one of the short term volunteers wanted to do a SunSet Cruise before she left ... she went to check it out and said it was only 30 B$ for a 3hr cruise ... i said i'd go and so did the rest of the Volunteers ... it sounded like fun. but then i was a bit skeptical after i agreed .... as i was changing my clothes (shorts and tank top) i realized the 'girls' were wearing their bathing suits ... because if you're going on a boat, you should be prepared and have your bathing suit on ..... no way i was wearing my bathing suit. .... i realizing that i was probably going to be the old lady among a group of young drunken tourists ....
then i had a flash-back to the year that Carolyn, Cinda, Susan and i went to Cancun .... we decided to go on a group snorkel trip ... as we were boarding the boat, we noticed women with their big gawdy purses and gold lame pants on the boat ... we did an abrupt about-face, left the dock and asked for our money back ... we knew those were NOT the kind of people we wanted to spent the day with ... we wanted to party and drink ! .... today, all i could think of was that i was now THAT 'woman' :)
but, to my 'relief', and everyone's surprise ... there were mostly older couples on the boat !
we left from the east side of the south part of the island and went through he famous 'Split' ...that was formed in 1961 when a hurricane split the island in two ... 'The Split' is the most popular place on Caye Caulker ...
...it really was a great trip though ... here's our group of volunteers: Amira, Emily, me, Nico, and David ...
.... a beautiful sunset,
.... an almost-full moon rising ...
and we went all the way around the south side of the island ...and finished up around 8:30 ... fun !
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Catteries:
after the enclosure was completed and the protective metal was installed; we had a week of no work on the 'priority' cattery ... :( ...the hold-up was that no one was quite sure what Madi's 'vision' was, ... the cats needed shelves way up high so they would be protected from the rains ...... made out of roofing material, so it would be non-absorbent and easy to clean ... with a 'backing' to protect the walls .... and then how the guys were going to install the shelves ... and .... how were the cats going to get up to the shelves ...
but this week, lots of progress was made ... it's been pretty exciting!
...the roofing material shelving... with protective backing ... high up so they are protected from the rains ...
... David and Nico (our volunteer builders) designed a GREAT stair system for them to climb on to get up to the shelves ... as you can see Birdie did the test run and said it was user-friendly and he loved it ...
... they suggested that maybe the little 'steps' could be painted different colors ... so i took the initiative to do the painting
Birdie thinks it works really well ....
and he can get up to the shelf easily ...
and finally ... a few cages are needed because some cats need to be feed inside a cage because they have 'poor table manners' :) .... the cages from the old cattery needed to be configured to fit into the new cattery ... they weren't very colorful, just old brown wood ...
keeping with Madi's mandate that nothing be on the floor, they had to be hung on the wall; the cages from the old cattery are substantial and need strong supports ... and needed to have a non-absorbent backing on them as well to protect the walls, so the top and back was covered with the metal roofing ...
and i took care of the color detail as well ... no old brown ugly wood in here :)
***
one evening (actually night), during the week when nothing was being done on the 'priority' cattery, Madi started painting the outside walls ... out of frustration ... just to see that SOMETHING was being done ... (i understood, i felt the same way) ... but she ran out of green paint halfway up this wall. a woman, Anja, who lives in Egypt was here, and through conversation Madi learned that she is an artist ... Madi asked her if she would like to paint something on this wall .... amazingly, Anja is a mural painter ..... and is currently doing a project in Dahab to beautify the walls of the city ... she was leaving the next day, but extended her stay to work on the wall. she was amazing ... notice that she painted the Almond Tree that is next to the building ... brilliant !
***
no progress to report on the plight of the SeaHorses .... some Mangrove branches have been broken and are dying due to the jerks tying their boats to them ... and word is now out on the island where the SeaHorses are, and individual groups of kayakers are now also coming around and wading through the Mangroves to see the SeaHorses :( ...it's like having people walk right up to your backyard while you are trying to enjoy your privacy ... they are RIGHT there, 8 feet from where our hammocks are ... frustrating ...
it's become a Circus :( .... i sent another email to the Belize Tourism Board with the additional concerns and photos of the recent developments ... they in turn said that my information had been forwarded to the 'different authorities' .... and 'thank you for your concern' ..... :( ...i am still not giving up ... as a friend said .. someone has to speak for the SeaHorses !
i saw a cute little Scrawled CowFish in the Mangroves the other day ... i got in the water to photograph him; but he eluded me ... instead i saw some SeaHorses ... so the good news is that 'they' haven't murdered all of them yet :)
i've done some further reading on SeaHorses ... they don't have a stomach, so their food goes right through them and they have to eat CONSTANTLY ... it must be difficult for them when their feeding is interrupted 7-9 times a day :(
***
this is Chak ... once a ferocious dog ... is now an old guy, enjoying the good life ... and now protecting the level for the guys :)
***
i have to say that i am very impressed with our 2 construction-guy volunteers ... at 21 years old, they are incredibly skilled, professional, mature, and polite ... and they pick up all their tools and put them back in their proper places each day after work !!!!!! ...really nice guys .. they've known each other since they were 10; it's no wonder they work so well together ... plus they are really having fun taking the kayaks out and exploring. ...they are traveling for a year, doing 3 month volunteer stints at each location. ...what great memories they are making!
they worked on this project one day after work ... using scrap lumber and stuff they scavenged from the streets ... and coconut leaves for the seats ... !
...this was the first night ...
the next day they finished it ...
and launched it with one of the other volunteers ... it's their Kayak Catamaran ... awesome !
and they disappeared into the sunset :)
i've been here 6 weeks and have desperately been trying to take a 'vacation' before i leave for Roatan .... i want to go back out to Half Moon Caye and snorkel, snorkel, snorkel, ... all day, every day .... but i haven't been able to pull it all together yet :(
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