Year 2, First to Panama City

               Hard to believe this is the 6th day since we left Calgary to come to Panama.

On October 29 Heather and Mike (just love the warm house coat) gave us a ride to the airport at 3:30 AM. So early in the year to be so cold, -14C. Once we arrived in Panama City, even while walking through the “tunnel” it was hot and muggy…..felt wonderful.

The lounge at the Calgary airport was open at 04:30, so we were able to get  full hot breakfast, the one in Houston was okay too…..seeing we had a delay with a 6 hour lay over….. and the wine was good!

Yep, we had a seat at the back of the bus on both the flights.

The first thing we noticed when we pulled up to the hotel was the addition of bike lanes. A couple of years ago this was a four lane street.

This is a really pretty city. After breakfast, well really it was lunch as we were too late to get breakfast, Daryl and I went for a walk. The malecon (boardwalk) along the waterfront was about a 10 minute walk from the hotel. Thankfully it was an overcast day as it was too hot for me when the sun came peeking through.


We stopped at the fish market for a snack. The fish was very fresh as the boats had just come in. We saw many, many crates of fish passing our table.

We made it to Casco Viejo, the old city. There is an incredible amount of rejuvenation and restoration going on. 

We looked at churches. For such a small area there are lots of churches. From the wall plaques they mostly seem to have been built in the 1600’s.


One of the churches had the most incredible display of Bethlehem.

And then it was time for a cool beverage…. the papaya smoothie was delicious and refreshing. Daryl still prefers beer on a hot day.


The above photo was taken on our way from the hotel to Cosca Viejo late morning. Then on our way back, several hours later, the tide had come in. Virtually the same spot….
This is where the fishing boats come in.


The malecon goes forever. The park all along the way is very well maintained.

Might not be able to read the dog sign, but the red X is self explanatory.

This Sunday is Independence Day, the gal dressed in a traditional costume is stunning.

An interesting day, but my poor feet. Walked 18,000 steps!!

The next morning (another one of those bright and early starts) we left Panama City, and six hours later we arrived in Pedasi.
The shuttle dropped us off at a hostel.

A short taxi ride later ($1.25) and we were at our home for the next three months.

Time to get out of those travel clothes, shower, relax and have a cold beverage.

Cheers!

Ruth

Vacation with the kids Roatan April 2019

The two weeks with Cheryl, Adam and the kids went by quickly. Cheryl was able to do her open water certification and then go diving with the guys.



While they were diving I got to play with Hannah and Davis. A visit to the chocolate factory is always fun!

The kids really wanted to hold a sloth, however we picked a Sunday to go see them not knowing the park was closed. A really good alternative was feeding the iguanas.
Not much to see at French Key!
A couple of lions in a small cage;.
We stopped at Palmetto Bay for lunch, the kids got to play in the pool.

Evening entertainment!

Not many rainy days…big waves and still warm.

Calilou’s…. the best place for baleadas.

The breakfast of champions!!

My favourite spot, at the gelato shop.


Pretty ladies.

A must do for a little girl.


Dinner the last night was at The Lillypond. Chess anyone?

Two tired little puppies.

Sure didn’t need a blanket.


And then it was over….. but such good memories.

Adam, Cheryl and the grandkids

Water babies

This post is a little late coming, seeing that we have been home for two weeks already.
We had a wonderful vacation with Adam, Cheryl, Hannah and Davis. Immediately on arrival we hit the beach.

We were able to enjoy pizza all winter as there is a really good place, even gluten free!!

Next day we got up bright and early….. somewhere around 9 AM…. and went to Punta Gorda. It was a long hot walk on the beach.
On our way home we stopped at another beach and the kids were able to fulfill part of their wish list.
Hannah and Cheryl went horseback riding in the ocean and Davis and Adam went seadooing…. those guys sure like speed.

Our neighbour gave the kids coconuts and cacao. Not only did they have the coconut water and flesh, Daryl also made chocolate.

Also have to try climbing a 100 year old mango tree!

And what vacation would be complete if a wild cat didn’t give birth to two baby kittens outside the upstairs neighbours front door.

My favourite beach…. might have something to do with the gelato shop!

Hannah wanted to go on a hike while in Roatan…. we did but it was along the beach to West End. 
Sometimes you just have to take a big bottle of water!!
Always something interesting to do …or see.
Adam can go upside down too!

We made it to “the wall”, the kids got to do some pretty good snorkelling.

And then we took a water taxi home.

Cheers!

Copan Hot Springs

 

The hot springs were an hours drive outside Copan, the distance was not great, just that it was a mountainous, switch-back dirt road. 
There were houses along most of the way, some rather nice, some not so much. We were told the new housing starts may be the result of money sent home from family members working outside the country.
There was a swigging bridge and then a tunnel to get to the very private hot springs.
Unfortunately I deleted all the pictures from my camera, so we only have a couple on my phone and mostly video’s on Daryls camera.
The pools followed a stream and were up, then down. There must have been a thousand steps and at least twenty pools… and all very private. Lots of people there but we didn’t see them. 
This one is a mud bath.
The pools ranged from cool to scalding hot…..had to stick a toe in first to check the temperature.
Daryl really liked the hot hot pools.
This pool was hot on one side and cool on the other…..
This was a shower, super forceful and very hot. 
After we were dressed, Daryl and I walked back across the swinging bridge for one more picture… that water sure knows how to wreck a hair-do:)
Not sure those three short videos will work…. two 10 second and one 4 seconds….. but giving it  a shot. 
Cheers
Ruth

Myan ruins at Copan

The ruins at Copan are probably the best, and largest, I have seen. This site was about a kilometre from town and the only one we had time to see.
It was well maintained, and so clean… take a look at the broom this guy is using.
Several trees at the entrance to the park had metal around the bottoms and big “drums” at the top. This is protected nests for macaws. 
As we were leaving the park, there were squawking macaws all over the place. As you can see the nests are being used. Pretty birds, but man, are they noisy.
This is just going to be a bunch of pictures of the ruins in no particular order…. so much history, so many stories, but just pictures today. Our guide was very knowledgeable and by the time we left the park my brain was overflowing.
It is hard to describe the size of this site. Our tour lasted about 3 hours and we barely stopped walking the entire time.
So much detail.
I
Most definitely a memorable day! We could easily have spent a couple more days as there were underground excavations. Also there were sites in different locations around town that our tour guide would have taken us to see. 
Cheers
Ruth





Going to Copan


This is our third year coming to The Bay Island of Roatan,  and we had never been to the mainland. Our first trip off the island to rio Cangrejal was a wonderful experience…. this time we decided to go a little further afield….to Copan Ruinas

Our flight left Roatan at 6:30 AM. (we might have been the only people at the airport) and 45 minutes later we were in San Pedro Sula, the closest airport to Copan. Then a four hour bus ride.
There is a bus terminal at the airport, however as Daryl and I were the only people waiting, we were sent by taxi to the main terminal, about a half hour away.
The bus did not leave until noonish….
It was a big greyhound style bus. We purchased first class tickets (a reclining seat), but the bus over sold so we got to sit in a regular seat which was just fine.
Finally at 4:30 PM we arrived in Copan.

Tri-moto is the taxi of choice and those little vehicles can sure whip around.

The bed and breakfast was lovely.

The ground were so well maintained, this bunch of bananas were outside our door.

There were flowers of every description everywhere. 

We took a bunch of pictures around town. it was hilly with cobblestone streets.

The sidewalks were built for one.
And we picked up a friend along the way. This pup walked around town with us and came all the way back to our hotel.

The restaurants were certainly high end,,,, and really good food.

The locally made cheese was so good… we might have eaten too much.

There was lots of construction/upgrades on the road coming into town.

I would have to say, even if we had not been able to go to the hot springs or the ruins, this town would have been worthwhile visiting all on its own.

Cheers
Ruth

Going to the East End of the island

Camp Bay Beach

Well, let me say first of all that I deleted this original post in error…. so here’s to re-creation.

Daryl and I had never made it to the far end of the island. As our time on Roatan is whipping by, it was time to go exploring again.

We got in the car and drove to the end of the road….almost. …the last eight miles or so were a dirt road, and then it became a track.

The scenery was absolutely spectacular.

We turned around and went back to Camp Bay Lodge.


The lodge was rustic for sure.
The food was good!
There were a few other people there but not many.

The lady who owns it…. I think…. is from Canada. She said they spend six months in Canada and six at the lodge.
They have two small children. The young lad goes to a local school. Mom is French, dad is German, they speak English at home and the school is Spanish. Quite the variety.

We didn’t swim as it started to rain, besides the water dropped off quickly and way out of my comfort zone.

Daryl making me laugh.

We were trying to find the public beach. There are no road signs so we ended up on someone’s private property, and drove through lovely mangroves. 

Thanks to Daryl’s eagle eyes we found the beach.
It literally went on forever…. we tried but did not make it to either end.
There were lots of families picnicking in the trees, and lots of kids in the water.


Next stop was Paya Bay, an upscale condominium that was in the middle of nowhere.
Busy lunch crowd though.

It had spectacular views.

There were lots of rules at Paya Bay…. although it has the only nude beach on the island.

Oak Ridge, It seems the east side of the island has more rugged terrain, and more fishing villages.

Mariposa is another new development that will have spectacular views.
Sadly there are areas of the infrastructure that remains a work. in progress.
All in all another enjoyable day.
Cheers
Ruth

My last day at the clinic

Hard to believe almost five months volunteering at the clinic has come to an end.
My last day was interesting as I got to go on a field trip with a couple of other volunteers and the community health nurse, Karla.

It was kind of like a well baby clinic. The mom’s brought the kids, they were weighed and heights taken. The nurse gave them ‘a once over’, checked the status of their vaccination, etc.

 The kids were so cute. One little fella provided entertainment.

There is also a community organizer, Leeandra, who lets the mom’s know when the nurse will be in the community. She sets up, helps with the kids and documentation (no computers), and then the clean up.

Back at the clinic there was a farewell and then I was on my way!!

The community set up was under a bunch of trees in a yard. Leeandra identified a couple of different fruits that I didn’t even see. She called this one a Locust fruit, “like locust and honey in the bible”.  I cannot remember the Spanish name.

This one is a monkey something…. both edible so I brought them home to give it a try.

The Locust fruit had a very hard shell and once cracked has quite the odour.  Leandra asked what it smelled like, I said dirty socks….she used a much ruder term…..

When I googled it, apparently another term for it is “Stinky Feet”.
The fruit itself did not taste bad. It was like eating dust with flavour. The way to eat it is cut it up and pour honey over it.

Daryl does not look impressed with the smell.

But the taste was ok.

The monkey fruit had a citrus smell.
It had a starchy texture and kind of tasted like a mango.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at the clinic…. who knows maybe one day I will go back again.

Cheers
Ruth

First trip to the mainland

We had an amazing trip to the mainland!
Cangrejal River
Getting around Roatan can be expensive or not…. so at 5:30 in the morning we took a ‘colectivo’ (a multistop minibus) to the ferry terminal.  The ferry ride was about 90 minutes to the mainland.  A driver met us and it took an hour to get to the mountain resort.  We went through different areas of La Ceiba. All the way up the mountain we drove besides the Cangrejal River.                                  
This lovely little resort, Omega Eco Resort, was tucked in amongst the trees.  It sure did not disappoint.   Everything was either made on site or locally.  It also employes locals.
      
The dining room had tables in multiple little rooms.
Food was superb!
The rooms were from dorm style to luxury… we were somewhere in the middle.

The grounds were spectacular. The pool is continuously fed by a mountain stream…. so no chemicals. Once a week it is drained and scrubbed.
Someone told us this worker has been trying for a year to get permanent work at the resort, and apparently pool cleaning once a week does not pay very well.

The rock table made a lovely resting spot…. but who rested!

This is an out door shower, totally made from rocks.
It is hard to see, but the shower head is a conch shell.

The highlight of the trip was definitely white water rafting. The pictures do not do justice, the rocks were massive…. some as high as a house. The river has gone down considerably, when it is higher the rafting is over 7 kms. we only did half of that….. so we got to climb rocks and swim….. the swimming in swift current was definitely not in my comfort zone…. but hey, it is now crossed of my bucket list.
The walk from the lodge down to the river was a tad challenging.


Sometimes we had the option to jump and swim…. or walk around the rocks. Guess there is no surprise in our choices.





And then it was over! Back to the resort for a carb loaded lunch…. I for sure had a ton of adrenalin shooting around my body!!

In the afternoon, Daryl and I walked back to a suspension bridge that we had gone under on our rafting trip. Were just happened to see another raft doing the same trip. We were probably a hundred feet above this raft.

This is a little craft shop just outside the resort.
We wanted to get a bottle of this hooch
A fermented root….never heard of it!
But there was no one around to buy it from.

The grounds were extensive.
First time I have ever seen star fruit growing wild…. and we got to try it.

Also sour lemon, supposed to make a great marinade for chicken.

The hiking trails ranged from easy to really tough….

Daryl did the most difficult in his flip flops.

A well earned local craft beer

Too bad the picture doesn’t show just how lovely the waterfall was.

All in all a really great trip to the mainland.
And we did get to bring a local drink home.
Cheers
Ruth

More about the clinic

Throughout my career I have had the privilege of working with many wonderful people.

Have to say, my first volunteer “job” has been quite the experience, I again have had the privilege of getting to know the most lovely, dedicated people.
With permission, I was able to get pictures of some of the staff and volunteers.

Maryori, the pharmacist, is the person I spent the most time with.

Counting pills may seem like a simple task, but it is an important one.

Just imagine a pharmacist without an assistant. With each visit, the patients are given the required medication. Someone has to put the pills from large bottles into little packages…. imagine if the pharmacist had to do that by herself for every client.  And there can be a hundred patients a day going through the clinic!

 Our “work” space.

Gaby is a young lady who volunteered her time during the two month school break (equivalent to summer break in Canada). We spent many hours together.

Bobby is a young man from the US who was at the clinic for a month.

Kandy  is the head nurse. She has given me the opportunity to help her (more likely hinder her) with triage for a couple of hours in the morning.

As much as I appreciate the need for counting pills, this is a wonderful change. Who knows, it might even help me a bit with Spanish.

An examination room.

Aydelet is another nurse that I have the pleasure of knowing.

Karla is the community Health Nurse.

There is an opportunity for me to spend a day in the community with her prior to the end of my stay on Roatan. Yeah!

Two of the physicians in the clinic.

Dr. Galeas

                                          Dr. Lester

Certainly there are more physicians, this is the only two photos I have.


This is Everlie , she is a nurse in pediatrics.

The unit is bright, cheerful and colorful

            Everlie with Madison, a volunteer.

Some of the admin staff

Martha
                                                              Allison

The receptionist (Alejandra), cleaning lady (Gladys) and security guard (Wilmer)… all have a friendly smile

The dental office…. haven’t been there yet but sure plan on it.

And last, but not least is Tabatha, the volunteer co-ordinator.

Tabatha met me on the first day and gave me the grand tour, and then the opportunity to volunteer at the clinic.

 


This ambulance is not part of the clinic.
Daryl and I saw it one day when we were out and about.

My understanding is, if someone quite ill comes to the clinic, they will be stabilized and sent by ambulance to the hospital.

This has been a really great retirement experience which I am hoping to be able to continue.

Hasta luego amigos, gracias por dejarme tomar tus fotos.
Cheers
Ruth