This will be the last post from Mand I think as she's on her way home after an eventful 3 month sabbatical. Anyone wanna take bets on how long it is before she's called a goff?

anyway enjoy


Thursday 31 7 03 American Airlines flight AA0954 departs Tegucigalpa 13:01  arriving Miami int.
17:34  no stops.  PNR YCGW9L

Change to American airlines AA056  time 19:50  arriving London Heathrow 09:25  PNR YCGW9L  ( I
assume this means passenger number)

I leave the island at 5am on Wednesday and I'm not sure that I'll be able to find an internet cafe in Tegus - don't really want to be wandering around that town as I know 9 people who've been mugged there in the past 3 months!

Everyone keeps telling me I'm mad because I can't wait to leave, I've had fun here but the
island life is too laid back for me, I need to have things to do. Plus I'm
sick of being a shoulder to cry on for teenage Americans who sleep with guys they just met then
cry when they leave the island without saying goodbye!

I've had an annoying dutch bloke asking me to go for a drink with him all the time, until
Whitney told him that I'm here looking for the perfect place for my honeymoon and I'm getting
married as soon as I get back to England, he started asking me about what my dress looked like
and what rings we'd chosen and giving me advice about flowers! it was so funny, and now whenever
I see him he hums the wedding march and wishes me good luck!

Anyway, fake wedding planning aside, not much has been going on, I'm going to the beach this
afternoon and tomorrow I guess I'll be packing so I'll see you all soon!

well, I survived the carnival - just. It was a bit of a nightmare but kinda fun I suppose, people her are very strange, adults were fighting to get plastic shiny necklaces!

I am so ready to come home now! I think my last weekend here may be spent lounging around doing nothing... just for a change, although I could teach Sam to Kayak. She's so funny, she's 30 years old and can't ride a bike, Kayak, swim or poo in a shared toilet! you gotta wonder why she came here!

I am being driven mad by the Americans, they are very nice in short doses but are starting to do my head in! One of them, Whitney cried when she saw someone hit a pig with a stick the other day... we're talking huge hog and small boy trying to herd it with a small stick, I doubt it even felt it. Then again she does insist on kissing all the local stray cats, despite one scrathed face, one bitten lip and quite a few fleas!

I have made an interesting discovery though - they have never heard of the word queue!

I went to the cinema last night to see tears of the sun with Bruce Willis in... quite enjoyed it although it did have some cheesy moments that weren't necessary.

well, I am so looking forward to coming home now, I've got to kill time here until Tuesday then I leave at 6am on Wednesday flying out on a tiny little plane and I'm going to spend Wednesday going to the National Art Gallery and museum in Tegus, night in a posh hotel with a swimming pool and flying out on Thursday.

See ya soon!

Hello there

The big day is upon us, Utila is packed from shore to shore with tourists, shiny plastic
necklaces, paper mache animals and glitter. Yes, it's carnival.

Our float is ready, and magnificent, everyone in existence has recognised the superior quality
of my banner which is to be held high on sticks, and I have managed to duck out of wearing a
costume. All in all, an excellent carnival day.

The parade starts in an hour and a half so I have to go help get everything ready, which
includes talking Tom into carrying a giant paper mache turtle that, to me, look psychotic.

It's amazing how many people have come, there aren't enough hotels but who needs them when we
have all night beach parties?

There is going to be an amazing amount of tack paraded through the street tonight (yes, we only
have one street) and I will try and get lots of wonderful photos to bore you with when I get
home!

Which by the way is getting very close, less than 2 weeks now!

well, I hear the lure of the plastic and glitter

see ya soon

I kinda wish I could go back to La Esp too, although all my friends have left there now. If it wasn't for the hassle of travelling in this country I would, I've set my heart on flying from here to Tegus though, it's a tiny plane and takes you round over the island before you leave, also I have enough money to stay in a really nice hotel for my last night in Honduras! I was considering trying to save some of the extra money and change it back to pounds when I got home, then I came to my senses and decided to spend it all on myself here!

Apparently we are in carnival week, the island is completely full of people but nothing seems to be happening, the beach is just more crowded - apparently the parade on saturday is fun.

The new volunteers are here, I'm sharing my room with an American girl called Harmony who seems to be nice enough. I just want a room to myself though! Fortunately the new volunteers are mostly girls, a bit older than 19 and you can have a decent conversation with them so that's improved things a bit!

I actually have nothing to do for the next 2 weeks though, this week the office is closed until Wednesday then we're making the float... or rather I'm making the float as the lads quit. Next week will be learning to identify corals and reef fish so that the week after I can help with the snorkelling thing... except I wont be here the week after so it's a bit pointless. Plus I know most of the fish from working at the aquarium! the whole project here is a shambles.

I am trying hard to enjoy the sun but that's not really my style, so a lot of relaxing in hammocks reading is probably in order.

The lads are leaving the same day as me and we realised yesterday that we're all counting down the days, they're bored too now that they've run out of money for diving!

So, things are looking up a bit with more people to talk to, but still not a lot to do, I actually dreamed of the KH last night, and you were all there.
I can't believe I'm complaining about being on a caribbean island with nothing to do for 2 weeks!

I hate sand flies.

You would assume from the name that they are some sort of fly that lives in the sand... but no. They are teeny tiny little black dots that live everywhere on this island and if you stay still for a second they leap onto you and bite. You can't feel them or really see them and then you wake up the next day covered in itchy lumps and if you itch them they turn into blisters and AAAAAAAAAAAAAARgh.

I went to the beach and there wasn't enough wind to keep them away but I foolishly thought I'd be fine.

I have over 50 bites on my arms and hands alone!

they really itch.

I have found out that hidrocortisone is the same in Spanish as English, which is quite lucky really. I have bought several tubes of cream and spent last night constantly applying it to new itches as they appeared.

The project here now consists of Don and me. Louise left yesterday and the 19 year old idiots quit. They are starting to really annoy me now, I would explain exactly what they are like but I think the phrase ' yeah, we're all 19 and we know each other because we went to boarding school together' sums them up perfectly. They actually think I'm quite cool 'cos when they started quoting Happy Gilmore at me I could finish off all the quotes and I know more than they do about his other films - so there... they got to see Anger Management in San Salvador though so I am a bit jealous.

I'm getting so bored on this island that Ithe 19 days left seem like an eternity!

hopefully carnival week, which starts today, will liven things up. There's supposed to be full-moon party tonight too which I will go to if Andy does, he's the only other sane person left in this place.

Better go now, got to... well, actually got nothing to do but this is costing me money!

Hope you're all good, see you soon!

Hello there (another generic email, I obviously just don't love any of you enough!)

Well what can I tell you, the island is still beautiful and the weather has been unbearably hot for the past 2 days, even locals are staying in the shade but we might have a storm tonight to cool things down a bit.

I've had quite a disappointing day so I thought I'd indulge in a little email time!

I decided to take the plunge... literally and try diving only to find (after 4 hours of videos and exams) that I can't breathe through a regulator! apparently some people just can't it's all psychological- even out of water I feel like I'm not getting enough air - which of course I am really. Anyway, upshot of all this is that I will not be coming home a qualified diver. I would like to point out that I did actually try it in the water, about 20 times and everytime I just couldn't breathe... but at least I tried. Fortunately I can do the project here just with snorkelling so that'll be fun still, I'll just have to remember to put sunblock on my back - I've seen some nasty sunburnt backs walking round with snorkels!

On the plus side I can do loads of reef snorkelling for free and of course I have the $120 spare that would have gone to the diving school!

somemore volunteers arrived today which is good as that makes 6 people doing a project designed for 16! they are 2 lads about 20ish who have just had 'hey guys' tattoed on their bums 'cos that's the cool thing to say at their uni... I'm not sure they've thought it through properly, and lets just hope they never end up in prison... If you're wondering how I know, it's because they both showed the entire restaurant last night when we were eating! normal behaviour for this island apparently!

I've settled into the laid back lifestyle, even managed a few days on the beach and I've read a load of books that I've been meaning to read for ages. I tried to go present shopping yesterday and ended up buying myself things - so don't hold your breath for gifts!

well, only a few weeks to go now!
Hope you're all having fun without me!

well, I'll try to get you up to date with the island here...
I've finally managed to get used to the heat, or as much as possible anyway. The others generally spend their afternoons on the beach (white sand, clear, warm blue water) and then at night they go to a club called coco-loco's which is cool, it's basically decking out over the sea so we can sit and watch fish swim by, I've seen a few rays there and a baraccuda as well as some really pretty reef fish.

The others basically get pissed every night but I'm having a healthy time here, it's just too hot to drink and I'm well known as the girl who drinks tonic water!

The islands mad, the people here are from such a wide variety of backgrounds (it's been home to released slaves, pirates, british colonists and the Spanish over the past few hundred years) that there is no such thing as a typical islander, they speak English with a mad caribbean accent or Spanish or a mix of both. They are even more laid-back than the mainlanders which I thought was impossible.

Here's a bit of a diary...

Arrived Sunday
Monday, had an argument with Calina, the project manager because she said I was being unreasonable asking to share a room with one of the girls rather that a bloke I didn't know.
Ended up sharing with the bloke (Ethan) because she bribed me with having my own shower... I'm easily bought!

Tuesday, felt ill because of the extreme heat and didn't go on patrol, stayed at home sweating.

Wednesday went on patrol and saw 2 turtles in one night, some people have been here for a month and haven't seen a turtle! unfortunatly as we haven't been trained yet we couldn't tag them. To patrol you leave the house at 5pm and walk for an hour to the beach, it's quite a pretty walk through fields of banana trees and into the edges of the mangrove. Unfortunatly the whole place is full of land crabs, some of them are huge, they did holes all along the path and as you walk past they scuttle out and wave their claws at you... eeugh. When you get to the beach you are supposed to set up a tent as base camp... i-to-i didn't tell us to bring tents so we have to sleep on a wooden stage with no shelter. Every hour from 8pm to 4am we walk slowly along the beach looking for turtles tracks or turtles, wait at the other end for about 10 minutes then walk back. When it gets light at 5ish we walk home. It's not too bad if there's some wind to keep the sand flies away but if it's a still night you can't have any part of your skin exposed or you just get eaten alive. They pinch when they bite, though they're too small to see and the next day the bites swell up and are really itchy, if you scratch them they turn into nasty blisters.

Thursday everyone else on the project mutinied and stopped working, big argument ensued with Calina insulting us all and questioning our morals! Donald, Sushil and I (the new volunteers) went on patrol.

Friday day off, went to the beach for a bit, out for a pizza then off to coco-loco's.

Saturday, chilled out a bit, read a book in the hammock on the porch, said goodbye to Ethan and I moved into a room with Louise.
Louise is amazing, she's a tiny size 10 but she eats more than any girl I have ever seen!

Sunday we went out on patrol but didn't see anything.

Monday, Donald, Sushil and I went to speak to Calina and sort out what we're going to do after we finish night shift - she was really amazed that we carried on patrolling after Thurdsday and was really nice - we can join the day patrols next week which means going out in the motor boat and kayaking through the mangroves! also she said we can help prepare a float for the carnival on 12th-19th July.

So things are looking up, the mutineers have all spent the week diving and having a lazy time, Calina's said that I can take my last week here off and dive, so that's cool. I might also be able to work on a snorkel-trail for children identifying coral and stuff.

I'm really enjoying the island now but at the same time I'm looking forward to going home, everyone here just goes out drinking every night and that's just boring, I've been reading loads of books and thinking a lot about where I want my life to go after this.

When you're lying out on the beach, with waves crashing downa few metres away from you, staring up at the stars there's lots of time to reflect on your life, what you want to do and where you want to go... when we arrived we were told that it can be good for your soul doing this and I think I can see what they meant.

Well, that's all I can think of for now!

Hello there, this is going to be a bit of a generic email because the internet’s really expensive here.

I got to Utila without any problems – It-s really beautiful here, just like it looks in the books, clear blue water, white sandy beaches and palm trees. It’s so hot though! I may melt. The project’s kinda strange, I’m monitoring turtles which basically means we go out in pairs at night and walk up and down the beaches looking for turtles or signs of turtles. Apparently there have only been 2 turtles seen in the last 2 weeks but I think I-m going to be lucky! If we see them we have to fill in loads of details about what they’re doing and stuff then measure and tag them.

It-s going to be really hard work – hardly anyone likes it because you’re knackered all the time, but living on Utila makes up for it. The island’s tiny, with one street, and it’s a really laid-back place, there are people here that just decided to drop out of ordinary life and open a café or a diving shop here… sounds like a good idea!

It’s so hot that I’m actually walking around in public in shorts! The beach is small but gorgeous, I’ll take some pics to make you all jealous! And the water is really warm.

I think I’ll probably start work tonight – and all the other volunteers are people from my group, we spent the first week together in Tegus so I’ll be with someone I know which is cool.

If I don’t like this project or I get too tired from working 8pm-5am I can move to the teaching project where apparently you teach 2 lessons a week about conservation! I’ll try the turtle project first though, I’m doing it for 2 weeks then I’ll have 4 days off to do a diving course and then back to work.

well, that'a all for now, I'll email again when I can afford it - it's all going to be tales of going to the beach though!

Hope you're all doing well - not long till i see you again!