Madi had 5 volunteers when i got here ... 3 single women and a couple. one of the girls left shortly after i got here; but i became friends with the other 2, Wendy and Lizzie. it is one of the great advantages of living in a Hostel and volunteering. You meet so many interesting people. ... and then they leave :(
This is Wendy the morning that she left, .... also Madi and her Mom.
i also made friends with Alex ... she is the tall one in the picture ....... and i am NOT the shortest :)
but Alex left yesterday .... so it's time to start with some new friends ...
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this is the first year i am trying to quit work around 4:30-5pm; take a shower, change clothes, enjoy the sunset .... and we always have some pretty ones ...
Madi has kayaks for FREE and they are really popular ... especially at sunset ...
love this sweet Peaches enjoying the sunset too !
Lizzie, one of the volunteers who recently left was the 'art' volunteer. she and Madi are in her 'Art Center', (soon to be cattery).
Liz figured out a way to make sell-able art out of the hundreds of cat food cans that Madi disposes of ... she made these really cute refrigerator magnets out of the bottom of the cans ...and she made 2 bookmarks out of the sides of the can ! ... 5B$ = US$2.50
now we need to try to sell them ... this is the little 'micro-store' at the entrance to PAUSE Hostel ...
we're supposed to continue making them ... but so far that hasn't happened ... :(
i had to be a little creative myself. Madi has lots of keys and she could never remember which one goes to what ... so i made these key fobs out of the sides of the cat food cans ...
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so, now i think we may be starting a war on Caye Caulker .... Madi's property is on the back side of the island ... the side where the Mangroves are. the Mangroves are an essential part of the sea; they protect the shoreline preventing erosion from storms ..... and, they are the nursery for a lot of marine life. the little fish eggs float into the protection of the Mangroves where they develop and grow out of harms way of the bigger fish that would eat them. they are also home to SeaHorses. Madi is lucky enough to have a few of them living in her Mangroves. i've posted photos and videos of them in past years. It is quite rare to see a SeaHorse, and the Snorkel Tour Operators are 'cashing in' on the opportunity to show them to their tours.
they come close to shore in their boats, get out and wade into the Mangroves and capture the defenseless SeaHorses in a plastic tub, and then take them to the boat and pass them around to the tourists. If you can zoom in on this photo, you can see the SeaHorse in the tub :(
it sounds nice enough on the surface; but the constant disruption in the SeaHorse's life has to be detrimental to their health. And, it's not just one boat ... today we had NINE (that i saw, possibly more) boats come in and drag the poor little SeaHorses out of their homes, sloshing them around and banging their sides against their container, changing the water temperature, and then returning them somewhere near to where they found them .... only to have another guy come in and take them out again. obviously, i am furious and cannot understand how they can justify their practice. i am taking photos of each of the boats with date/time.
they are right there in front of me ... i can hear them talk about this being their nursery ... and then they stand there and tell me that they don't think what they are doing is harmful ...
some of them are nasty and told me to go back home ....
i thought i'd try to appeal to the tourists, because they probably don't realize that what they are doing is harmful ... so, ... "i made up my own little sign" :) .... (Five Man Electrical Band) ....
and i just stand on the dock with my sign; after they have read it, i ask them if they understand .... even the tourists just give me blank stares ... of course, by this time, i am sure the tour operators warn them about the crazy lady who will try to tell them that it's harmful ... one of the ladies was down right rude as well ....all the tourists that i've talked to on my 'beach patrols' in Roatan have never been rude; ... most thank me for informing them and for what i'm doing.
the woman that lives on the other side of the Mangroves is upset and very vocal ... several tour companies filed a harassment complaint against HER yesterday and this morning the Police paid her a visit ... what about the harassment of the SeaHorses ?
i am so frustrated. Dive and Tour Shops all tell their customers not to touch or disturb ... i really don't get it ... except that they want to make $$$. i've sent an email to the Belizean Fisheries Department ... 5 days and no reply ... i resent again.
this is going to get ugly ! Stay Tuned !
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another volunteer showed up unexpectedly this week ... and thanks to Garrett, huge progress has been made ! on 4 Feb, one cattery is fully enclosed ... although far from ready to house kitties ... it's a huge milestone!
Madi has been wanting to build new catteries since the first year i was here ... but money and help have always been a problem ... this year, however, seems to be the year ... i just hope i get to see those kitties in their new homes before i leave.
She has been at this long enough to know exactly what the best way to structure the buildings to make life a bit easier for her and cleaner and more comfortable for the kitties. Criteria includes full walls on the sides of the building that the winds and rains come from; and also lots of mesh screening for adequate ventilation; nothing touching the concrete floors, so it's easy to wash. .... the kitties will have all their beds, swings, etc suspended, and they will be able to get out of the wind and rain in the loft that yet needs to be built. and, a new concept we're going to try... after brainstorming, i actually came up with the idea of putting metal/aluminum sheeting, 2 feet up, all the way around the interior perimeter .. it will be non-absorbing and easy to wash if/when the cats pee/spray. yes, they do that; there's lots of territorial maneuvering that goes on. this is genius ... but she has had 12+ years to think these things through. she is amazing!
there was an open-air structure in the middle that was build several years ago, the 2 sides were added recently ... the middle has been dismantled and will be integrated with the other 2 buildings ... still with the tree and open-air.
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a cat photo before i go ...
Spirit thinks that Tutti, or is that Frutti's, head makes a good pillow .... :)
for a week or so the weather has been very very hot ... 2 nights ago the wind picked up and this is Day 2 of wind, rain, and cold ... poor me :(
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