Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Guanaja update

Hello family and friends!

Hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day.  Valentine's day has a special meaning to me and not for the same reason as you guys.   Valentines Day 27 years ago my Dad gave up drinking and 26 years ago on the same day he gave up smoking cold turkey.  So, as you can imagine this is a huge accomplishment for my father.   He's a strong willed individual and has stayed true to his goals all these years and some days are harder than others he tells me.  Well Dad, I tell you... "I'm very proud of you and love you very much."

My dad and his beautiful fiancee, Ester.

We spent our Valentine's Day with some special friends.
Sharon and Mike hosted a very nice luncheon at their place.


They have a great island house.  Loved it.


A fantastic garden that leads down to the water.


Both are big animal lovers but Mike has  a special
bond with birds.  He has 4 of them.



Sharon showing some love to one of the 3 dogs they own.

Sharon prepared a fantastic Cuban cuisine.
Hot pressed cuban sandwiches, delicious black beans and
a fantastic cabbage salad.  Amazing!


Also, Sharon is very "Martha Stewart" with her place settings
Name tags, homemade baskets filled with a candle and candies for the ladies

Sharon and Mike, Thank you for inviting us to your home and
making us feel so welcomed.  You guys are very special to us.

 
Bob and I have been on the island for a month now.  Time goes by
fast even on "island" time.

It has been wonderful so far.  We've met some really nice
people and of course we've met some folks that are just out there.
As you can imagine island life brings all kinds and everybody has
a story.

We love hearing everyone's story at our favorite watering hole,
Manatees, a bar/restaurant owned and ran
by a few wonderful Germans.  The Germans have a pretty
strong expat community here
and have been some of the nicest people yet.  Who knows
we may come back to the states speaking German.



Hansito and Bob.
Hans it the owner of Manatees and has been on this island for 23 years.



Annette and Klause
They are the operations and cooks behind Manatees. 
Absolutely lovely people


Jerry and Capt Al.
Capt Al has all the stories.  He is a hoot.
Jerry is a very kind and warm person.


Bob and Andy.
Andy is Capt Al's son.  He spends half his time here on the island
and the other half working in New Orleans.  



Mike and Sharon.
They too have been on the island a long time.
These guys started building their home just before Hurricane Mitch (Oct. 98),
which decided to hang around and destroy most of the island of Guanaja.
They basically had to start over.  Heartbreaking but they hung in there.

Manatees is the place to be on Saturdays.  It looks like it
will become a ritual for us for have yet to miss a Saturday
The expats openly welcome one and all, newly anchored sailors,  
yachties and those staying for the day or the rest of their days.  They            serve up excellent food and has great views.

Well, we've hired out the job of clearing our land.. woohoo.
Soon we'll be able to walk the property and design
our layout.


As you can see...it's way over grown.   Bob is assessing
if he can take the project on himself.    I'm telling you,
the boy is tight.


Bob did clear a 10 x 10 area with
his very own machete.  But decided it
best to leave it to the professionals.


Our little piece of paradise.  Can't wait till
we can walk the property. We'll of course
try to keep as many big trees as possible and our
fruit trees as well.   We have mangos, avocados, and
pinepple growing already.


While Bob walks the property with some guys;
I hung out on the dock and basked in the sun.


This is our view across from our property.
Absolutely beautiful and nothing around but a lighthouse.

So, do you think you could live this lifestyle?   I'll be honest,
it's not for everybody.   What's to do here?
Diving (some of the best), snorkeling (this island is surrounded by reef),
fishing (we have deep sea, reef and bone fishing), kayaking, hiking to
some nice waterfalls, and lots of time to read and nap.

Most of the folks here come to "retire" not start a new
job venture.   There are very few restaurants, bars, and minimal
shopping.   Groceries are delivered to the island once a week. 
Thursday's is our big shopping day for fresh produce.

Local people would love for the "tourist" to come down.   Some
of the expats would love to keep it as is.
We still plan to continue with our dream of small beach bar and
a few cabanas.

Stay tune for upcoming events.
Hugs,
Bonnie and Bob

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Bonnie, my husband and I run www.guanajaguide.com and have seen your blog posts. We'd like to add you as a local blogger on Guanaja. Would you be interested?

We are landowners too and hoping to live the dream on Guanaja one day as well.

Let me know! Next time we're on the island, we should meet!

Sincerely,
Melissa

Anonymous said...

Hi Bonnie: Of course I could very easy get used to the Island's life.I have a very similiar life with the exception of all of the city's easy living. and the traffic on Wilcrest.Hope we can come and visit you sometime soon. We love you much.
HUGS FROM TIA LUZ

Anonymous said...

When can I visit? Thanks for the updates

Kristi Rod

Bonnie N Bob's Travels said...

Hi Melissa,
How are you doing? If you think my material is suitable for guanajaguide.com we'd love to be added. what an honor. please let us know when you are in town and we will make plans to meet up. we look forward to meeting you guys. thank you - Bonnie

Bonnie N Bob's Travels said...

Hi Kristi,
Nice to hear from ya chica. We don't have our cabanas up yet but you are more than welcome to come down anytime. We'd love to have ya.

Bonnie N Bob's Travels said...

Hola Tia Luz...

You know I love hearing from you. Hope all is going well in H-Town. Miss you dearly.

dimples said...

Bonnie, those pretty sandaled feet are definitely not city feet - no bunions from wearing tight, high-heeled shoes! Your property view is fantastic. Can't wait to visit you at Gilligan's Island.
Much love,
Dora

Unknown said...

Just reading your blog..sound like paradise. See that Bob is growing the retirement facial hair. Pete just tried that getting ready for his month in Mexico but could not stand it after several weeks. Thought it made him look too old. Enjoy all your time in the sun.

Anonymous said...

speaking german? you getting GUD-EN-TIGHT with them. Heading to the bbq cook off HOOV-DOGGIN it

Guanaja Sharon said...

Thanks Bonnie for the lovely words about our home and the luncheon. It was wonderful having you as guests in our house and hope that you will visit us again in the future. We have seen your "site" and know that you look forward to settling in.

Unknown said...

Hi Bonnie, we've got your link up on our website. Looking forward to hearing more about your adventures as you start to build on Guanaja!

http://www.guanajaguide.com/In-the-news_blogs.html

Cheers,
Melissa