Does Roatan have spiders, snakes and other creepy crawlies? That's a definite yes, read on to find out more about the jungle creatures that make Roatan home.IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE PHOTOS OF SNAKES OR SPIDERS, PRESS 'BACK' ON YOUR BROWSER NOW!There, you've been warned.And here is a harmless lizard before the scary photos. As you know, I'm currently housesitting. What I didn't mention is that this house is literally in the Roatan jungle. That's okay with me. But I ...
Creatures
My First Whale Shark!
I have crossed nearly everything off my "diving in Roatan" bucket list - remember when I saw a pod of wild dolphins, TWO hammerhead sharks, and found a GoPro Hero3??Well, the only thing left on the list was a whale shark. To see one of these gentle giants (they can reach up to 60ft long!) was one of my lifelong dreams, and one of the reasons I ended up settling in Roatan...they are often spotted here and by the next island over, Utila, and I was determined to see one.I had ...
Doing my part – a lionfish recipe.
Lionfish are basically the coolest looking fish EVER.sourceAm I right??Okay, but here's the thing guys. Lionfish are in the Caribbean. Actually, they're all over the eastern coast of the Americas, and they're spreading FAST. And they're not supposed to be here. Lionfish are native to the Indo-Pacific, where they have natural predators and their levels are kept in check by mother nature.Lionfish have no natural predators in the Atlantic. They reproduce at astounding ...
Lady Luck is a Mermaid.
I've talked before a few times about how lucky I've been here, and how expat life here is like a roller coaster with some pretty big ups sometimes. Well, lady luck has been visiting me again...and this time underwater!In the past month, several times I was not supposed to have been on certain dives... I pestered my co-worker to switch, or got on a different boat because my student asked to switch, etc. And holy crap, have I ever been rewarded!First... a pod of 30 wild dolphins ...
Come for a dive with me!
I know, I know. You'd all really like to come diving with me, right? Since most of you can't, I'm going to take you on one with me in this post. Let's go!ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT KASEY DYKES 2013 UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. USED WITH PERMISSION.Here's your dive briefing:photo credit: noel verobaWe're heading out to a dive site called Magic Bobby and we're going on a lionfish hunt! Roatan has a protected marine park around it, but lionfish are an invasive ...
The countdown is on.
I don't have much to say today. I'm having a stressful time with everything except my dive instructor stuff. I only have two more days in the classroom/water and then Thursday the instructor exams start. I wish I was a little more positive today, but sometimes you just have a bad day.In the meantime, here's a photo of me being a rockstar with two Caribbean reef sharks (see if you can find both). I'm on the left. Enjoy. ...
I’m really here.
I remind myself of that pretty much every day. I'm really here. I finally did it. And it's going just fine!Before we get started here, I'd like to encourage you to check out a couple blogs that friends of mine are writing:Kelsey at Get Fit. Be Married. is writing the cutest blog of all time about her recent engagement and wedding planning/fitness goals. She even gave me an awesome shoutout in her very first post. I miss seeing her at work every day and this has been a ...
Disconnected.
I've been trying to write this for a few days now, but time gets away from you easily here. That, and I still haven't managed to get my hands on a 3G internet stick yet. Always "mañana" at the store. Hopefully this week.So I've arrived and had a ridiculous start to my time in West End, I managed to somehow get absolutely blackout drunk the first night (see photo below regarding my arrival on the board at a local bar). Oops. I don't know how I went to the dive shop the next day for my first ...