Day Ten

Woke up today around 8am – had a tough time wanting to get out of bed... scrambled around for a little while and finally made my way to the dive shop. I was supposed to dive first thing in the morning but when I got there I changed it to 11am. I wanted to say goodbye to the girls before they left. I headed over in a water taxi to West Bay, got lucky and as soon as I walked up there were 2 other people waiting to go. I got to West Bay, and went to Fosters restaurant and got a coffee. Logged on to their WIFI after a difficult time trying to get their password right. I messaged Sara and finally got them to come out of their room. They thought I was at Fosters in West End, not West Bay – Luckily I saw them as they walked out of their room and caught up to them. 

They wanted to go to West End for some Banana Pancakes before they left – which is completely understandable – Delicious. We tried a few different restaurants  got separated at one point and then luckily I ran into them and we found a place that was open. Went to Rudy’s, got our pancakes, even saw some macaw’s in their cages down at the far end where Rudy’s was. During breakfast I was scrambling to finish my “deep dive – knowledge review”. I went on the shipwreck dive today which counts towards my next certification and I had to get it done. I finally got it done just before the pancakes arrived. I woke up with a little bit of an issue with my stomach – Roatan had finally caught up to me, eating all this crazy food and living their lifestyle. I took a pill my doctor gave me and hoped it would make me feel better. 

On my way back to the dive shop from breakfast, I almost threw up a little – I think it was because I ate too fast since I needed to be at the dive shop for 11am. I started feeling better as I went through my knowledge review with my instructor.  

We headed out for the reef at around 11:30am. When we got there, we discovered that we were the only there. This is appearantly quite rare, so me and Mel got the entire wreck to ourselves, which was pretty cool. This dive we went down to a max of 105ft/31m for a time of 31min. The deeper you go, the more air you consume. Saw some cool stuff, a Spanish Lobster, a Spotted Trunkfish, a Smooth Trunkfish, Yellowtail and Black Groupers, Dog Snappers and a Bearded FIreworm. Mel had never seen a Spanish Lobster before, and I was the one who found it – so I felt pretty good about that. After the dive, my stomach was feeling much better. To be honest, I thought I was going to puke during the dive – and that doesn’t happen very often, but I’ve heard its not the funnest thing you can do. Me and Mel did my dive log book, and then headed out to find some lunch. 

We went to the C-Level Restaraunt. I got the Steak Fajita’s and she got a Bacon Cheeseburger – she was craving a burger. Chatted for a while about diving and other random things. After that we parted ways, I was tired and went back to my room to take a nap. Didnt wake up till around 530pm. I got showered up quickly and ready for the night.

 I headed down to Sundowners for a beer and to watch the sundown. It was very hazy today, they were burning Sugar Cane feilds on the mainland and the smoke has blown over and made it fairly grey looking on Roatan. Still hot has Hell. Hung out at Sundowners for a beer, tried to get the TV working but couldn’t figure it out. So I walked down to the Buena Vida for a beer and to get some dinner. Got the Tostadas special, for about 6 bucks. I was a massive taco salad, with meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatos, etc etc – very delicious and cheap. I continued drinking beers there, and my friend Kevin and Lance walked by and I called them in. Had a few beers with them and then they headed back home because they may have had a few too many the night before.

 I stuck around for a bit, moved to the bar to listen to the first part of music trivia. Didnt take long before I got sucked in to staying for music trivia and met a bunch of new friends. Sarah, Amanda, Allan, Ruth and I all played, with a couple of part time players as well. It was fun – took a couple more hours and a few more beers, But after being there for probably 4-5 hours, my tab was only 20 bucks with a tip. WOW. Wish Canada was that cheap. I chatted with my new friends for a while before heading back to my room. I have my last dive tomorrow morning at 9am, I am going to miss it. It is seriously difficult to think that I am leaving this island on Wednesday. 

If you immerse yourself in the culture here, it starts to feel like home. I have made so many new friends, learned so much about life, and also learned about what I miss at home and what is important to me. I can’t wait to see my friends and family – but I also wish I didn’t have to leave everybody here. What an amazing island – for those of you who are looking to get out of your shell and do some real travelling – not an all-inclusive – I cant recommend this island enough, and I would be more than willing to be your tour guide here! I hope everybody is driving safe up in Alberta, and I also hope all that horrible snow has melted by the time I get home. Have a good night.