Samba Parade!

The icing on the Carnaval cake, Samba Parade did not dissapoint!  What a feast for the senses...the costumes, the music, the crowd, the dancing,  It really has to be seen to be believed.

Rio de Janeiro!!!

Wow - what to say about this incredible city so far.  After almost 24 hours of travel from the Honduran island of Utila, we finally arrived in Rio de Janeiro early Friday morning.  We've been wandering around with our eyes bulging out of our heads ever since!  What a spectacle, and since we're here during Carnaval, what an experience! 

The people watching for the last two nights has been amazing, and today's tour of the city provided a great perspective and some amazing views!! 

Hope you enjoy these first set of pix - we'll be posting more in the next few days, after the Samba Parade tomorrow!!!

On Copacabana Beach!

A wacky game - soccer with a volleyball net! 
No hands, just feet, chests and heads!

Carnaval revelers on Ipanema Beach - the crowd was huge!

Some revelers having a good time!

Inside Rio's biggest cathedral

The giant statue overlooking Rio - Christ the Redeemer

Amazing views of Rio!

One of Rio's many slums

See you later, Utila!

After a fun-filled and busy 5 weeks on the Island of Utila, we said goodbye to some good friends and a lovely place! 

We rented a golf cart and drove around the island for an afternoon, did some fun stuff and ate some great food!  On top of it, I did some really nice and relaxing diving!  The best part, however, were the two weeks we spent with six people that were guests at the lodge - a group of 4 (two couples from Montana) and a couple from Mississipi.  The couple from Mississipi were Steve and Marlo - Steve is a professional wildlife photographer (some of his incredible photos at http://www.kirkpatrickwildlife.com/ ) - these two were hilarious and were full of wonderful and incredible stories.  We've been saying "y'all" alot since we met them :o)

The Montana four-some was Pat and her husband Kurt, and their close friends, Bruce and Joyce.  While everyone was super nice and really funny, it was truly inspirational to meet Joyce and Bruce.  Joyce lost the use of her legs in a car accident over 25 years ago, but after the accident, learned to scuba dive and ride horses.  She is one of the most positive people I've ever had the privelage of meeting, and I assisted her and her group in scuba diving...it was truly amazing to share with someone who's normally confined to a wheel chair the experience of freedom underwater.  The last week at the lodge was nowhere near as fun without the Group of 6. 

With the owner of Utila Lodge, Kisty, during karaoke night!

Wandering around the Jade Seahorse

really neat little lizard on a wander around the island

Lots of these cool (and big!) spiders

the beautiful surf

a wander through an abandoned hotel, now known as "the bat cave"

a side building of the bat cave

leaf cutter ants, doing their thing!

Still in Honduras...

We're still hanging out in Honduras, and will be for another week and a half!  It's been really nice to be able to unpack and settle in somewhere for a while.
Since we've been here for an extended period of time, we've seen many other travellers come and go, and have been fortunate to meet some really wonderful people.  I think I could fill a novel with the stories we've been told!
We chartered a boat with another couple to take us on a tour of an archipelago not too far from Utila called Cayos Cachinos.  It was a great way to spend a day! We visited three of the islands, we snorkelled, hiked, saw a pink python, and had a peek at where they are currently filming Survivor Italia (BTW...they are not roughing it!).
The captain of the boat that we were on always makes a point to bring something for the children that live in the village on one of the islands, as they are extremely poor and he likes to treat them.  They know his boat very well and gather on the beach when they see him coming.  When we went he brought them Oreo cookies...talk about excitement!  Some of the kids were trying to climb on the boat before it was docked to get their share.  It was as much a joyful moment as a sad one to see.  On one hand, it's hard not to project our own ideals about what life 'should be' onto other cultures. But the fact is that these villagers live in harmony with their surroundings, they were happy, hard working and very friendly.  They seemed to have it figured out...

Some props for Survivor

Pink python lounging in the sun.

The guide for our hike, Oscar.  He's about 10 years old and practically ran up the mountain we climbed in flip-flops!

Cookie distribution.

Repairing their dugout canoe.

WHALE SHARK!!!!

It finally happened!!!  We were in the water with a whale shark today!  It was about 15 feet long - still a juvenile - and swam about 10 feet right underneath us before it dove off into the blue abyss - what an incredible experience!!!  Gonna be smiling about this for a while!!

a close encounter...

Some of you may not know about Steve's and my burning desire to see a Whale Shark. It's an intense desire...bordering on obsessive...it stems from our first visit here in 2009, when we half expected to see one, given how 'common' they are.  Well, we missed out on our first visit.  So, we've been here for a week now and we figure it's about time!
Well...wouldn't you just know it, there was one spotted half an hour from here yesterday.  We geared up and piled in a boat and off we went! 
It didn't take too long to pinpoint the location, due to the huge boils of blackfin tuna on the surface, and the proximity of the Lodge's other dive boat.  We waited very impatiently for the big guy to make an appearence...some of the passengers on our boat saw him surface to feed (myself not among them).  Since the other boat was already on site when we arrived, they got to go into the water first (according to guidelines surrounding whale shark encounters).  They saw him...for the third time that day...then they departed the scene.  I don't know what they said to the Whale Shark while they were in the water with him, but he saw fit to take off!  That's it...he was gone...GONE! 
The worst thing about all this is that the group that saw him (THREE times), have been staying here for less than 24 hours!  I feel like our senoirity should count for something...no? 
I almost found it in my heart to forgive them they're trespasses until the stories and videos (yes videos!) were shared at the dinner table.  I will officially shun them for the rest of their time here.  I welcome advice for any further punishments I should inflict.

Utila, Honduras - week 1!

Hi everyone!  We're coming up on the end of our first week on the lovely Honduran Island of Utila .  We're back at Utila Lodge (after our visit in Dec 2009) and were really happy to see all of the familiar faces of the owner, Kisty, and her family and staff.  It's a wonderful and homey place with amazing food and a great atmosphere. 

I've spent a couple of days diving - it's nice and relaxing diving, warm water and lots of fish and sponges/fans/encrusting life - all the neat little things I love to find when diving.  No whale sharks yet, but we're being positive!

The only snag we hit was the other day when Caroline was bit/stung by what is believed to be a doctor fly, and maybe even two.  They're like little horseflies, and while the bites are not painful like horseflies at home, the result is a lot more annoying - itchiness along with swelling.  We went to the local doctor - Dr. John - a hippy still living in the '60's that looks, sounds, and smells like Tommy Chong - but a very cool and thorough doctor.  The swelling has gone down considerably, but still not back to normal.

This week, we'll be starting our Spanish lessons, I'm continuing working for the Lodge, and we'll continue to spend as much time in the water as possible! 

Thans for reading - another post to follow soon!

Steve & Caroline

Utila Lodge from the boat dock.

Moray eel saying hi

Cool swim-through

 



Joining a school of about 30-40 Atlantic Spadefish



Left Foot - post doctor fly bite - Right foot, normal...ouch!