Showing posts with label Destinations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Destinations. Show all posts
Friday, January 1, 2010
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Out of Office Notification
We're sorry, we cannot come to the blog today. We are away from our desks visiting Cayos Cochinos.
You may remember these beautiful islands from such great hits as Karine and Tom in Honduras 2008 and Karine and Tom in Honduras 2007.
Zeke has babysitters (twins!) and we've got a boat, an island, snorkels and fins.
Happy Sunday!
You may remember these beautiful islands from such great hits as Karine and Tom in Honduras 2008 and Karine and Tom in Honduras 2007.
Zeke has babysitters (twins!) and we've got a boat, an island, snorkels and fins.
Happy Sunday!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Ezekiel's First Vacation
Since Grandma and Grandpa Nelson arrived last Wednesday, we've been very busy! We have enjoyed time at home, and also a little time away! We traveled to the sleepy beach town of Tela, Honduras for a little overnight getaway. We had such a great time at the Telamar Resort that one night wasn't enough. We all wanted to stay just one more night to enjoy time at the beach, pool, and the tasty restaurants nearby.
Ezekiel did a wonderful job on this trip. He slept in his sling for the 2 hour bus ride each way. His favorite activities on vacation were eating, sleeping on Grandma, sleeping on Grandpa, and sleeping in his stroller by the pool. Tom and I enjoyed a couple hours swimming in the ocean and a meal by ourselves while Zeke stayed with his favorite new babysitters. We've taken a ton of pictures, but will have to post more later- as we're just too busy having fun right now!
The guys (all 3!) hanging out by the pool
The view from our balcony
Ezekiel did a wonderful job on this trip. He slept in his sling for the 2 hour bus ride each way. His favorite activities on vacation were eating, sleeping on Grandma, sleeping on Grandpa, and sleeping in his stroller by the pool. Tom and I enjoyed a couple hours swimming in the ocean and a meal by ourselves while Zeke stayed with his favorite new babysitters. We've taken a ton of pictures, but will have to post more later- as we're just too busy having fun right now!
The guys (all 3!) hanging out by the pool
The view from our balcony
Monday, December 22, 2008
Chicago
Here we are in Illinois, where the governor is a laughably corrupt scumbag with ridiculously poofy hair. And his name is Blag-blah-jo-vich. Or something like that. When we arrived we found everything surprisingly yellow.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Certified
Yes, Tom and I are certified- divers that is!
After 5 months, 4 visits to Roatan, 3 stormy non-divable days, 2 rounds of sandflea attacks, and 1 gross bout of seasickness (Tom on Saturday), we're finally both certified Open Water Scuba Divers.
One benefit of living in Honduras is the ability to take a quick overnight jaunt to the Bay Islands to do some diving. We left Saturday morning and did a dive with our favorite intstructor, Arturo, at Sueno Del Mar dive resort. This dive resort has been extremely flexible, friendly, and also has beautiful rooms.
Arturo took us underwater with 8 others, and while exploring the reef we saw a whole bunch of fish. It was as if we'd just gone to some Disney aquarium display and jumped in. We saw brightly colored reefs, corals, and of course a bunch of really cool fish. We saw angel fish that were the size of a steering wheel. It kind of put my 12 gallon hex aquarium (circa 2001-2004) and the 15 or so 1 inch angel fish I went through to shame. One highlight of this dive was an 8 minute encounter with a sea turtle. Below, Tom is showing the signal for a sea turtle. (Since yelling "Hey look at this sea turtle!" is pretty difficult to do while you have the breathing apparatus -called the 2nd stage- to your mouth.)
On Sunday morning, we went out for our final step toward certification. This dive was also awesome. I began to think about the fact that since we, as regular folks, can't explore space, exploring under the sea was pretty darn cool. About 20 minutes into the dive, I noticed one of the gentlemen in our group do this:
Tom and Arturo had swum ahead, but I noticed just in time to see. The nurse shark was hanging out underneath the reef, just checking stuff out. I wasn't even scared!
This is a picture of a nurse shark. I don't have one of those fancy diving cameras yet.
Now that school is over, we're just wrapping up some loose ends at school. We'll be headed back to the states for the summer on Monday.* We're so excited to spend June and July with the Notch family. The Karine and Tom in Honduras blog may appear to be Karine and Tom in Minnesota for the next two months. We are, however, looking forward to returning to La Ceiba for Year 2 in August.
*Note to any would-be-burglars: Our vigilant, well-connected, tough friends will be housesitting all summer, and our guard dog will still be working full time!
After 5 months, 4 visits to Roatan, 3 stormy non-divable days, 2 rounds of sandflea attacks, and 1 gross bout of seasickness (Tom on Saturday), we're finally both certified Open Water Scuba Divers.
One benefit of living in Honduras is the ability to take a quick overnight jaunt to the Bay Islands to do some diving. We left Saturday morning and did a dive with our favorite intstructor, Arturo, at Sueno Del Mar dive resort. This dive resort has been extremely flexible, friendly, and also has beautiful rooms.
Arturo took us underwater with 8 others, and while exploring the reef we saw a whole bunch of fish. It was as if we'd just gone to some Disney aquarium display and jumped in. We saw brightly colored reefs, corals, and of course a bunch of really cool fish. We saw angel fish that were the size of a steering wheel. It kind of put my 12 gallon hex aquarium (circa 2001-2004) and the 15 or so 1 inch angel fish I went through to shame. One highlight of this dive was an 8 minute encounter with a sea turtle. Below, Tom is showing the signal for a sea turtle. (Since yelling "Hey look at this sea turtle!" is pretty difficult to do while you have the breathing apparatus -called the 2nd stage- to your mouth.)
On Sunday morning, we went out for our final step toward certification. This dive was also awesome. I began to think about the fact that since we, as regular folks, can't explore space, exploring under the sea was pretty darn cool. About 20 minutes into the dive, I noticed one of the gentlemen in our group do this:
Tom and Arturo had swum ahead, but I noticed just in time to see. The nurse shark was hanging out underneath the reef, just checking stuff out. I wasn't even scared!
This is a picture of a nurse shark. I don't have one of those fancy diving cameras yet.*Note to any would-be-burglars: Our vigilant, well-connected, tough friends will be housesitting all summer, and our guard dog will still be working full time!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
SCORPION DANGER...Don't worry, everyone is okay. Except the scorpion. He is not okay.
This one speaks for itself. Don't watch if you are prone to panic attacks or are at all arachnophobic. One actual scorpion was harmed in the filming of this movie.
This little bugger was huge. Like a freakin' lobster with a stinger. He tried to kill Karine. So I had to do what I did. I didn't want to do it.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
The Sea
Living on the Carribbean coast can certainly have its perks. On Sunday, we joined 8 friends on a chartered fishing boat out to the Cayos Cochinos. These are a small series of tiny cays and islands just off the coast of Honduras. The islands are considered a natural park reserve, yet people are allowed to buy the lots and live there. Our friend has just purchased a lot on one of these islands. We spent the day lounging in the water, getting a little sunburned, eating fresh fish at a Garifuna village, and snorkeling in the reefs. It was a beautiful day!
As some of you have probably heard, we are in a red alert here in Honduras as Hurricane Felix makes landfall today. While it hit land as a Category 5 off the eastern coast of Honduras and Nicaragua, the storm is expected to lose a lot of its windpower as it passes over the many beautiful mountains here. By the time it reaches La Ceiba, we won't be dealing with the winds as much as the rain. In the past, when La Ceiba has been hit with torrential rains, it floods the rivers and the streets become undrivable. Bridges are washed out and people are not able to get out of their neighborhoods. We are still living at the Dole guesthouse (our stuff is still in the port with customs) and we are actually in one of the safest places in La Ceiba. The campus here may have some standing water outside, but is not expected to experience serious flooding. Dole has also set up several buildings on the campus as a safe haven for any employees living out in the community. Here, we have a generator and backup water, so we shouldn't be without either of those for very long. But, this is Honduras, so I can't guarantee any communication for a few days.
Bottom line- we'll be fine. That sea just likes to change things up once in awhile. It can't always be as picturesque and perfect as a Corona commercial! (Seriously- some of the islands were a tiny sand oasis with two perfect palm trees) If we need to get anywhere, we now know a guy with a boat! Besides we have today off of school, and probably another couple days depending on how the roads are!
PS- Thanks Cousin Mark! We ate at Ricardo's Saturday night, and it was delicious. I had Lobster Thermador and Tom had steak and lobster. It was a yummy treat!
As some of you have probably heard, we are in a red alert here in Honduras as Hurricane Felix makes landfall today. While it hit land as a Category 5 off the eastern coast of Honduras and Nicaragua, the storm is expected to lose a lot of its windpower as it passes over the many beautiful mountains here. By the time it reaches La Ceiba, we won't be dealing with the winds as much as the rain. In the past, when La Ceiba has been hit with torrential rains, it floods the rivers and the streets become undrivable. Bridges are washed out and people are not able to get out of their neighborhoods. We are still living at the Dole guesthouse (our stuff is still in the port with customs) and we are actually in one of the safest places in La Ceiba. The campus here may have some standing water outside, but is not expected to experience serious flooding. Dole has also set up several buildings on the campus as a safe haven for any employees living out in the community. Here, we have a generator and backup water, so we shouldn't be without either of those for very long. But, this is Honduras, so I can't guarantee any communication for a few days.
Bottom line- we'll be fine. That sea just likes to change things up once in awhile. It can't always be as picturesque and perfect as a Corona commercial! (Seriously- some of the islands were a tiny sand oasis with two perfect palm trees) If we need to get anywhere, we now know a guy with a boat! Besides we have today off of school, and probably another couple days depending on how the roads are!
PS- Thanks Cousin Mark! We ate at Ricardo's Saturday night, and it was delicious. I had Lobster Thermador and Tom had steak and lobster. It was a yummy treat!
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Last Night in USA
Our last night in the US until April. We had some dinner by the pool and read some books about Honduras. The bartender took a picture of us. Next post: La Ceiba. I don't know when we'll have an internet connection down there, but maybe it will be soon.
Honeymoon Update
We had a super fun time in Vancouver. We did a lot a really neat things. World Fireworks Competition. Sitting with some pretty flowers in Stanley Park. An apartment building with a giant tree growing on the top floor. On a boat in Vancouver Harbor. We think Vancouver is one of the most beautiful cities in the whole world.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
On our way!
Hola from Miami!
Tom and I are on our way to Honduras. We're going to the Honduran Consulate tomorrow here in Miami to do our final residency paperwork and it should be exciting! This will be our first experience with the Honduran government and it promises to be interesting. Well this is my first post, and I promise to try to update as often as possible!
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