiful day. I told the girls the guys from the boat would pick up on them right away and as soon as we hit the water, they had personal tour guides.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Jillian and Caeli at the start of the 7 hour day.

Monday was the day with the least amount of cruise ships on the island so we headed for West Bay Beach. I was able to snag chairs at Bananarama for 1/2 price because I sweet talked the guy. They are all so nice there anyhow. It wasn’t very sunny and we kept hoping for the sun to break through the clouds and bless us with sunshine but that didn’t happen until we were half way home. Jill and I snorkeled, I took her out through the channel and to the deeper water then swam up towards black rock and along it. Great array of fish but what was the best was the huge parrot fish that was almost posing for me.

Parrot Fish are a recycling machine. They turn coral and rock into fine sand in the process of grazing algae from them. This particular one is called a Stoplight Parrotfish.

Gorgeous fish! The colors were brilliant.

When we were done snorkeling we drove to West End and parked. I wanted to go to the Shawn Jackson Gallery and the girls wanted to do a little shopping. I bought the coveted Faces of Roatan book at Shawn’s gallery. After that I called Lisa and Rob to see if we could stop and see Bandit and Sable on our way back down island.

The next day we went to Mega Paca where Caeli scored a Burberry sweater for 28 LPS, about $1.00 and Jill got some cute tops. Then we went to the Iguana Farm. We went down to the water and checked out the huge tarpon and other fish and admired the stunning view of French Cay.

After there we went to Parrot Tree and hung out at the 320′ long pool. It was pretty nice, very few people around at all. We swam, floated, napped and ate there.

On Wednesday we picked up Nidia and two guys and then met Rosalie and Bob and Bill and Alexi across from the airport. We were taking the new picnic table that Kelly Flowers built for Doña Maria to her. The table he so kindly made will last her for the rest of her life. Until now, she had no table to grind her corn on or to sit and have a cup of coffee.

What a rewarding day, everyone enjoyed meeting Doña Maria and are all ready to go back and see her. My next visit I am taking corn for the chickens, some chicken meal and of course, cold coca cola. My friend Ann has some chairs and cushions for her so I’ll more than likely get her to go along with me. It’s so sweet how people want to help Maria, she has so little and when we give her things, we benefit more from the giving that she does receiving. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. Thank you Kelly for making the table, a perfectly honorable gesture from a pirate like you.

Thursday we were planning to snorkel with Eduardo, my friend the cop. Wednesday evening he messaged me that he was on the mainland and wouldn’t be home until Saturday. The girls and I went to Barefoot Cay anyhow. The plan was to snorkel and float in the calm protected area near the palapa. With the wind blowing, there was NO calm protected water. The winds were howling and the sea was churning. The current was so strong that we would have been swept to West Bay in no time, maybe even off to Utila or Belize. We stayed at the pool the majority of the day, it was so peaceful and relaxing.

Friday was the last full day on the island and we were planning a trip to the school in Pandytown, then going to Camp Bay to eat at La Sirena and ending up at BJ’s of course. We drove out to Pandytown and stopped along the way when we saw little boys playing by the road. I had a full bag of Hot Wheels cars that were brought down by my friends John and Lizeth Fowler. The first place we stopped the boys were sitting along the road. The one looks like he was going to cry but he was happy, honest! Next stop there was a small boy standing on the table while his mother scrubbed clothes in a basin. He was very excited to get a car.

All in all, I think they had a great time, they met a lot of people, went a lot of places and saw things they have never seen before. We came home Friday evening and miraculously found stuff to eat. The girls did some packing and we all went to be early.

I had to work at the airport again on Saturday so they rode in with Cindy and I. It took them forever to get checked in and by the time they were done I had to go inside to get ready for the first flight. I hugged them both good bye and they were off, until the next time.

Before I close, I met a new friend at the airport, her name is Chris O’Dell. She is not just ANY Chris O’Dell. She used to work for Apple Records in London and personally knows / knew all of the Beatles, Yoko, The Stones, Dylan, Clapton. She sang in the chorus of Hey Jude, she was on the roof for the Beatles last ever concert as a group, she is the real deal. George Harrison even wrote a song about her called Miss O’Dell. She wrote a book by the same name, I am slowly reading it, absorbing and processing every word she utters. I get to see this woman every Saturday. I am in utter awe. Check it out:

Since I have nothing that tops that, I’m outta here..

Dogs, Cats, Iguanas and a Parrot..oh my!

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03/13/016 It’s been a long time, hope I can remember how to do this blog thing. I have been so busy and exhausted when I get home that blogging is the last thing on my mind. Actually, there is nothing on my mind.

Aside of the airport insanity which I won’t bother even discussing because it makes me tired thinking about it, it’s been a busy few weeks.

The vets from Helping Paws Across Borders came on Feb 27th. It was a nightmare at the airport the day they arrived because a vet on the island had their meds confiscated. It took until Monday afternoon to get them back. Sunday I had arranged a day on the Radical Catamaran for the group. It was a beautiful day to be out on the water. Everyone that was here except for the group organizer and her daughter joined in on the fun.

The water wasn’t as clear as it normally was because it had been monsoon season a few days prior to the sail, things were still settling in the sea. Despite that, I got some great photos.

The next day I picked Dr Danny and Mike up and took them to the iguana farm to look at an older iguana with a lump on his leg. Luckily they found the iguana while we were there, the lizards are not in enclosures, they wander free, thousands of them.

A vet and a tech were going to go there and remove the lump from the iguanas leg but the owners decided to allow nature to do it’s thing, especially since he was such an old guy.

The next two days I picked up the gang at Parrot tree and we went to the clinic. They were setting up and we were checking in patients.

The first day we saw over 70 animals and the 2nd day almost double that. I could only do 2 days, I had company coming Saturday, airport duty Friday and Sat and a cleaning lady only 1 of those days. I cleaned a lot, both levels had to be done and the downstairs had been used as Bill’s workshop storage. It came out looking pretty good. Sat. I got to the airport at 11:30 and guests began arriving at 12:30. My nieces daughter Jillian (her sister Jen was here last June) and her college roommate Caeli arrived for a week. I greeted them at the airport and Bill picked them up so I could continue working until all the flights got in. It was a long day. I got home around 5:30. Once I took some time to chill out we made some dinner for the girls. It was the beginning of an adventure filled week.

Our gate was delivered but there was a miscommunication between Bill and Jose. Bill thought Jose was cutting the concrete for the metal gate track to go in, Jose thought Bill was. Bill cut it in, now we are waiting for Jose to come and install it and we will have a gate.

I’m breaking this in to 2 blogs, a separate one for the week I spent with Jill and Caeli. I’ll leave you with this fabulous story and picture. My friend Jessie and I worked together at Peoples Bank for a few years. She always made me laugh with her craziness. Recently she posted this photo on FB, look at it closely.

Remember that one time we cooked the sink drain with the turkey...... Said only us. — Her caption was Cole cooked a turkey. And then she commented: remember-that-one-time-we-cooked-the-sink-drain-with-the-turkey-said-only-us.

I can’t tell you how many times I have looked at this and cracked up. Only you Jessie, only you!!

I’ll be back soon..

Two years down

10/26/2015 Two years ago today we arrived in Roatan with 2 dogs, a cat, 5 suitcases and 3 carry-ons, making one of the biggest life changes ever for us. It was a big move, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I’ve learned a lot living here for 2 full years and I can honestly say I love Roatan. I love the people I have met, the Ex-pats and the Islanders. Now that the house is completely livable and the pups are rather self sufficient I’ve been able to really get involved with many different groups and doing that has given me the access to meet some fabulously wonderful people.

Earlier in the week we had another delivery truck stuck in the driveway. I “think” this is # 10. I could smell the clutch burning up before I even knew there was a truck down there. They were bringing building supplies to people living down in the valley and had too much weight and poor brakes {a very common problem on the island, we don’t need no stinking brakes}. They reach a point where their load is too much and the no brakes/poorly maintained vehicle issues rears it’s ugly head. They tried and tried to make it but in the end they chose slamming into the bank instead of dropping off into the ravine. Bill had been out running errands and came along while they were figuring out what the hell to do. They actually pulled the truck out with a chain hoist, which is usually used to move engines. Not trucks. (Bill had previously told me they used a come-a-long, that’s why I posted that on FB). It worked and they somehow managed to get backed down the driveway. It amazes me the condition of the vehicles on the island, bald tires, no brakes, bad clutch, insanely crazy alignment where the trucks actually look like they are going down the road sideways.

Friday afternoon we again went to BJ’s to see our friends. It’s a great way to begin the weekend and make plans for the upcoming week. After we left BJ’s we came home, grabbed my car and headed to the grocery store. Grocery shopping after a few drinks is never a good thing.

IMG_20151023_152724 — This is the only one of three I could post. In the other 2 photos I clearly was, whatever. Thank you lovely Marilyn. I forgot that you took these but when I saw them on my phone I remembered you asking how to do the camera. So I did remember. I am with a friend, Kelly.

I worked at the airport again on Saturday, 5 weeks in a row. On the way in I saw my friends Rob and Lisa. They have 2 of our puppies, Bandit and Sable. Sable was the only girl in the litter. Sable had been having some eye problems and one of the numb nuts in the pharmacy gave them some eye drops which they said would be fine. Not knowing, they used them in Sables eyes. They were steroid drops and sort of ulcerated her corneas. Rob was flying her to La Ceiba to Dr. Bueno’s animal hospital. When I saw that sweet little girl, she knew who I was right away and gave me so much loving while I stood there crying. Her eyes hurt her so badly she kept them closed. Lisa said she is still at the hospital, waiting on some more tests but they said her eyes were open and she seemed to be doing better. I am very anxious for her to heal and come home. Please keep Sable in your prayers. I cried the whole way home from the airport just thinking about her.

The airport, I do love being at the airport. I have so much fun meeting people. This week as I meandered through the lines chatting to people a man said to me, “Good thing you don’t have a problem with shyness.” Nope. Not me. Several of my friends arrived this weekend, either coming back home or coming for a few months or for a vacation, it was so fun to welcome them with a big hug. I even met some people who remembered me from when they were here a few months ago. The flights were all screwed up with arrival times, from what we were told, all 3 would land within 15 minutes of each other. Delta surprised us and landed 35 minutes early, then American and United landed within 15 min of each other. Craziness. We kept it under control and got everyone through immigration and in a good mood to start their vacation. Carolyn and I seriously think we should be serving cocktails in Immigration.

Sunday we (I) made a huge mistake and decided to take 5 of the dogs swimming to Paya Bay. Highway whined the whole 25 minute drive there, he’s ADHD and can’t control himself. You could cut his lips off with a chainsaw and he would still whine. Physically, he can not stop. The boys were in the front and in the back, changing seats every time we hit a bump, which was every 5 seconds. Lola was terrified, she does not like cars. Or water. Or food. Or us. When we got there the first thing we saw were 2 stray dogs on the beach. SHIT. There weren’t supposed to be dogs, just sand and garbage. Lots of trash on this beach. . They did run off when we parked so we let the herd loose with leashes still attached so we could grab them easier. They weren’t interested in the water, they wanted to run. Then the other dogs came back and my fear was the boys would chase those dogs and we would never find Barrio, Gringo or Maxillicious again, so we left. It was a piss poor trip.

After we came home, it was still early so I crawled back in bed with Emmy {after I bathed the 3 pups}. I slept until 11:40, it was a nice sleep, kind of light and dreamy. We got ready to go to our friends home for a late lunch. They live on Calabash Bight (Bay). When I say on, I mean ON. Alex picked us up by boat from BJ’s and we were at their place in 5 short minutes. I always love riding through Pandy town on a boat and waving to the people along the way. We hung out for a while on their superb deck talking, having some wine and enjoying the view. Marilyn made a delicious Caesar salad with home made croutons and home made dressing. I could have made a meal out of that. She also had chicken for the 2 of us (I don’t eat red meat) and steak for Bill and Alex and a great potato casserole. Yummy 5 ***** meal in a beautiful location with great friends, doesn’t get much better.

The dogs were all wild and crazy when we got home. Frito was doing her damn seal thing. I can’t believe Bill doesn’t think she sounds like a damn seal. It drives me up the wall. A few glasses of wine in the afternoon and I fade F A S T. I was in bed early.

This morning I had to meet our friend Sam to give him money to get the fiber glass to start doing our roof. It’s flat and we thought it would be a good idea for water damage prevention. The roof will be like the deck of a boat, non slippery and it won’t mold or mildew. I pulled into the Iguana Farm and parked my car. As soon as I began walking down the ramp, I looked at all the iguanas and said to myself, ” Do I have a cool life or what? Walking through the iguanas to meet my friend Sam.” Yes, blessed indeed, especially to have Sam as a friend. Sam showed me his new boat and his fiancee’s house that he is building for her, all the while there are iguanas wandering everywhere. So darn awesome! After that I ran to ACE and grabbed a few glow sticks for tomorrow night, knowing full well with the full moon at the Daughters of the Island Moon party, that I probably won’t need them. The party is on the beach at a very secluded place, so looking forward to a night with some crazy island sisters.

So yeah, 2 years here on the rock. Did we make a mistake moving here? I don’t think so. Our life is so different from what it was 2 years ago. When we first moved here we knew some people and got to do some fun things but the longer you are here, the more people you meet. Whether it’s in the process of finding homes for our puppies, meeting people on FB and then becoming friends once they get here, handing out TOM’s shoes, delivering desks, helping at Cattleya, volunteering for Because We Care or at the airport, the people I have met are fascinating. They are all different, come from different ways of life, live differently at home and here, had different former lives, have different points of view. However, the one thing they all have in common is: THEY CHOSE THIS ISLAND TO CALL HOME. It’s an unspoken bond. Island Insanity. We all have it.

I have loved my last two years on this rock and am pretty much ready for whatever comes next. No hurry. It’s called Island Time.

It’s been awhile

06/22/2015 Our much anticipated guests have come and gone, we wish they had stayed longer than a week. We had semi decent weather while they were here so that was a bonus. Their flight was delayed arriving, then all 3 flights landed {American, Delta and United} within minutes of each other which turns the small immigration room into a virtual circus. Luckily Kathy was old enough to get in the resident line and she took Jen with her; then my friends at the airport grabbed them and put them in the front of the line. Perks…

We, unfortunately had to take a puppy with us to the airport. Max was sick all day Friday with a variety of symptoms. I managed to get in touch with some vets who came from Tegus for a weekend to set up shop here. We had an 11:30 appointment. Max was sick beyond sick on Friday all day and into the night but we gave him a little Pepto Bismol and in about 45 minutes he rallied. We still planned to go to the vet to get to the bottom of this. They were busy and behind schedule and with the plane being late and 3 planes arriving at once we made it to the airport in time to see them get taken to the front of the line. Our friends Kevin and Claire were there. Claire has wanted to see the pups for weeks but Kevin kept saying no more dogs. He saw me with Max, grabbed him and went down to where Claire was standing. When he came back he asked if Max was the biggest, we said no Tank is at home. He said we’ll probably take him. Happy, but so sad.

We came back here and got Jen and Kathy situated then went up on the roof for awhile. After dinner it was early to bed for everyone.

Sunday morning looked ugly, it rained, then cleared then rained some more. We had planned to have Alexi dog sit while we were entertaining our company so Bill went to get him. I’m not sure what good it is even having him here because all he does is surf the web on the Kindle I gave him. This too confuses me because he barely can read or write..

We left for Camp Bay around noon, final destination La Sirena. Right before we left we got a call from a friend who wanted to give us some mangoes. We stopped by on the way and got a BOX of yummy fragrant delicious fresh picked mangoes.

After that we made a detour through Punta Gorda and then to Oak Ridge where we pointed out the highlights on the way. We then headed to Heaven. Well, that’s what the sign says and I think we’ve been there many times.

Jen and Kathy could not believe the condition of “the road” to get to Camp Bay. I guess I’m just used to deplorable roads. We had a great time at La Sirena, had some lunch and the waiter thought I ordered a Port Royal AND a rum punch so I didn’t want to hurt his feelings and drank both.

Jimmy was there so we talked to him for quite awhile, always interesting conversation. By the time we got home everyone was tired and not hungry for a big dinner. We picked at food, ate some mangoes and went to bed.

Monday was a semi sunny day and I thought we should head west, all the way west, to West Bay beach. We took the scenic route through Coxen Hole and made it to West Bay in under 40 minutes, not bad. We settled ourselves at Banarama and went in the water to float on the rafts. It felt so good and has been too long. DAMMIT, I live here…

Jen and I walked down past Infinity Bay to snorkel. She said she was cool with deep water so we went for a swim and saw some pretty cool stuff.

After lunch we floated for a bit more, then headed home. Bill was making pizza tonight so I had to get veggies cut up. That night we gorged ourselves on grilled pizzas. It was (and has been) so windy it blew the pepperoni right off the pizza into the waiting mouths of 8 dogs. Luckily we had more pepperoni, damn wind.

The pizza was yummy as usual and we were stuffed. Being at the beach in the fresh air, water and wind PLUS snorkeling for awhile is tiring stuff. I think we watched some “Whose Line is it Anyway” and went to bed.

We realized on Tuesday that Max was sick again, same symptoms but getting worse. He was throwing up but there was nothing there, just stomach bile. I messaged my friend to see if Doc was coming on the ferry that evening. She said he was and I said we would pick him up at the ferry for an emergency visit Tuesday eve. Normally he doesn’t start work here until Wed. morn.

Earlier in the day Kathy, Jen and I went to Parrot Tree to float in the pool for awhile. It was empty, we were the only people there. I came home a few times to check on Max so Bill went and picked up Kathy and Jen around 4.

We left for the ferry terminal at 5:30 to pick Doc up and take him to his clinic. Bethany was there waiting to help and translate for us. Max was so dehydrated they couldn’t find a vein for the IV. After about half a dozen times I was pleading saying I could make him drink, don’t stick him anymore. Just about that time they got a vein, they taped it to keep it in place and then administered some shots via the IV. We let him get a good bit of the fluid and then left to take Doc to Brick Bay where he stays while on island. After we dropped him off we had to get gas and realized that Max had gotten the full amount so we took the IV needle out at the gas station.

Only in Honduras. We took Bethany home and got back to the house around 8. Kathy and Jen had to fend for themselves but made out just fine. Max seemed lively and he was hungry again so we fed him a light meal. He had to be on Metronidazol for 2 more days.

Wednesday was deemed a West End shopping day. We got a good start on the day and sauntered around West End, checking all my usual haunts. When we were done there we were off to Umbul Umbul, it’s just somewhere I always take company. For lunch we were going to the Beach Grill to see Lisa and Rob and of course my babies, Sable and Bandit. When Lisa and Rob pulled up I couldn’t wait, I had to go see the pups. Lisa said they are doing really good, they are spoiled and sleep on the couch and they even get in the shower on their own when Lisa is in there.

After we left there we went to the Iguana Farm to see all of the iguana’s. They were surprised that there were so many running loose..

We were going to Cal’s that night for dinner and we were hungry!! Cal’s wasn’t too busy, food was fabulous as always.

I’ll finish this post another day, too many more photos to post and my mind is fried. I drove into Coxen Hole today to inquire about my NON EXISTANT license plate for my car. Three weeks ago I was told 2 weeks and THEY WOULD CALL ME. hahahahahahaha! Today they told me to “keep checking back.” Sure I will, it’s real convenient to drive all the way to Coxen Hole and try to find a spot to park, just makes my day. So, no license plate yet, it was made May 19th, why the hell it hasn’t gotten here yet from the mainland 36 miles away I’ll never know.

One thing I do know is that come hell or high water I am going to go to the beach at least once a week from now on, I NEED IT..It does wonders for my soul..

Vitamin Sea, I love you….