We've turned the page on our calendar and started the second month of the trip. We've really only been on the road for about 3 weeks, but new calendar pages seem to be milestones for me. New Years will probably seem even more so.

Yesterday was a strange day. We've had a series of tropical storms come through here so we've had to hunker down a bit. Whne it rains here, it's pretty impressive. They can get an inch of rain in about 5 minutes and it is usually coming down sideways. Our little bungalow has a few leaks so we have containers strategically placed to catch drips and we mop the floors a lot:)

When the weather broke for a while we rode into town to check email and buy some groceries. While checking emails we overheard a conversation by an American woman calling her travel agent in the states to complain about their accommodations here. They are booked in one of the most expensive resorts on the island and it seems it wasn't up to their expectations. It hit me as ineresting that Val and I are thrilled to be staying in a run down little shack with Geckos for pets and leaks in he roof, while others are put off because there are insects on the island. Oh well, different stroke ...

Last night we had dinner with our friend Mark. He's from the UK. Specifically Brittian. We were given a geography lesson about the difference between England, Brittian, Great Brittan, the British Commonwealth and the United Kingdom. Who knew it wasn't all the same thing:) (OK, so a lot of people know it's not the same thing, interesting being schooled by a 23 year old at our ages!) It was a great dinner complete with guacamole, seafood and dessert. We didn't get home until 1:30 a.m.! So far it's the latest night we've had on the island. Most nights we're in bed by 10:00 p.m.

Mark came to the island to become a Divemaster. He's been diving with the shop I was supposed to be working for, and seems to be enjoying it. He starts his first actual class time this week so we'll see how that goes. He'll be here until December and then off to New Zealand. We may try to meet up with him there for a while.

He's been telling us stories of his father as he was growing up. These stories are too good to be made up, but could easily be the basis of a sitcom TV show. It's amazing Mark has all his limbs and is of sound mind!

Tonight it's dinner with our friend Graham that we ran into the other night.

For travelling to an island where we knew no one, seems our social calendars are getting quite crowded. Ahhh, the lucky liife of a traveler I guess.

Until next time, Happy Trails,

Eric