Honestly-

As I look back through all of the subjects I chose to write about since April 14 when we landed on Roatán, I have to wonder if I am painting a picture of Paradise with no downsides?

Though I know we are all smart enough to realize that nothing is perfect and there is no place on earth that is completely attractive, I don't want to be guilty of exaggerating Paradisism (new word). 

The bugs are every bit as bad (worse) than what everyone says. If I had to list just one drawback of living here, the biters would be my one and only. If you live in Florida, you understand the no-see-ums battle. Elsewhere, you've likely dealt with mosquitos. We've fought with those, but nothing like these biters.

Sandflies, sandfleas, biting midges, no-see-ums.

People have all kinds of names for these little insect jerks, but the common theme is these teeny tiny bugs can be a big pain in the ass on your trip to Roatan, if you're not prepared  -  

I've read extensively about these nasty things. I find disagreement over what they are called, but no disputes over their capability to make you crazy with itching. If you plan to visit (and I hope you do!) please spend some time reading online about these nasties and what you can do to help keep yourself protected and comfortable.

This is a good place to start: 

www.roatanet.com/deal-with-tropical-bugs.

These are in my arsenal:

Keeping all of this in the forefront, our first priority for choosing the location for our permanent home will consider the elevation and Tradewinds to help us stay cool and as bug-free as possible.

As we work to discover how minimalistic we can live, some absolutes have become apparent in just these past three weeks. For instance, while we might be able to live without A/C (I make that statement so very loosely as we've not yet experienced the brutal summer heat), we will not settle for connectivity issues with our internet service. I love my All Things Administrative business and my clients, necessitating reliable connectivity. And we do love our social media and staying in touch with friends and family. So reliable internet service has become a priority when we begin house-hunting.

 As an aside: This blog was supposed to post for your reading today (Thursday, May 6); however, there was a huge internet outage yesterday. This is something out of our control and could happen anywhere we live.

A downed Fiber Pole is affecting service to the following areas:

Oak Ridge, Politilly Bight, Milton Bight, Terra Chula, Jonesville, Punta Gorda 1 and 2, Pandy Town, Punta Blanca and Paya Bay.

Our crew is on site and working on the repair. We apologize for the delay in service and thank you for your patience while repairs are being made.

I asked Mike what one thing he felt so far is the biggest drawback to living here. He did not say bugs and he had no hesitation saying "mobility". I wasn't sure what he meant so I asked.

"The inability to just go off and do something. Every move we make has to be planned out."

He is right about that and I can see how that would be difficult for the spontaneous personality that belongs to him. I'm the planner, list-maker, to-doer in this partnership so taking the required cautious steps settles well with me. Balance is found somewhere in the middle. Again. Always. Well, almost always.

To Mike's point, there is no more jumping in the truck to run to the store when we run out of coffee. Instead:

1. Get the passports out of the safe;

2. Check the backpack for water and puppy snacks, glasses, notes, shopping list, pen, bug spray, wet & dry rags, trash bag;

3. Load said backpack and dogs and humans into the truck;

4. Enter the date, time mileage and destination to the log (because that's what Cathy does);

5. Drive an hour to Eldon's. Be sure to enjoy the scenery!

6. Buy coffee.

7. Drive home and reverse the process, also known as unplan or deprep.

Unlike the biting bugs issue, there is no remedy for the lack of quick mobility. Except to stop and ask ourselves, "what else would you be doing if you weren't preparing for a trip down island?" 

Living here would require prep time for just going down to the beach. A trip to the grocery store would involve a boat ride before loading into the truck. Just thinking ahead.....  We've got the elevation and awesome Tradewinds at this location!

Our understanding is that choosing to live southside on the east end provides increased elevation and the oh-so-wonderful Tradewinds. 

So, we are gradually moving into house-hunting mode (slow like turtles) and we will be looking "windward on the southeast side of the island." 

Begone you nasty flies and heat & humidity discomfort!

Every human has his or her own version of Paradise. We can't all share the same one or places like Roatan would be no longer quiet and private. Be sure to find your ideal Paradise and live your dream while you are young enough to do all the things!

 

(photo of old people on a beach)

 

WEEK #2 IN PHOTOGRAPHS 

The days have all started to run together so I started a Daily Log. Don't laugh, it isn't age-related, just typical of island life. I think.

Day 13.

I notice the days seem to run together (gloriously!), but I want to remember what each day brought to us. So, this listing will simply be events of each day, keeping in mind I likely forget to add many 😊

·        Up at 4:30;

·        Half-mile walk on the beach around 7:00;

·        Showered Leo, Rocco, and myself;

·        Preparing for trip to town. We ran out of coffee!;

·        5-hour trip. Took 206 photos along the way- 52 of those were salvageable for BLOG;

·        We went to the bank to try to resolve the missing 8k wire (no luck yet, but Katherine is working on it);

·        Went to ACE Hardware for some odds & ends

·        Went to Lucky Lee- got a footstool and a Queen sheet set;

·        Went to Eldon’s for groceries (including 6# of coffee);

·        We split the lists and take turns going into each store;

·       Tiring unloading the truck (although easier since we pulled the truck alongside the building); unpacked and put everything away. That called for another shower;

·        Mike ordered our dinner, shrimp and fries, from the cantina;

·        We watched part of Blacklist and part of Octopus while we ate;        

        In bed before 9:00.

Day 14.

·        Up at 4:38, though I’d been awake off and on; turned the coffee on around 4:30;

·        Fed Gizmo right away. How could I forget?;

·        Weighed myself so it would update Fitbit;

·   Booted up computer and happy it immediately connected;

·    Suddenly, there was no internet service. Ours is completely down; Camp Bay is spotty;

·        We walked the dogs 1 mile;

·        I fried bacon and made French toast (from my homemade bread);

·        The veggie guy came. Spent just over $11 on SO much produce;

·        Tech called Mike back and figured out the internet issue. Fixed in time for me to participate in my 1:00 Zoom;

·        Made rice with Poblano pepper, red pepper, onion, carrot & broccoli (we ate the rainbow!);

·        Took the dogs for a little walk after our dinner and before theirs;

·        Watched some of the Blacklist;

·        Worked on publishing Mike’s piece for this blog;

·        I’ll be in bed by 8:00 this evening.

 

 

 

Two trips down island (we've learned it is not called "going to town") in one week. It is 33 miles roundtrip, with another 20 miles to the storage locker. 

I took pictures from the truck so you could ride along.

These three little turtles have been with us for many years, always traveling on our vehicles' dashboards, and now they are on board in Roatan. Can you guess their names?

This is some sort of bar or restaurant just down the road from us.

I shot quite a few homesteads. Most were taken through the windshield so quality isn't great but gives you some idea of the area architecture.

Long and winding roads. The roads are pretty bad but the scenery makes up for it.

This path leads down to Camp Bay Beach, which is a public beach next to where we are staying. 

Back on the road again after that short detour to check out the entrance to Camp Bay Beach.

This is an ear-popping climb

Look at that elevation!

I don't know if you can see it, but the foliage is laden with dust. There hasn't been rain in a long time.

This gravel pit supplies gravel for the entire island.

Look at the rock border, hand-stacked along the fence.

We thought this place sold honey. (It's a restaurant!)

The Caribbean Sea is our constant companion.

This gravel road is 5.3 miles long. At Punta Gorda the road magically becomes asphalt.

Island Dogs are everywhere. We've also encountered horses and a cow in the road.

I guess no place is devoid of political and advertising signs.

Notice the change in road surface- wow, what a difference!

This little boy stood in the middle of the road collecting donations. You see this often.

This is called Five Flags. We like to stop here to take in the magnificent scenery and give the dogs a chance to stretch their legs and stuff.

View from Five Flags

Church of the Living God.
I wish I was a person full of courage. I would love to get out and photograph through the windows- from what I could see from the truck, it looks spectacular inside. We could see writing on the walls.

This is a Catholic Church

Mike loves the stairs to this home. Lots of work, right?!

I look forward to one day having our names on a signpost at the road up the hill to our home!

The woman who lives here sells clothing. Venta de ropa.

Down island we have 3-4 regular stops:
ACE Hardware (where you can find nearly everything), Eldon's for groceries, Lucky Lee for household goods and furnishings, and our bank which is called Davivienda.

Twenty more miles down the road is our storage locker at Roatan Storage in the Coral Stone Plaza. We are so grateful to DIP Shipping for getting all three of our shipments safely to Roatan from Miami, FL. 

Heading Home
When we hit the gravel road I tell the anxious dogs, "we're almost home, guys."
And Mike says, "Mama's lyin' to ya, boys."
5.3 miles takes us a half hour to drive.

HOME!

This last trip took six hours. We left at 6:00 in the morning to meet DIP Ship at our storage locker at 8:00. It took a while to find the things we wanted from the bins and get them safely loaded in the back of the truck.

We stopped at a Circle K for gas and our breakfast of baleadas and "limonade."

Mike was in search of island honey. He found a source near Cal's Cantina but we missed a turn and never got there.

Mike has become good friends with a local boat builder. Before we moved Mike asked what we could bring him from the States and learned he needed headlights for his truck. Those came in our last shipment so off we went to Oakridge (I should have taken pictures, even I couldn't believe where we were!) I only got these two from the shipyard:

Mike enjoyed meeting his friend in person finally. There is a boat to be built for us in the near future. Stay tuned.

It was a long day but we felt like we got a lot of loose ends tied up. That was yesterday. As I write this on Saturday evening I'll let you know there is STILL one bin to be unpacked. It will stay on the porch waiting, until I'm good and ready to tackle it! Good to be home.