Tak'n it to a whole other level :-)

Hi all.

Well during the trip to Roatan, I asked Danielle to marry me and she said yes!

Check out our blog at: http://headoverfins.blogspot.com/

This is where all our wedding details will be posted etc.

Next adventure will be a dive trip to Bonaire for Danielle and I.

Check out the following:

http://www.buddydive.com/

Very much looking forward to this trip before the holiday season.

Some pics from the last few trips:

Diving in Roatan.

River trip on the Gunnison in Western colorado.

Is there any body out there......

It would not suprise me if no one was still looking at this old blog......

Well any who...... it has been about a year since last post. I have been heads down working here in Colorado. Have to say that things have been going well.

Less than two weeks till Roatan Hondurous! Yes somthing actually worth blogging about.

So say tuned in (or tuned out as it may be) and keep an eye out for new pics and under water adventures.

The following is a link to the tour:

http://www.cocoviewresort.com/

Mahalo

Back in Colorado

Hi everyone.

Just wanted to post an update that I am back in colorado safe and sound.

Thanks for all those who kept in touch and looked at my blog every now and then... hope it was enjoyable.

The following are links to my full set of pics I took in Thailand, Seychelles and London. These are fed off of Kodak Galary site.

Seychelles slide show

Thailand slide show

England slide show

Islands and beaches to the throws of London

Hi everyone.

Just watned to post a quick update. I have sucessfully completed the conservation work in the Seychelles and am sending off this post from an I-net cafe in London. I will be staying here with friends until April 4th and then completing the final leg back to Colorado.

As I get time I will be posting additional photos and such once I get home and get sorted.

Take care and type at you soon!

-Larry }:->



Royal carriage at Buckingham Palace



Monument outside of palace



London underground station



Cathedral at Exeter College Oxford

another island remote camp

Hi all.

The following pics were from my trip to the other remote base camp on silouiette.

We had a major back pack trip from one side of the island where the docks were up and over the moutain and back down the other side to where the camp was located at an old cocunut plantation.

We were there for a week performing turtle nesting surveys multiable times a day.

On the boat trip back we also had another suprize while on the boat! See below..

Thanks for looking!

-Larry }:->



Getting ready for the hike up and over (Tash, Al and Abi)



Taking a last rest on the other side before heading down into base



The view from base camp back towards the moutain we hiked over.



Hawlks bill turtle just finished nesting!



Tracks in the sand a turtle this one must not have liked the site and headed back into the water




Swimming with a whale shark!!! This one was about 7-8m in length. They like to swim very clost to the surface when feeding in these waters. This one was just off the port side of the boat as we headed back from the island. The skipper Al and I quick thrown on snorkel gear and jump over the side of the boat while he circled around.

This was a amazing experience... I was really hoping to see one out here and when I hear that they were out of season this time a year was disapointed. Leave it to mother nature to give you a suprise!

BBQ and Base life

Hi all.

Just wanted to post a quick one with a few pics of live around base. These were taken over the last 7 weeks at one time or another.

Enjoy.

-Larry }:->



The gang kits up for a survey dive.




Down in the towns market haggeling for red snapper.



The locals cook an amazing BBQ at the end of the first 5 weeks.



More BBQ food, this time fresh off the flames chicken and fish




Folks having a good time at the BBQ.

Things which go curious

This last week I was at GVI’s remote base camp on Curieuse island. The work we did there was to support the local management agency (SCMRT) with helping out on their base and around the island.

The week was a nice change of pace to the diving and coral work we have been doing over the last few weeks. At this point I am fully checked of on coral identification underwater and we are in the process of collecting data with our “quadrates” and transit lines. What this means is we take a PVC pipe square down which is 3m X 3m and then identify all the recruitment of new coral 5cm and less in size. Recruitment means new growth.

Curieuse island was reached by taking a ferry boat from Mahe over to Praslin and then a SCMRT support boat over to Curieuse. Curieuse is typically only visited by day users and the entire island is considered a marine park with only foot trail access. Visitors stop by the SCMRT ranger base for tours, pick nick and beach time. There is also historical museum/house which was the islands resident doctor’s quarters when the island was still a leper colony.

At this point week 5 is completed and early next week we will be getting about 7 new people for those who are staying for a 5 week block. We are also loosing about 5 people from the first batch of 5 weekers.

The following are the next set of pics.

Enjoy and type at you soon.

-Larry }:->





Boat trip from Praslin island



Secluded Beach view on Curieuse



Amazing coast line on Curieuse



Local residents... these were all over the place.



There were lots of these land tourtuses on the island

week 2 and still going!

Hi all.

Just wanted to do a quick post today of my adventures. Don’t really have the time to put some pictures but wanted to give an update.

So all in all we are getting into the routine of running the base camp and kitting up for our dives, cleaning up, eating, sleeping, studying and doing base duty.

We have started doing “spot dives” that is where Heather (local marine biologist) or one of the other staff take us on a dive and point to coral and then we have to write down what we think it is and then show them and they either give the “ok” for correct or point on their slate to the correct name. This has really helped bring what we have been seeing in the books to live.

A few days ago we were presented our research goals and the techniques we will use to gather the information. There are two main methods: use of a pvc square about 2m by 2m and the other is a 50m tape measure. And how are these used specifically you might ask. The square is used by randomly placing it on the area of the reef you want to study. Specific corals inside this area are then inventoried for size and if damage is present. We are looking for new growth so we will inventory only those corals smaller than 5cm. As for the tape measure what we do is take the end of the tape and weight it down to the sea floor. We then swim out in a relatively straight line until we hit the 50m mark. We then swim back to the starting point looking for any critters which eat the new growth. These can be sea urchins, sea cucumbers, snails etc. We also look for squid/octopus and lobsters. The quantities of these critters are then recorded and submitted to their agencies. Basically looking for the overall health of the reef.

Type at you soon!

-Larry }:->

Week 1 from the seychelles!

Hi all.

Well I have made it safe and sound here in the Seychelles. It really is the beautiful tropical paradise that everyone claims it to be!

My fist week has really been a blast but also fill with tons of studying, classroom and scuba diving skill dives. Major items this week have been completing my Advanced Open Water diver certification. Due to weather we had to push a few dives into this next week but two more dives and that cert will be added to my list.

Also we completed our Emergency First Responder class and hands on work. This is essentially the Euro version of the US community first aid and adult CPR. Interesting that there are a few different techniques taught here than in the states.

In between these items has also been out intro to coral reef classes as well as specific coral grouping. What this entails is that we have to memorize the genus/specie names of corals as well as be able to identify them both in the water and out. Later next week will be the start of our testing on this. If we don't successfully pass these we will not be able to participate in the research dives so the whip is cracking to buckle down and study our corals.

This is very much island living. The locals here are really laid back and speak similar to Jamaican english (dats right mon, no worries).

Well that is about it for now. I will be able to get into town on Sat or Sun so I will try to keep the blog up to date at these points in time.

Take care all......

-Larry }:->



Amazing sunset over the bay.



View of "home" for next bit of weeks. Picutre of our base from the dorm balcony.



Dive kit drying area for out "skins"



Shot of bay while walking to the bus stop.



Shot of out base area during a hike

Getting ready for the next adventure!

Hi all.


I hope everyone's new year is starting out on the right foot.

As for me I am less than a week from departing again. This time it will be to the Seychelle islands which are off the east coast of Africa. Check out the general map off the following link:

http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/Africa/sc.htm

For Seychelle stats and general stuff check out:

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/6268.htm

I will be spending the bulk of my time on the island Mahe which is also where the capital of Victoria is located. Our research facility is located off the North West corner of the island near
Cap Ternay.

The organization I am volunteering for is Global Vision International. Their web site with specific expedition information is located at:

http://www.gvi.co.uk/pages/expeditionDetail.asp?expedition=57


With this organization I will be involved in marine conservation research by assisting project staff with gathering data on fish, coral, turtles, whale sharks and other critters. What this means is I will be SCUBA diving 5-6 days a week on the pristine reefs of the Seychelles!



My plan is to remain with the project for 10 weeks which brings me back state side at the start of April.

My hope is that I will be able to update my blog every few weeks with interesting tidbits, photos and the like.

Type at you soon!

-Larry };->

Pics from the waterful south

Happy holiday everyone!

The following are pics from our travels down to Phuket where we had fun in the amazing waters!

The first set of photos is from our sea kayaking trip to the Phang Nga islands off the east side of Phuket.

It was just amazing pattling around the island and how we accessed hidden mangrove by going through partly submerged sea caves... what fun!

The group we went with was great. Check them out at: http://www.seacanoe.net

The second set of photos is from one of our dives off the west cost of Phuket in the Similian islands.

We did a 7 dive over night live aboard with Similian Pro Dive.

Very top notch group and the water conditions were just amazing (clear and warm!).

Check them out at: http://www.similanprodive.com/

Hope everyone is doing well.

Later I will post some more pics from our trip back up to Chiang Mai. Take care!

Could it be the last blog from Thailand????

Hi all.

Well Danielle and I have just about completed our stay here in Chiang Mai which also means we are very close to heading back state side.

Over the last few days we have been having a great time with elephants at the only conservation site in northern Thailand as well as checking out the local "summer" palace of the royal Thai family and a few more Wats.

Oh yes and can't forget the shopping, eating and more shopping at the markets and vendor booths all around :-)

From here we take an over night train back down to Bangkok, spend a few hours there and then depart Thailand for now on the long flight back home.

Thanks soooo much for everyone who has kept in touch via email or updates to the blog. It really meant a lot to hear from friends this far away from home.

But wait there is more... I will continue to update the blog as I start the next phase of my journey as well as post additional links and pictures to some of the neat things Danielle and I have been doing over the last two weeks.

Catch you all on the flip side!

-Larry }:->

Bangkok to Phuket and under

Hi all.

Just wanted to add a quick post since I have not done so for a few weeks. Danielle and
I have been having just a blast with our time in Bangkok and Phuket.

Bangkok was just chock full of things to do between seeing the Kings birthday celebration (OMG soooo many people, very little celebration area!!), figuring out the boat systems to get from place to place and visiting a number of very amazing markets and location (ie Grand Palace, Flower Market, Bangkok Zoo etc).

Phuket very late in the game (as in we were already in the air port and decided to change all the plans!!) replaced Ko Samui because of all the rain and flooding they were getting.

Best thing we could have done! Weather has been just about ideal here in Phuket and we have check out a number of the beaches and the islands off all three major coasts with boat trips, sea kayaking and scuba diving.

I will be adding pictures at a later day so don't worry.

Well that is about it for now. From here we head back to Chiang Mai tomorrow and have some more fun up there (ya ya I will look both ways..... :-)

Thanks!!

-Larry }:->

Golden Triangle and Back

Hi all.

First off happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the US!

I was able to celebrate the event in a small way by having a piece of pumpkin pie!

It was funny that there were actually restaurants which tried to put on American style Thanksgiving dinners (turkey and potatoes and the works). After talking with a few people I think I got the best part :-)

This week has gone by really fast! I completed the Level 1 Thai Massage. This means that I know a good bit but need to practice, practice practice :-) I am sure there won't be any takers for this.

Today (Sat) I spent around 13 hours on the road going up to the northern most Provence of Thailand. This was with a specific van trip which stopped off at a few interesting destinations on the way there and back but overall it was a long time in the van (about 5 hours each way and the distance was just around 300 km). Roads were twisty and as typical to Thai driving styles an adventure (think of taking a typical 2 land road and then using the shoulders on both sides and create a third, albeit illegal passing lane in between the two).

The photos above are shots from the ride. The large arch with the animals is a monument to the Golden Triangle. This was the infamous area between Burma, Laos, and Thailand which formed during the dry season as islands formed when the river ran low. The river is the border between these areas. These islands were then in no-mans land where major drug trade (specifically opium) occurred. Thailand states that they have banned the local growth of opium but you know how drug enforcement goes ....

The picture with the gold Buddha on the river shows the Burma side to the right and the Thailand side to the left. This river originates in China.


The other picture of the street and the arch is the Thailand and Burma (or called Myanma) border crossing. There are major street markets on both sides of the border. This area is frequented by the Thai's seeking even cheaper deals on goods just over the border. This is also a frequent spot for visitors who need a cheaper way of hopping over the border and back in order to extend their visa (which is why I was there :-) The standard Thailand visa is only good for 30 days. In talking with people who frequent Thailand they spend a lot of time crossing into either Burma or Laos to renew their visas.

Overall it was a pleasant trip and the scenery was superb. It was also great to be out of the city for a day.

So at this point I am safe and sound back in Chiang Mai (albeit stiff after the long ride) and will be spending the next 5 nights outside of the city at a nice resort called Tao Gardens


Take care all and type at you soon.

-L

Chiang Mai Stay

Hi all.

Wanted to get another post in for everyone. This last week has been an experience.

We visited a local Buddhist Wat (or monastery), learned how to make Thai food and was instructed in Thai Massage techniques. The pictures included are from those various areas.

On a downer when I tried to cross a very busy intersection just after dark here in down town Chang Mai I was struck by a passing pickup truck. This lead to a visit to the hospital and a number of bumps and bruises but nothing serious. It has been a week and I am already over the majority of the injuries. The hospital here could easily rival anything we have in the states and the quality of care by the staff was superb. I guess I decided to have to FULLY experience all things Thai. :-)

Moving forward I will be continuing my stay here in Chiang Mai for the next week plus where I will continue to learn Thai massage and check out the local attractions.

Take care and I will update in a week or so!

Peace.

-Larry }:->