ruthkennedysretirementblog

No this critter was not in our yard.
The storm is pretty well over and he was washed up on the beach…. at least this part.

It is amazing the amount of wildlife/critters of all kinds we have seen in our yard.

This little fella, an Agouti, was in the back yard. He is a rodent and was sitting up like a squirrel eating. By the time I realized what it was I barely got a picture…. and felt lucky to get this.

The last three days we have an an incredible amount of rain.
As soon as it gets dark those little frogs get busy.
The amount of racket they make is incredible, Daryl did a great job of keeping us entertained with his lip-synching.

This is a blue land crab, guess those critters like the rainy season.
They only have one big claw, and are a good size, about 6 inches across the shell.
We have holes around the house and the shed out back.
They dig the holes and dive right in…. full or water or not.
Hard to get a picture as they are quite shy and with any noise or light, they are gone.
And of course I have such a light step!!!

This morning we had a purple crab!!

Not sure if a gecko is a bug or just eats them….
The one directly above was dive bombing around my head….
By the time his picture was taken he was a little bit flat…(

We had a little humming bird come sit on the clothesline during the rain…. let us get within two feet of him so he must have been exhausted.
Not sure you can tell from the second picture but he is about the size of a clothes peg.

And then there are chickens….lots of chickens. Daryl calls them our guard chickens.

The rooster is totally screwed up… doesn’t crow in the morning, but every afternoon around four he starts up!

Then we have a cat who hangs around, affectionately known as Goo, and Doris the pup who has been loaned to the lady who lives upstairs.

Tons more critters but that is enough for now.

Cheers
Ruth

One of my retirement goals is to do volunteer work at a clinic while we are living on Roatan. During previous trips I had been to a clinic and knew this was possible.
Now that my tummy troubles are all over I was good to go, so bright and early Monday morning….well more like 9AM…… I got on the bus and went to the clinic.

Up a short walk and you can see the clinic through the trees, on the right. It is in a beautiful location with both an inside and outside waiting room.

There is also a playground and a food vendor.

It is a full service clinic, I was told 80 babies were delivered there last year.

My interview was two minutes…or less. There was no
paperwork.

Very friendly people and I started right away.

My job was to count pills…. apparently everything comes in large containers and is decanted into small plastic envelopes of 30 pills each. Then they are ready for dispensing as needed. Reminded me of preparing meds 40 years ago.
The pharmacy is quite small.

And I got to leave through the staff door!

Will be going Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and the next time will have a proper volunteer tee shirt and a name tag.

Quite looking forward to it.

Ruth

Friday November 9, 2018

Everyday since we have been in West End it has been sunny and hot…. surely can’t last as this is the rainy season.

The last few days has been spent doing tons of cleaning. I would never have thought of myself as a neat freak but Daryl disagrees.
Also a touch of travellers tummy keeping me close to home:(

I could not begin to tell you how many hours went into cleaning the stove alone….. both of us taking a turn

Might not be North American standards but working for us!!

After trying my best to walk through the front door… and I have the bruised forehead to show for it…. we put some sticky butterflies on the glass.

Lyche fruit from a road side vendor so tasty.

Our two “major” purchases, old school BBQ works like a charm, and not a chunk of ice in the papaya smoothie!

What evening would be complete without having a gelato while sitting on the beach.

Well earned relax time.

Remembrance Day coming up…. lest we forget.
Ruth

We arrived Sunday evening and it is fun setting up home in a different country. It is going to take a while getting organized.

It is hot, hot, hot. 30C in the day time and 27C….or thereabouts…. during the night.
Amazing how the heat makes one tired.

The house is adequate, we have the bottom and there are two apartments upstairs. Each has a single lady living there.  

We are a short five minutes walk to the beach, the road is max one car width…. we just move to the side if a car comes by.

It is just a little town, the Main Street is adjacent to the water. Not high season yet so kind of quiet.

The beach is just as I remember and sure did not disappoint. We stopped here to have an ice cream.

Beautiful vegetation.
Have no idea what the berries on the palm tree are, have to find out.

The gas station is on the right, that is where we go to get cash. The turtle on top of the building next door is a new addition… sure hard to miss. Looks like a lot of money, but only worth about $27 Canadian.

Our home for the next six months looks like we are going to be able to tolerate it…lol

Cheers!
Ruth

Our last full day in the jungles of Belize was November 4.

Ian Anderson’s place is very organized, with friendly, efficient staff.
Would highly recommend it.

We crossed the Belize River in a tiny boat with no seats and arrived at a magnificent resort called the Banana Bank.

Daryl was a natural, saddled his own horse…. me I didn’t have a clue, thankfully we had good guides.

And then we went through the jungle, muddy and hilly in places. Nobody fell off their horse…lol
I had hoped to take more pictures of the beautiful surroundings but was too busy hanging on!

After two hours riding we had lunch. Two days later my hips and thighs are still hurting….guess I was   gripping that poor horse very tightly!!

Two unwanted guests came back to the lodge firmly attached to my ankles. Freaked me out.

Who would believe having fun can be so tiring. Thanks Daryl, that was a pretty amazing early birthday present.

Yesterday, November 5 we came to Roatan. It will take us a while to settle into our winter home….and to get caught up on sleep.

Cheers
Ruth

.

Day 3 At Ian Anderson’s resort we went to the zoo and saw an angry  jaguar when a bunch of little kids got close to his enclosure.

And other animals too…..

A tapir…

  And of course monkeys.

 

And of course friendly snakes!!

Then zip lining  

Another successful day!!

Our second day at Ian Anderson’s Cave Branch Jungle Lodge was packed full of adventure.
We went cave tubing, a first for both of us. 

Yes, we went into the cave about 300 feet under a mountain. It was spectacular. Thank goodness for headlamps.

The stalagmites and stalactites were impressive.

Awesome colours and shapes.

And of course we had to have a bit of fun painting each others faces…..sometimes you just gotta be a kid!

And then my camera died.

We came home happy and tired.

Ruth

Time to shed the winter clothes. And have or first meal of stew pork….for airport food not bad at all.

Another quick flight to Belmopan, 17 minutes from start to finish, in the smallest plane I have ever been in. We had to hold our carry on luggage on our laps. Belmopan is the capital of Belize, the airport is the size of a small bedroom. Super friendly and helpful people.

Tiny plane

This side trip to Belize was an early surprise birthday present from Daryl. I had no idea what to expect. It has been amazing. We were picked up for about a 45 minute drive into the jungle. Sweet place. Our “house” has three screened walls in each room totally surrounded by jungle, such a cacophony of sound No night pollution in the sky…..totally black!

So that is our first day of our mini vacation in this retirement trip. First time in a long time we arrived at our destination with luggage!!!

We have very limited internet service, only in the dining area. That feels kind of weird.

A New Stage in Life

Who would have thought the time would come when wintering in a warm climate would be, not only a thought, but a reality. In just a few short days Daryl and I will be spending the winter in Roatan, Honduras.

Will I miss that 6 AM alarm….. not for a minute.

However a walk on the local beach to watch the sunset could become the new normal!

Stay tuned for retirement adventures.

Ruth