Whoop D Doo!!

Today is a happy day now that my computer is back and "almost" running perfectly. The technician did what they did but everything is all moved around and mixed up now on my screen. At least it's working and I have access.

I feel like my left arm has been reattached to my body!!

On the Saba front, it is simply NOT Christian here with this heat and humidity. Temps in the 90's and blazing sun has offered me the opportunity to already drop 11 pounds of my "fat-cation" weight which is a good thing.

I see postings from folks back home about the lovely Fall weather and the turning of the leaves and that makes me feel pretty darn homesick right now. Of course if I came back right this minute I would probably freeze my backside off now that I'm climatized to the tropics.

Well, off the the restaurant to get ready for Lobster night tonight. Happy Wednesday from Saba.

Happy Saturday from Saba

My laptop computer is "still down" and it's driving me crazy! It got sent over to St. Maarten to the Dell rep and he said that I will need to back up everything on the computer and reinstall the Mircrosoft operating systems and "see if that works". Since my expertise in computers doesn't exceed checking email or surfing the web I don't know how that's going to happen.....

So I am still at the mercy of borrowing time on other people's computers to check email and see what's going on on WonderWall so I can keep up with the lives of the stars and their own challenges in life.

Meanwhile Tropic's Cafe is back in business and our first couple of days have been quite slow. The island is DEAD right now with virtually no one here. The good news is that a large dive group checks into the hotel today so we'll have some live bodies to ply with booze and foood.

Next week Thursday begins Sea and Learn which is a month long program offering classes and seminars about Nature, The Sea, Volcanoes, Orchids and other "earthy crunchy" stuff.

It is HOT, HOT, HOT here right now with high temps and humid conditions.

Computer Malfunction

The day before yesterday my computer went on the blink and failed to connect to the internet and has eliminated my contact with the outside world.

I now stare out the window while playing solitaire and wonder what is going on!!

Hopefully it can be fixed in the next couple of days and I can get back to being "in touch" with folks off the rock.

In the meantime, Tropics Cafe opened their doors yesterday and we are back in business running lunch and dinner service. Hopefully with this heat and being back on my feet I will drop those dreaded pounds I gained during my bacchanalian respite.

Well, back to work. Happy Wednesday from a public computer domain from Saba!!

My New Friend Iggy

Just off the edge of our deck is an outcropping of large rocks and boulders. Lately we've had this fellow, Iggy the Iguana sunning himself.

Here he is about 15 feet off the edge of the deck. I would guess he measures about 4 1/2 feet long from head to toe (or tail).

Come to find out, Paul has been feeding him so naturally he's stopping by for a visit. As long he stays where he is and doesn't come ON the deck.

Happy First Day of Fall from hot and sunny Saba!

A Little Scooter Mishap

Another fun filled day on Saba!

So yesterday I decided to take the new scooter out for a little ride around town now that it is "all legal" with my learner's permit, insurance and new tags in place. It started to rain a bit which made the roads slick.

I was headed up this pretty steep hill and hit a clump of wet leaves, fish tailed around and slammed into the wall! Being so focused on trying not to go over the edge of the cliff I didn't pay any attention to the fact that my hand was still on the throttle at full speed so the little red devil spun around on its side with me under it.

A nasty gash on my knee, road rash abrasions all over and a broken toe later I made it up the hill.

This morning I woke to a very sore body with aches, pains and bruises from top to bottom.

Lessons learned: Don't try to navigate steep (and wet) hills. Don't wear flip flops when driving a scooter.

I'm Mortified, Disgusted, Humiliated and Mad at Myself!

5 weeks ago today I took off for the States for a break from the island and work and have been doing nothing more than eating, drinking, sleeping, "vegging" and traveling around.

Upond arrival back to Saba last evening I dared to weigh myself and found that I've put on 21.5 lbs. since I left.

What in the World Did I Do????????? (or didn't do)

So this morning I will begin my diet once again. At a modest 2-3 pounds per week I should be back in fighting form by Thanksgiving.

The Search for the Elusive Anegadan Flamingo

Today being our final day in Anegada we decided that we'd try to find this darn bird that has only been told to us in Fairy Tales so far.

We drove around the island circling the Salt Ponds (more like Salt Flats given the recent lack of rain) where these little pink fellows live. Supposedly.....

As we passed this one area we saw lots of pink dots far off in the distance and were convinced that we had found our prize! The fabled Anegadan Pink Flamingo.

We continued around the Salt Ponds until we thought we were close enough and "ventured in" and in, and in, and in.......

While driving across this vast dune of land we were convinced that we were nearby and could see them until we drove over the little patch of "moisture".

After getting mired into this thick, stinky, soggy, mushy mess of gunk I looked out over the distance and could only think of the poor Mexicans that try to make their big break across the Southern Borders of Texas. My God, "I'm going to become a statistic" I thought!!!

Luckily we walked for a bit and got back to the main road and got some help to pull us out. I now look like a coconut with my tanned hide which baked in the sun for hours on end. I know in my heart of hearts, though, that I will make some Dermotologist a fortune at some point in the future. Just doing my part to keep the economy moving forward.

In the end we finally found our little feathery friends and Paul got this awesome shot of them!!

(NOT)

Virgin Gorda

One of the first stops yesterday during our trip to Virgin Gorda was to visit The Baths and Devil's Bay which is one of the most spectucular scenes I've seen.

After walking down through a canopy of Sea Grape trees you arrive on this tiny little beach area with a pristine lagoon with these huge boulders that form little caves and grottos.

They have hiking trails that take you in and around the caves and you end up on little deserted beach spots. At Devil's Bay we were the ONLY people on the beach.

Here is one of the grottos that you can wade around in and see crabs and little baby fish in schools swimming around. What an awesome place!

Later in the day we were invited by "our new friends" to a more local area of the island where they were having a pig roast. It was just a shady spot on the side of the road set up with open pit fire grills and coolers set on wooden picnic benches all around.

Not having ever seen a slaughter I was fascinated by the process.

These folks don't let anything go to waste and used everything from the Rooter to the Tooter!

Here they were preparing the intestines to strip them and use them for sausage casings.

You basically put a stick into the intestine and "strip" and clean the insides and then wash them and do it again, and again, and again until they are cleaned and ready to stuff with the sausage filling.

As I was taking this picture Lester, our host, stripped this one and a little "Piggy Poop" splattered on the table and landed on my cheek! I had an immediate dry heave and threw up, just a little bit, into my mouth.

I guess I can check THAT ONE off my Bucket List!!

Cow Wreck Beach Bar and Shark Hunting

Yesterday morning we headed out to another beach area that has this local bar called Cow Wreck. We actually saw hoof prints in the sand leading up to the bar when we arrived. The setting is just beautiful and we had a nice time enjoying the beach, the water and lunch there.


It's the type of place that offers ice cold beer and campy signage all over the place

like these bumper stickers from around the globe and

"pirate" themed innuendo posters.

Once back we got treated to another spectacular sunset looking towards Virgin Gorda with the clouds brilliantly lit up!

This morning I decided to pass on another beach day and spent my time reading yet another book. Half the group went off to the dunes and the rest went fishing for Lobster trap bait. Now I had no idea what that entailed so when I saw them coming back towards the dock I jumped up and went down to see what they got.......... Ummmn, BAD IDEA.

In the bottom of the boat was this Eagle Ray that just happened to deliver her 4 little baby Eagles once she was "landed" into the boat and

this 5+ foot Nurse Shark that was still "breathing" on the dock. His poor little gills were still going in and out.

Now I know full well that this is the Law Of The Land and things like this need to be used to make a living but I'm the one who still cries watching a sappy movie. Although I do it in private so not to disrupt my macho and stoic exterior that I present to the outside world.

It broke my heart though seeing that!

Another Day in Paradise

There is a pavillion just outside our door overlooking the water and hanging from the rafters are these "shark jaws" that were caught not far offshore.

The largest one is from a 16 foot long Mako Shark! Nice dental work.

After breakfast we ventured back out to the beach for some more sun and fun. We took our snorkeling gear with us and spent a good amount of time in the water checking things out. The sun is VERY strong and you have to be careful and use tons of suncreen.

I did my best to reenact the Daniel Craig scene from the Bond movie of me coming out of the water! I think it turned out more like a Chris Farley skit from Saturday Night Live though.

After enjoying a beautiful sunset with the gang we went down to the Anegada Reef Hotel and restaurant for a fresh fish dinner on the beach.

Paul went off this morning at about 5am for a day of deep sea fishing. Their goal is to catch some Grouper and, perhaps, that will be our meal for tonight. They won't get back until late in the day so that leaves me to my book and a nice shady hammock all to myself!

Our "BIG" Dinner

After a fun filled day on the beach we all came back to our hosts, Mark and Dean's to clean up, refresh and make a big dinner. And by Big, I mean BIG!

On the grill we had steaks the size of a Volkswagen Beetle

Fresh grilled vegetables, mashed potatoes, garlic linguine and salad.

It was all very delicious and even had

some "lemonaide, ice tea and fruit punch" to wash it all down!!

The troops are gearing up for our day now that the rains have broken and the skies are clearing. I even heard the sweet sound of a beer bottle being crakced open next door at just past 10am.

We are supposed to take a little skiff over to this place called Conch Island and do some swimming and snorkeling. Since I got way sunburned yesterday, it will be SPF 1,000 and a big floppy hat for me though today!

Tropical Vacation - Day 2

We started our first full day on Anagada with a pre sunrise walk down to the beach and coffee on the pier at about 5:45am this morning. We are facing more West than East at our location so we had to see the sunrise "across" the island this morning.

After a nice homemade family style breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, coffee and beverages (you know what I mean) we ventured off to the far end of the island for a little beach combing.

The morning was spent walking along miles of beaches that were virtually uninhabited and undisturbed.

Here is a little area that someone built beach front bungalows for rental. This one, unfortunately, was built just a little too close and washed out from underneath its foundation!

One of the few signs of life here were the buoys and snorkel fins hanging from the trees.

and THIS! Thank Goodness that the majority of the food supply on the island is fish.

This beach was so completely untouched and pure that my camera actually blinded itself a couple of times because of the pure white sand.

Here I caught an "image" of myself in the reflection of the water. This is the best you can do given my recent weight gain during my hiatus from working over the last month or more!

While we were walking through the shallows I was told of this shark swimming by. Truth be Told, this "grey" shadow is actually a baby 2+ foot long Lemon Shark within about 4 feet of my tender little toes.

We did plenty of beachcombing and found lots of pretty shells and empty Carib bottles. Oh, that was us who left them there! (we did pick them up and dispose of them)

Our dear friend (who shall remain nameless due to the comprising shot) had to "powder her nose" during the walk.

We also got to go to the Salt Ponds which are really cool inland "lakes". They have naturalized Flamingos that live here but we didn't see any today.

Later we went to Loblolly's by the beach and had lunch and drinks and went swimming. The whole beach front is loaded with Sea Grape Trees with hammocks hanging from the low branches.

At the bar they have all of these drift wood pieces that are burned with people's names and dates.

You use a magnifying glass to burn your name onto the wood and then hang it up at the bar.

Of course I had to give it a try!

Happy Tuesday from Anagada!!