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November 27th saw the arrival of Thomas Horton and his girlfriend Natalia. These guys had visited us previously day fishing but had so much fun they decided to come back for a few days and stay over in cabana one (Closest to the Restaurant).

They wanted our guide Tie Tie to get them "Hooked up" with Bonefish and Permit. The method of attack was using light spinning rods with crab on the hook of the fly.

Tie Tie (Real name Terry) was pretty excited. Natalia was a knock out and at 25 years old model material. This would put extra pressure on Tie Tie seeing that he had to still spot fish with the added distraction of Natalia in the fishing boat. The other fishing guides were seriously jealous.

Special meals were prepared around Natalia's diet requests which consisted primarily of cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, lemon, artichokes, egg whites, and grilled chicken. Now this was a challenge for our Honduran cooks. How can they cook for these crazy gringos?

That problem was quickly solved by Natlia who took over the Galley and won over the cooks with her crazy sense of humor. All we could hear from the front of the restaurant was the laughter so we knew they were having a good time.

Thomas was happy with his fishing. Each day he managed to land bonefish with the aid of Tie Tie and our resident Land Crabs for bait.

One day Natalia decided she would rather hang out with Julie & I, opting for an exciting trip down island to buy supplies for the restaurant, and maybe even hit a hardware store or two. She was given her own shopping cart to run up and down the isles. She arrived at the cashiers with a cart full of every kind of junk food imaginable. All of which was a great hit when we arrived back at the lodge.

Well, after their couple of days fishing Tony sent along the rest of his family for a visit to Mango Creek. A wild and crazy time was had as we got to know of Thomas's family and friends. More visits were sure to follow. We met his mom and stepdad, his uncle Tony and Sue.

About this time the Jungle at Mango Creek decided to fight back. The heavy rains we had had the last month resulted in a spurt in the growth of all things green on the property. The grass spring up. We were all waiting for Terry & Patrice (Owner's of Mango Creek) to arrive in early December. We wanted the property perfect.

So what happens? Both our remaining "Weed Whackers" died within a few days. Julie & I in a panic drove all over the island trying to buy another one. Everyone else's Whackers had died too and there wasn't a remaining one left on the island. I wrote a panicked email to Terry to bring two down with him. I hinted he might want to bring down a hay baler with him.

We were doomed to fate worse than hell by the encroaching jungle. Our guides Kessel & Tie Tie decided it may be a good idea to take some of the pressure off us. They pulled the carburetor off one of the Whackers and managed to finally get it started.

They also ran one of our large Whacker lawnmowers over to Oak Ridge where it's front end was welded back on. Smiles were back and grass flew everywhere. Within a few days the property was looking good again. We hired on Kessel's son Jake - on school break - to help with the cleanup.

The first few weeks in December saw increased activity. "Day Fishing" increased as local resorts began filling up with tourists for the season. Every few days our guides would run off to "BJ's" bar in Oak Ridge to pick up clients. The weather had turned much better and the fishermen were reaping the benefits of ideal conditions.

We enjoy having the "Day Fishermen" because it gives us a chance to show off the property. Many of these fishermen return to Roatan and the next time they come back they usually book to stay with us. Many return with their family because they realize that their spouses can be out snorkeling, sailing, hiking or kayaking while they fish.

Terry Kyle finally arrived in Roatan! Patrice had stayed behind because her daughter was getting ready to make her a grandmother. They had managed to purchase a 32' Albemarle Sport Fishing boat in Florida and had made arrangements to ship it down by "Jackson's Ship" to Roatan.

Terry had made the trip on the roach infested ship to accompany the boat. It took a day of paperwork to finally get the boat released from customs and it finally sat on it's mooring in front of Mango Creek by December 7th. It was full of goodies including two new Weed Whackers. One of which died within a week of use on the jungle....

Terry got right back in the swing of things helping out solving problems and starting "New Projects". At the right he is bleeding in the main generator on the property just before we headed off to the Port Royal Party.

December 9th was the 2nd annual Port Royal Day Party hosted by Matt and Corrine the owners of Royal Playa Dive Resort. Our neighbours. The party was pretty much made up of all the residents from Port Royal. Also represented was the gang from the "Hole in the Wall" gang and "BJ's Backyard. The music was live, loud and Caribbean. What a blast!!

December 18th was the first run for High Rocks the new Sports Fisherman. We needed to go to La Ceiba to check out a Catamaran that Julie & I were interested in buying. We also needed to run over a 40HP 4 Stroke Mercury outboard to the marina there, and since we were going we would drop off our 86 year old carpenter and his granddaughter Dagmara.

So off we went with Terry on the wheel at 20 Knots with all 600 horses pushing us through the Caribbean see effortlessly. Two hours later we arrived. Unfortunately there had been extensive flooding in La Ceiba. This meant that Joe our regular taxi driver couldn't get through the mud to pick us up at the marina. Julie had arranged to visit about three different doctors while in the city so it was a scramble.

In the end Terry returned to Mango Creek alone and Julie & I stayed overnight at Banana Republic Hostel. The next day we managed to get everything done by 4PM and caught the high speed ferry back to Roatan. We were to have been picked up by a taxi driver at the ferry dock but he was a "No Show". Never mind, situation normal for Honduras. So after 15 minutes we flagged down another driver. The ride to "BJ's" in Oak Ridge was kind of spooky with our driver just barely managing to work his way around large pot holes in the road which we were barely able to see. At one point we passed an accident where someone had obviously lost and argument with a large gravel truck.

We arrived at our pick up point at BJ's in the dark but no one was there to pick us up... Yikes. For a while we thought we would have to sleep under a table in the bar (Not a good Idea).

It turned out that Terry had come out to pick us up in the Panga but had missed his land marks in the dark. It wasn't long however before he found his way in through the reef to pick us up. We were saved!

Day fishing continued and the customers poured in. We recognized a real skill in Terry and decided to promote him to our Director of Sales, while still maintaining his position of Visionary Manager of Projects.

Stella and Ben Khan, all the way from London, England, dropped by to take a look at the place. With Terry's enthusiastic tour, they were soon out fishing and Ben was thrilled to land his first Permit!

Stella jumped into our new Hobie sea kayak (which is powered by peddling instead of conventional paddles) and had a blast exploring, while her husband battled on the fishing flats. At the end of the day they both had smiles on their faces.

We were now rapidly approaching Christmas and our new tree was decorated by Julie and Chena our cook. Preparations were being made by Julie for a good old fashioned turkey Christmas meal complete with stuffing, gravy and pumpkin pie.

Joining us for our meal would be all the staff, sailing friends anchored in the Harbour, our good friends and ex-manager alumni of Mango Creek Graham & Pam, and visitors Tony and Lauren - 18 people altogether.

It was a great time. A big leg of Pork had been prepared by Elavese for all the local staff. I tried it and it was delicious. They generally prefer the pork to the Turkey we like in North America. Chena, with Julie's help, cooked her first pumpkin pie. We moved through Christmas and New Year without seeing a snow flake. Indeed the temperature never really got below 80F.

Tony Hughey & his wife Lauren Kerr, from Washington DC, arrived on December 23 for a one week visit. Tony arrived with enthusiasm. I am sure he didn't even get his bags unpacked and he was off to the flats with his guide Kessel within 10 minutes of landing.

An hour later he returned, excitedly reporting "There were so many bones on the flats you could practically walk on them". The next day he caught one bone before breakfast and another two that afternoon.

As the week fished on so did the work at Mango Creek. Mr. Terry (As the locals call him) ratcheted up the number of projects ongoing at Mango Creek.

Our new Sports Fishing boat took up all our remaining dock space. This situation demanded the addition of another dock. Our local Mayor Perry Terry Bodden was given the contract and soon the place was swarming with another 10 workers.

To link the new dock to the rest of the property it was necessary to build a new pathway. Manuelito was hired on contract for that job and soon he was up to his elbows in cement and broken tiles for the steps.

Our main generator used for charging our batteries had sprung leaks in its radiator. Our backup Isuzu diesel was in bad shape with either a bad piston or valve and couldn't be used. Terry made a deal with Matt next door to exchange our old batteries for his Kubota Diesel. He and Tie Tie then settled into pulling apart the old Isuzu and installing the new Kubota.

Now this was not that easy because the old generator didn't want to bolt directly to the new diesel. Terry designed up a plate to try and fix the problem. When he went down island to get it built he lucked out. The machine shop had one already built!

He also was making up a trolley for moving our new batteries that were coming for the Lodge. We are off-grid, you see, and the new batteries would replace our old tired set. There were 24 batteries coming, each weighing 600 lbs! All the batteries would have to be moved halfway up the mountain to our solar panels and wind generator. Ugh! The same machine shop was to make the axles for the trolley.

Terry was told to return at 3PM and everything would be ready. At 3PM Terry, Julie & I all returned to pick up the parts. We were told they were already picked up for us by another "Gringo". Guess what? We still don't know where the parts are.....

As all of the projects continued in the background the Carnival was still going on. Tony continued to catch fish and Lauren enjoyed her days snorkeling, paddling & peddling our new Kayak, and reading.

One day just before supper Lauren & Tony were pulling the Kayak out of the water to secure it for the night. I was over by the boat house talking to some of the men when we heard a loud splash. Lauren had fallen in trying to move the Kayak on the dock. It was obvious she was "OK" but she sure did look like a wet hen.

There was no way I was going to let this go by without a good "Heckle"; which I promptly did.

I then went to help Tony finish moving the Kayak. I took one step back and the damn dock disappeared! In I went over my head!! Now Lauren & Tony and every worker in the lodge had a good laugh. Later that night Tony fell in while trying to retrieve a lure while fishing off the dock.

We think we should order new T-Shirts that say "I fell in at Mango Creek".

At the same time as Tony & Lauren were visiting, we were joined by Gord & Cathi Joyce from Mississauga Ontario. A few days into his visit, Gord managed to hook a huge permit. Perry our guide maneuvered our fishing skiff while Gord fought the monster. By the time they actually landed the fish they had been dragged half way down the bay. Big smiles on everyone's faces when they returned to the Lodge for sundowners.

Gord and Cathi also opted to go snorkeling with Randy, our resident snorkeling guide 'extrordinaire'. Cathi took some excellent pictures of dolphins as they were surrounded by a school of over 100 on their way to the end of the island.

JR, his wife Kim, and daughter Gabby from Calgary arrived the end of December to celebrate New Year's with us.

JR was an enthusiastic fly fisherman and started tying his own flies. Each day he fished our flats with Tie Tie.

Meanwhile his wife and daughter were busy each day snorkeling, sailing and kayaking.

Kim, Randy and Julie did the big hike over to Paya Bay resort for lunch. Julie was a little sore the next day but thoroughly enjoyed herself as did Kim.

This was Julie's first hike since we arrived here and she managed to take pictures of the event......

Stay tuned for more "Life at the Lodge"!