Woohoo! Well I have finally finished my rescue course, that was fun! The last day involved trouble-shooting, this is when all of the DM's and Instructors go crazy about 20 meters under the water. The majority of the girls were acting Narked (Nitrogen Narcosis) and were 'riding' their tanks, whilst Bruce was on a mission to steal all the masks he could! This was all good fun, and I had to try hard not to laugh, and focus on saving people! Bruce stole my mask and refused to give it back leaving me to have a 3minute safety stop without a mask on. I shall seek revenge...
So I have now started my DiveMaster Traineeship, and have already got a few notches on the board, which includes my skill circuit meaning I can now assist on classes! Hoorah!
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Parasites lost and found
So all seemed to be going well apart from a really irritating itch on my foot. This had continued for some time so I finally decided to get to the pharmacy. Diagnosis ring worm - fair enough, that happens, so I got the cram and began liberally applying the stuff. This didn't seem to stop the itching, which had now spread to my other foot. On closer inspection I noticed that the itchy patch was moving in a crazy path... I headed back to the pharmacy and one of the locals in there told me I had a worm in my foot and that I should go and see the doctor!
Being not-unfamiliar with the Central American parasitic families I decided this was sound advice and headed to see doctor Jon. Jon was quite excited to see that I had in fact got a Hook-Worm in each of my feet. He was most excited about the fact that (and I use his words here) my worms were performing text-book maneuvers on my feet. Whilst worm one had rather ominously drawn a perfect 13, worm two had been slightly less clinical in it's execution of an 'M'.
Jon gave me some antibiotic 'ointment' to drink and requested that I took some photos of my worms and sent them to him. The next day the itching subsided, and in a final moment of genius worm one (worm two had given up by this point) modeled it's intricate 13 sculpture into what can only be described as a phallic masterpiece. Whether this was done in admiration of it's host or as a parting shot is unclear, either way it was very creative for a worm which normally resides in a dog or cat.
Being not-unfamiliar with the Central American parasitic families I decided this was sound advice and headed to see doctor Jon. Jon was quite excited to see that I had in fact got a Hook-Worm in each of my feet. He was most excited about the fact that (and I use his words here) my worms were performing text-book maneuvers on my feet. Whilst worm one had rather ominously drawn a perfect 13, worm two had been slightly less clinical in it's execution of an 'M'.
Jon gave me some antibiotic 'ointment' to drink and requested that I took some photos of my worms and sent them to him. The next day the itching subsided, and in a final moment of genius worm one (worm two had given up by this point) modeled it's intricate 13 sculpture into what can only be described as a phallic masterpiece. Whether this was done in admiration of it's host or as a parting shot is unclear, either way it was very creative for a worm which normally resides in a dog or cat.
One step closer to Hoff!
The next step on our PADI ladder was to become RescueDivers! We had three students (including me) and about 4-5 DiveMasters to save! This course basically involves us being taught theory interspersed with helpless DiveMasters jumping into the sea with a whole array of ailments and illnesses.
Possibly the most challenging of which was Bruce who decided to cough up a chocolate biscuit before we had even been briefed on the first day, even the instructor (Tash) wasn't sure if he was acting or not - so we all sat there and watched him collapse on the dock and pass out. We then decided we should administer first aid, but we were told we had failed. We all decided we never liked Bruce anyway so that was ok!
This general theme continued for the duration of the rescue course with Bruce constantly acting up, panicking, seeing sharks etc. It was all good fun through, that was until I injured my foot. We were busy rescuing an unconscious diver on the surface and all was going well until we tried to get him (Michael) out of the water. We were using a very high dock and we dropped the blighter mid lift! I decided I would do the 'Hoff' thing and dive in after him, I managed to catch him but in pushing him back onto the dock I smacked my heel against a broken barnacle under the pier! Owwww! I still managed to drag him out of the water and deliver those all important rescue breaths before turning to look at the damage. I discovered a big gash across my heel, doh!
Luckily Bruce came out of his panicked diver mode and helped me clean the wound. He got a sterile needle and some alcohol and I tried to think of happier times. He did a good job, and over the next 24hrs Bruce and Hillake managed to remove a smashed barnacle piece-by-piece from my heel. In the words of Doctor Jon they did a 'smashing job', to which I replied 'it'll heal'.
Possibly the most challenging of which was Bruce who decided to cough up a chocolate biscuit before we had even been briefed on the first day, even the instructor (Tash) wasn't sure if he was acting or not - so we all sat there and watched him collapse on the dock and pass out. We then decided we should administer first aid, but we were told we had failed. We all decided we never liked Bruce anyway so that was ok!
This general theme continued for the duration of the rescue course with Bruce constantly acting up, panicking, seeing sharks etc. It was all good fun through, that was until I injured my foot. We were busy rescuing an unconscious diver on the surface and all was going well until we tried to get him (Michael) out of the water. We were using a very high dock and we dropped the blighter mid lift! I decided I would do the 'Hoff' thing and dive in after him, I managed to catch him but in pushing him back onto the dock I smacked my heel against a broken barnacle under the pier! Owwww! I still managed to drag him out of the water and deliver those all important rescue breaths before turning to look at the damage. I discovered a big gash across my heel, doh!
Luckily Bruce came out of his panicked diver mode and helped me clean the wound. He got a sterile needle and some alcohol and I tried to think of happier times. He did a good job, and over the next 24hrs Bruce and Hillake managed to remove a smashed barnacle piece-by-piece from my heel. In the words of Doctor Jon they did a 'smashing job', to which I replied 'it'll heal'.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Home from Home
Well here I am. I now have a new home. There are two of us beginning our Divemasters together so we decided to get a place together, so Cat and I now have a little house. The house is awesome. It's costing us $400 per month which is just over 100 pounds each, nice. We have a 25 inch TV with cable (so I can watch all the Premiership football), a Hi-Fi with four speakers (and my iPod plugged into it), Air-Conditioning and hot water! This is pretty awesome, and better than any place I had as a student! We also have a fully equiped kitchen, but it's so cheap to eat out here it probably will only find use when we have a party/hangover/christmas.
Utila itself has been awesome, and I already feel like I know about 200 people. Everyone wants to know everyone, and people seem to come to Utila and leave much later than planned (a couple of years later in some cases). This place is awesome basically. We have now completed our Emergency First Responder course, and we're getting closer to finishing our rescue diver course, which is a good laugh. So we will be sworn in as DMT's (DiveMaster Trainees) on friday, and we can begin assisting on courses and leading dives. I am also hoping to get a job at Treetanic (a bar in the trees) I spend most of my evenings there so I may aswell get paid for it!
The weather has been pretty dicey over the past few days as a tropical storm has washed through, but Cat's ear infection has meant we couldn't dive during this time anyway, so we have just been in the classroom ploughing through the theory, hoorah!
Right, I will update every week or so, hope everyone is well.
Utila itself has been awesome, and I already feel like I know about 200 people. Everyone wants to know everyone, and people seem to come to Utila and leave much later than planned (a couple of years later in some cases). This place is awesome basically. We have now completed our Emergency First Responder course, and we're getting closer to finishing our rescue diver course, which is a good laugh. So we will be sworn in as DMT's (DiveMaster Trainees) on friday, and we can begin assisting on courses and leading dives. I am also hoping to get a job at Treetanic (a bar in the trees) I spend most of my evenings there so I may aswell get paid for it!
The weather has been pretty dicey over the past few days as a tropical storm has washed through, but Cat's ear infection has meant we couldn't dive during this time anyway, so we have just been in the classroom ploughing through the theory, hoorah!
Right, I will update every week or so, hope everyone is well.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Utila!
Hoooooooorah! I have arrived on Utila. We got here and found somewhere to dump our bags and then headed to the beach. After becoming aquainted with the millions of sand flies (which will be an ongoing issue I feel) we jumped into the warm sea and did nothing... until I got hungry. In my hunt for food I came accross a nice place on a pier run by a couple of Texans. With limited funds I sat and pondered the menu, and then one of the regulars at the bar, who had an English son-in-law decided he would buy me fish and chips! Awesome. The fish and chips was much needed and powered me up to find a dive school.
The decision on which school to go with was pretty easy. UDC (Utila Dive Centre) was by far the most lively place to be, and everyone seemed really friendly so I booked myself in and started diving. Our first dive was excellent, and I saw a couple of Moray Eels, a Hawksbill Turtle, and lots of other critters.
So I'm fully into the swing of things here on Utila now and I'm just looking for a place to live, and a couple of other folk from the dive school are looking so fingers-crossed I will have an awesome flat on the water very soon!
Super Bueno!
The decision on which school to go with was pretty easy. UDC (Utila Dive Centre) was by far the most lively place to be, and everyone seemed really friendly so I booked myself in and started diving. Our first dive was excellent, and I saw a couple of Moray Eels, a Hawksbill Turtle, and lots of other critters.
So I'm fully into the swing of things here on Utila now and I'm just looking for a place to live, and a couple of other folk from the dive school are looking so fingers-crossed I will have an awesome flat on the water very soon!
Super Bueno!
In to Honduras
Hoorah, we made it! The trip down from Belize was ok really. It just involved a whole day on a boat. We arrived at the docks expecting to see a sizeable boat for the cross-country trip and found a little 20 person chugger. Never mind, it got us there, and even did some pretty impressive leaps off waves on route. We also had the fun of the immigration control, whereby two people jumped on to the boat, ordered us off and then moved us back on, Noah style whilst putting the relevant stamp in my slowly developing passport.
Arrival into Honduras was made painless by my travel group growing to include an Italian, a Dutch guy, and a Canadian, all of whom could speak Spanish. We managed to get onto a seriously crowded bus to San Pedro Sula, the mingy capital, and then got another bus to La Ceiba which was also pretty nasty. I did get a beer and T-Bone steak for about $4 though, so that's ok.
Next stop - Utila! Hoorah!
Arrival into Honduras was made painless by my travel group growing to include an Italian, a Dutch guy, and a Canadian, all of whom could speak Spanish. We managed to get onto a seriously crowded bus to San Pedro Sula, the mingy capital, and then got another bus to La Ceiba which was also pretty nasty. I did get a beer and T-Bone steak for about $4 though, so that's ok.
Next stop - Utila! Hoorah!
Friday, December 01, 2006
Belize!!!
After a night watching Titanic and a morning watching Robin Hood I was all set to head out through the forest and onto a boat! Boarding a local bus through Belize is one of the best ways to travel. The language is close enough to English to understand and the locals seem to love to laugh at each other, which is always good. Add to this a bus with twice as many people on it as God intended, and the sound of a Prodigy concert tuned to Reggae Christmas music and you have got the picture. I arrived in time to get the last boat to Caye Caulker which successfully managed not to hit any ice bergs.
The first night went well as I soon met some English, German, Norwegian, French, and Swiss companions who I could drink rum with. We headed down to the beach with the guitar and had an awesome night. The next day I moved into Tina's Backpackers where all the 'good' people seemed to stay. For the next few days I swam in the sea during the day and drank rum at Tina's in the evening! Excellent!
On Caye Caulker there is a 'split' where a hurricaine separated the island in two. This is the place to snorkel and me and my buddy Emily, and then Fi spent all day in the sea looking for sharkes, we only saw two though. We saw lots of rays, skate and puffer fish and an awesome eagle ray which was about 3-4 meters long - due to the massive tail and barb (which we all now know about).
Back to Tina's for food every day where I somehow managed to befriend enough resourceful ladies that I never had to cook, I just contributed some money (and the ipod and speaker) and food was put in front of me! Excellent. Thanks for that Chickitas.
All good things come to an end (so they say, although I think that's nonsense) either way the time had come to leave Caye Caulker, although most of the many people I have met are planning to come and see me on Utila which is bueno. So Julia, Elene and I headed off for an epic journey to Honduras!
More to come later!
The first night went well as I soon met some English, German, Norwegian, French, and Swiss companions who I could drink rum with. We headed down to the beach with the guitar and had an awesome night. The next day I moved into Tina's Backpackers where all the 'good' people seemed to stay. For the next few days I swam in the sea during the day and drank rum at Tina's in the evening! Excellent!
On Caye Caulker there is a 'split' where a hurricaine separated the island in two. This is the place to snorkel and me and my buddy Emily, and then Fi spent all day in the sea looking for sharkes, we only saw two though. We saw lots of rays, skate and puffer fish and an awesome eagle ray which was about 3-4 meters long - due to the massive tail and barb (which we all now know about).
Back to Tina's for food every day where I somehow managed to befriend enough resourceful ladies that I never had to cook, I just contributed some money (and the ipod and speaker) and food was put in front of me! Excellent. Thanks for that Chickitas.
All good things come to an end (so they say, although I think that's nonsense) either way the time had come to leave Caye Caulker, although most of the many people I have met are planning to come and see me on Utila which is bueno. So Julia, Elene and I headed off for an epic journey to Honduras!
More to come later!
Cancun to Playa Del Carmen
Hola! Well I decided Cancun could wait until later, the town is pretty grubby and Isla Mujeres is the place to go, unless you have money then the Zona Hotelera is awesome. I will leave Cancun until the end of my trip, that way I will know what funds I have left and I may have amigos Scott and Sellar with me.
So, armed with the good news (from Fat-Boy, Dad) that the $150 was on it's way back to my credit card, I headed down the coast to Playa Del Carmen. Playa is an alltogether nicer place although it isn't as cheap as I would like. I got to the San Pedsomethingorother hostel which cost $10 per night and threw my stuff down on a bunk and headed to the playa (beach). The sun had come out so I treated myself to a couple of 40p bottles of Sol. I stayed for a couple of days in Playa and met some interesting people, and two English girls who took pitty on me (for being a backpacker) and bought me muchos tequilla, Bueno!
Playa was good, but I'll be back here in a couple of months so I got a bus down to Chetumal and slept at the border to Belize...
Mucho Gusto! Rus
So, armed with the good news (from Fat-Boy, Dad) that the $150 was on it's way back to my credit card, I headed down the coast to Playa Del Carmen. Playa is an alltogether nicer place although it isn't as cheap as I would like. I got to the San Pedsomethingorother hostel which cost $10 per night and threw my stuff down on a bunk and headed to the playa (beach). The sun had come out so I treated myself to a couple of 40p bottles of Sol. I stayed for a couple of days in Playa and met some interesting people, and two English girls who took pitty on me (for being a backpacker) and bought me muchos tequilla, Bueno!
Playa was good, but I'll be back here in a couple of months so I got a bus down to Chetumal and slept at the border to Belize...
Mucho Gusto! Rus
The flight to Cancun
Well this was fun. In the fun to look back meaning of the word 'fun'. I stayed at Jo's (Ryan's Mrs) on the night before I left (and we played Hockey, and I fell over, but that's a different story altogether). The reason for doing this was so I would not be late for the flight. This plan failed, and I was the last on to the plane. In addition, Delta and STA had jointly failed to warn me of the US 'stupid visa' policy which meant that I had to get a 90 day visa for the states because I was in transit there, and because I couldn't prove I was going outside of Mexico (the US claim Mexico as theirs as far as the visa is concerned) I couldn't have a return flight for the 28th Feb. So I then had to pay $150 to change my ticket so come home on the 28th Feb! This annoyed me and I let them know so!
Anyway, that behind me and my tail was soon wagging again (as in a happy dog, not an angry cat) as the plane took off over grey old England. I tried to get some conversation going with the woman next to me but she seemed to be on a completely different time zone to me, and suddenly became chatty as I decided to dose off. All in all the flight was good, and I watched a couple of films, including My Super ExGirlfriend or something like that, which made me laugh much more than it should have done.
Atlanta was a pretty painless stop over with just one incident of note: I queued to reclaim my bag and re-check it which never turned up, with time running out I realised that the bad was being checked through for me, disaster averted I tucked into a 'Babe Ruth' chocolate bar and wondered what the cast of The Goonies was upto at that exact moment.
The final flight to Cancun was fine again and I scrambled through the masses of Americans who were off to their big five star hotels and borded a local bus to town. Town was pretty dead and after a brief 'stalk' about town I found some fellow backpackers on the roof of 'Mexico Backpackers' and consumed lots of Cerveca to keep me occupied until 12 (6am UK) to 'acclimatise'.
So I'm here! Bueno, more soon. Rus
Anyway, that behind me and my tail was soon wagging again (as in a happy dog, not an angry cat) as the plane took off over grey old England. I tried to get some conversation going with the woman next to me but she seemed to be on a completely different time zone to me, and suddenly became chatty as I decided to dose off. All in all the flight was good, and I watched a couple of films, including My Super ExGirlfriend or something like that, which made me laugh much more than it should have done.
Atlanta was a pretty painless stop over with just one incident of note: I queued to reclaim my bag and re-check it which never turned up, with time running out I realised that the bad was being checked through for me, disaster averted I tucked into a 'Babe Ruth' chocolate bar and wondered what the cast of The Goonies was upto at that exact moment.
The final flight to Cancun was fine again and I scrambled through the masses of Americans who were off to their big five star hotels and borded a local bus to town. Town was pretty dead and after a brief 'stalk' about town I found some fellow backpackers on the roof of 'Mexico Backpackers' and consumed lots of Cerveca to keep me occupied until 12 (6am UK) to 'acclimatise'.
So I'm here! Bueno, more soon. Rus
My Diary
Hi all, this is where I will keep my up-to-date, unabridged diary. If you want to hear it all, then this is the place to come. I leave the UK on the 22nd November 2006 - and I plan to return on the 28th February 2006.
During this time I am going to do my Divemaster qualification, learn to speak Spanish and above all else have an awesome time.
Bueno! Rus
During this time I am going to do my Divemaster qualification, learn to speak Spanish and above all else have an awesome time.
Bueno! Rus
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