Mitsugirly's extensive back to belly sun & sky review

[mitsugirly]

We have arrived at beach #3-the lagoon area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We picked a spot under a palapa and in the water goes Sakari while I decided to grab my first monkey lala for the day and take some pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

There are plenty of spaces, with shade, tables, and chairs, right by the water that is secluded in it's own little way for a family if you are interested in having your "own" little spot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

This place just screams relaxation in every direction you turn. If you can't find a place to sit or relax here, then you have issues....just saying.

 

 

 

Obviously the hubby has found his spot and enjoying a beer and a cigar. #livinglifetothefullest

 

 

 

 

 

Sakari swimming out to the closest palapa in the water.

 

 

 

She remembered that this area had tons of itty bitty crabs on the chairs in the water and around the palapa. I'm pretty sure she was determined to find more...and she did.

 

I just noticed that there are no longer any chairs in the water like they had last time in this area, which is where the little crabs would crawl on.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

They have built this new building since I was there last year. It also has a second story, but Kevah assured me that it wasn't one for jumping off of. I remember this area being pretty shallow below and couldn't imagine it being a "jump deck" to begin with.

 

He stated that it is a bar and has "water seats" and thought it would be a great idea and good addition to relaxing in the ocean while getting a drink.

 

 

As you can see, there are chairs located directly in the water.

 

Also, on the side of the building where the bar is, they have added hanging swings to it (this was posted after our trip there and is brand new and looks fabulous).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Looking at a the beach area #1 & #2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hundreds of little fishies by the dock

 

 

 

 

 

There are several platforms out in the water now along the perimeter of LFK's water line.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

I can never get enough of enjoying this little slice of heaven.

 

 

 

Obviously, nethier can Sakari

 

 

I'm not sure what type of fish this is, I see them all the time in the shallow waters on various beaches. They have a long nose and are very small. There are usually a few together in the water. I believe it might be a needlefish?

 

It's really hard to see (and especially because I zoomed in on it), but it's in the left hand side of the picture and it's silver with a black stripe.

 

 

Joel came over and ask us again if we wanted to take a ride on the horses. We figured we might as well go ahead and do it and see what it was all about. After all, I still had a snorkeling trip to do as well.

 

 

 

So, we headed back over to the other side where they had the horses close to the new jaguar enclosure they were working on.

 

We arrived to the area (which is an area they are working on so it's kinda muddy over there) and they brought over 2 of the horses. I decided to have Sakari go with daddy and I would get my own horse. I haded him one of the cameras (while telling him to make sure you get pictures of me riding in the water and I'll get pictures of you) and I took the other camera.

 

They have a platform that you climb up to mount the horse.

 

 

Having a saddle big enough for the both of them wasn't working out too great but they managed.

 

[mitsugirly]

Then it was my turn to mount the horse. Now I've rode horses in my day and grew up with our landlord owning a farm and horses that we would visit on the weekends with my parents. I have rode them with a saddle. I have rode them without a saddle. But I am rusty and I admit I have never rode them in the water or the ocean. So, this would be an experience for me....and a challenge as well.

 

The platform they have built is like a stair step with 3 levels. For some reason they brought the horse up to the small side instead of pulling the horse around to the taller side so that you could just stand up on the top level and get on. This made for a very big challenge to get up that high. The next thing that I noticed was the saddle didn't have any stirrups attached to it...which made it even harder to get on. Had I had a stirrup to put my foot up and throw over the horse, I would have been fine.

 

Once we were on the horses, each one of us had a leader that lead the horse by the rains toward the water.

 

 

Down into the water we went.

 

 

 

Once you hit a little deeper, there are tons of rocks. I seen Sakari and the hubbys horse kinda bare up a little and the guide grabbed it tighter. I could tell that DH was trying to hold onto Sakari for dear life as well as maintaining his balance on the horse. I knew that this scared her and you could tell by the look on her face and the constant worry the rest of the ride that it did not sit well with her.

 

As my horse entered the water, it kinda did the same thing and also scared me a little, not because I'm scared of the horse raising up, but because I was afraid of falling off. Since there were no stirrups on the saddle it made it very hard to stay on without sliding back and forth. I have been on horses that have reared up and I have been thrown off horses. I have been drug through a thorn bush by horses. But, I was much younger and I'm known to brake bones these days at my age and the last thing I wanted that day was to be thrown off into the water that was ROCKY because I was sure to break something with my luck. Had it been a smooth beach, it would have been no worries.

 

 

 

I held on for dear life and tried to take pictures as well. I put a smile on my face and acted as if I was enjoying it, but truth be known all I could think about was when was it ever going to be over? It was a very bumpy ride. I kept going hoping that Sakari was enjoying herself once they got all the way into the water and the horse calm.

 

They stopped a few times to let us take pictures. I'm of course sighing now because the camera that I had managed to get a water spot on it on the way into the water and trying to center focus a picture of Sakari and daddy on the horse put that water spot dead center on her face. Sigh*

 

 

 

Notice how daddy has that camera wrapped around his wrist holding on to the saddle while the other holds on to Sakari? That's where it would remain the entire time...getting no pictures of me in the water on the horse. I knew I could count on him as always. LOL But I guess in his defense, it was a rough trip and he needed 3 hands to hang on.

 

 

Finally one of the guides stopped and ask if I wanted a picture of me...of course I do. He took my camera and took a picture of me. See, there's proof that I was actually on the horse after all.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Another of Sakari being worried and then off we went.

 

 

 

 

They just walked around in the water in the area that we were in. It never did get smooth along the way and I think this is one of the things that made this ride not so great. Had it been in the water that was sandy, it would have been a much better experience.

 

 

 

Looking back at where we started

 

 

 

It wasn't but about 15 minutes, if that, into the ride when I hear daddy tell them to take us back and I see them turn around and head back the direction I was coming. He said that Sakari was scared and he was done with it. I kind of sighed a breath of relief and was glad to head back myself and hoped for a better experience coming out of the water than going in.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

Daddy giving the horse one last "thanks for the thrill" pet on the neck:

 

 

 

We gathered our things, thanked them for the ride and headed back over to beach #3 to hopefully get some lunch.

 

When I seen everyone else eating, I knew I was ready to eat as well. It had already been a long day and I needed another drink as well.

 

We put our things down under the big bar/lunch area and I headed over to get a plate. Immediately Joel said that he would have them bring the food over to us and to just relax anywhere we wanted and they would find us. So I went back to the table and sat and just enjoyed the view. I tried to talk to Sakari about the horseback ride and making it sound as positive as possible because the last thing I wanted was for her to walk away being scared of another animal. I kept saying "Wasn't that fun?" "Wasn't that neat?" "You can go back home and tell everyone at school that you got to ride a horse in the ocean" Hopefully the trick worked and we'll see next time she has an encounter with one.

 

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting on my food. It's not coming. It's been awhile. I did a quick "walk-by" the area where they have the food at and noticed that they still had several plates with food on them sitting on one of the tables by the grill. Hmmm, I wasn't sure what the hold up was. I went back and sat down.

 

After awhile, Joel walked over and I mentioned to him that we were still waiting on our plates and was it ok to go over and ask for them. He immediately went over and had someone bring the plates over. They explained that they were waiting on more lobster, so the plates didn't have the lobster on them and as soon as they had some, they would bring it over.

 

 

Now last time we were here, I did not care for the food. But, as I stated in that review, I really wasn't hungry at the time that it was served. We had ate a huge breakfast and I was still full from that. This time I was hungry and the lunch was good.

 

I enjoyed everything (except I didn't eat the red meat/steak/or whatever it is because I don't eat stuff like that, which I gave to the hubby). Sakari must have really enjoyed her meal and quickly ate up all of her shrimp and was working on daddys shrimp after that. LOL

 

 

 

 

While we were eating Joel sat down with the guitar and was getting ready to play and sing. They were playing "regular" songs you hear on the radio prior to that and I made the comment that we can hear that "stuff" any old day and wanted to hear some island music. He sang while we continued with our meal. A nice added touch. (They did have a live band the last time we were here as well).

 

[mitsugirly]

At this point, I overheard others talking about the snorkeling boat and how they had just returned and how amazing the reef was. I figured I had better find out where this boat was and get on it to go out. I started asking around about it and one of the workers pointed in the direction I needed to go to find the guy that takes people out to the reef. He was supposed to be over behind the 2 story deck and over where the canoe storage is located. I ask around for him when we got there, but no one could locate him and they said they would find him.

 

I waited and waited...and then finally said, you know what, I'm wasting a lot of time and no one has come back and I feel like I could just be enjoying my time swimming at the lagoon instead of just sitting there.

 

We headed back to the lagoon and I decided I was going to just go snorkeling in that area for now and ask again later. (Although in the back of my mind, I knew I probably wasn't going to find the person that I needed to find and I wasn't going to get the snorkeling tour I had paid for). Sigh* Once again, I was not going to get to go out to the reef to come back and report to everyone here what it's like. (Sad).

 

I entered the water with Sakari and we immediately found a sea cucumber. After the issues with the last thing we held, I figured she would be afraid of the sea cucumber, but she wasn't. I knew it wouldn't hurt you, so I let her hold it. I think I restored my super hero mommy award for the day. I'm in good standing with her once again. Yippee.

 

 

 

(Notice daddy in the background of the picture above? I didn't realize that he decided to get in the water as well...and he ended up getting in the canoe.)

 

I went about snorkeling...

 

I found something that reminded me of some type of goby fish, but I'm not sure???

 

 

 

 

 

I spotted a small baby lion fish. It's funny, it's in the same spot where I found the last one here over a year ago, only it was bigger.

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

This might have been a damselfish of some type. I'm not sure. I have never seen one that was a blackish/white with blue on it.

 

 

 

 

 

I spotted a longfish Damselfish. I'm not sure if I have actually seen one of these before. I know I have seen the Blue and Yellow Azure Damselfish, but this was different with the "eyeball" looking color on his fin. So, it might be a first spotting for me. I would have to look at my previous pictures from other snorkeling adventures.

 

 

 

I found another spiky sea urchin.

 

 

 

A few parrot fish (both a stoplight parrot fish and a red parrot fish).

 

 

A few rainbow wrasse, blue stripped grunt, and some parrot fish.

 

 

Another shot of the lion fish.

 

[mitsugirly]

An adult stoplight parrot fish (that looked like he may have some battle scars):

 

 

I popped up out of water at one point and noticed that DH had put Sakari into the canoe and they were canoing along with me. He said "if I can't snorkel with you, I'll do it this way so we are together." Awww <3

 

 

 

Before long, "together" turned into him and Sakari heading out away from me. I knew the area that he was in was the grassy area that I never snorkel in because there wasn't much to see.

 

 

 

I thought these shots turned out nicely because you could see them and see the crystal clear water and rocks in the water as well.

 

 

 

I explored a little over toward the jumping dock, there wasn't much to see over there.

 

 

Then the hubby came back from where they were at and said "You have got to see this!!! It's amazing out here. You don't need a snorkeling trip. I'll take you!"

 

I hopped into the canoe and away we went with Sakari leading the way.

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We headed out to the area right past the grassy area that I had known about. I had no clue what I was about to see and experience. It was amazing!!!

 

The coral formations were some of the prettiest I had seen. The water was crystal clear and you could see straight down to the bottom as if you were in the water.

 

 

 

 

 

The coral came almost all the way up to the surface and there were huge areas to wind in and out of them.

 

I took this shot (although not the best since I had just taken my camera up out of the water) just to show how beautiful it was from the top of the water as well and you could see everything right below you.

 

 

 

 

Had the water spot on my camera not been there, you probably would have thought I was actually in the water snorkeling.

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Another shot from above

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I looked back and took a picture of LFK from where we were just to show how close it was...thank you Sakari for managing to bring your oar up at that exact same moment the camera went off.

 

 

 

 

 

Another shot of how close we are to shore

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

The size of these coral formations were simply stunning and amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Looking down into the water and this huge pod of (whatever kind of coral this is...I don't know my coral, other than brain coral, which is obvious why it's named that)...and it was surrounding us.

 

 

It was so close you felt like you could just reach down and touch it...but that's a no-no of course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another look from above.

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was pretty neat to see. Look at all of them!

 

 

 

 

 

We made our way over to the area in front of beach #2 and beach #3. There really wasn't much to see over there and it was mostly sea grass.

 

[mitsugirly]

A zoomed in blurry shot of the jaguar and horse area from the ocean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We made our way back to the lagoon area and I was smiling from ear to ear.

 

For those of you that ask about the quality of snorkeling and the reef....I'm here to tell you it is simply amazing out there. You can't even imagine from just looking at pictures. It was surrounding us. It was the most beautiful thing ever. I would have given anything to be in the water with it and exploring. If the reef was that good right there, not far from the island, I can only imagine what it looks like out at the reef a little further out where they take you to.

 

Yes, I'm disappointed that I didn't get my snorkeling trip. However, I'm very grateful that I at least got to see with my own eyes the amazing reef (or part of it) that is awaiting out there for my next trip back to Roatan (whenever that may be).

 

So that was some manual labor canoeing and all...wait, I forgot, I didn't do any of the labor, Sakari and daddy did. Ok, well I think I worked up my thirst because my mouth was watering so much at the reef that I needed a drink. We handed our canoe off to another family and in we came to buy some more drinks.

 

After that, we (well Sakari) wanted to go over to the deck and do some jumping. I swear when you are down below, it looks simple. But once you get up there and you are looking down, it's like you are about to free fall off the empire state building. No joke.

 

I guess the jumping deck now has been officially named "Bottoms Up" and that is what I was about to do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a pretty nice area up there and pretty big as well. I know the Ma'ams said on their last trip there they just hung out up there all day in the shade and overlooked the sites.

 

 

 

Looking down...not so scary right? (Well that's because you are looking at a screen and I'm looking at 1000' down into the water...just kidding, it's not that far).

 

 

 

Let me just stand here and admire the view (or at least I was trying to convince Sakari to stop rushing me).

 

[mitsugirly]

"COME ON MOMMY!" Geesh, ok, ok, I'm going. But first I decided Sakari needed to wear her life jacket. The last time she jumped without it and even though she wasn't scared, it kinda freaked me out. So I convinced her that she had to wear the life jacket at least on the first jump and we'll see how it goes.

 

Then all of a sudden you hear the loud distant voices coming from the lagoon area..."Jump! Jump! Jump!" over and over. I now had an audience and they were chanting at me and there was no backing out now. Where did these people come from? Go back in your hole or back underwater snorkeling please.

 

 

 

Like Nike says...JUST DO IT and away I went.

 

 

 

 

Next up was Sakari. Now who's the chicken? She stalled for a minute and I took every opportunity to tell her about it since she gave me a hard time.

 

 

 

So she just jumped. Well, I guess that will teach me.

 

 

 

And there we were. We had jumped and lived to tell about it....again.

 

 

Then I get the "Come on mommy, let's do it again!!!!" :eek: Um ok. Off we went back up to jump again and again. We jumped one after another and then we jumped holding hands together. After several jumps, I was done. Truth be known, I hate climbing steps and I was getting worn out at this point. Sakari had raced ahead of me and was already at the top. I told her to go ahead and jump without me. That's when she froze. She couldn't do it. She needed me up there with her or in the water. Since I wasn't about to climb those steps again, I just jumped into the water from the deck and waited for her. She jumped, she swam over to the ladder, she climbed out. What exactly was I needed for???

 

 

***To those of you that don't know it...LFK have several web cams on their property. One sits right here at this jumping dock and you can set there and watch people jump off the dock during the day. I have watched it a few times and found it to be very entertaining when people are jumping for the first time. I hope I was as entertaining to anyone out there who might have been watching as they have been for me.

[mitsugirly]

After we get back, find a seat and have our drink in our hand, we hear Joel say that they are taking the Jaguar out of the cage over at beach #2. YIKES!!! I have GOT to see this.

 

I love over and they already have the cage pulled up to the beach water and the door lifted with people standing around.

 

 

 

 

We gathered our things and quickly headed over to that beach.

 

 

 

Sakari was within feet of it and kept getting closer. She wanted to pet it. I kept having to tell her to get back.

 

 

 

You could tell this big cat loved his handler.

 

 

 

Several couples did the "swim" with the jaguar and you could tell they were loving every minute of it.

 

 

 

With each person, they would also take them over to the palapa in the water and have them sit on the table. Then the handler would put the jaguar up on the table for picture opportunities. Every time the jaguar would get up there and the handler would walk away, he would take a huge jump into the arms of the handler. He did not want the handler leaving him and wanted to be with him all the time. No matter how many times he tried, the jaguar would jump right back to him.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

My husband kept saying "Man, I really want to do this!!!" I think he was trying to talk himself into it but just wasn't sure. At one point I looked around and had seen that he settled for this kitty instead.

 

 

I told him if he wanted to do it, he could and it was up to him. After all, this was "his" birthday cruise and he was going to have a brush with death tomorrow when we swim with the sharks...why not make it two brushes with death in one cruise??? LOL

 

 

 

 

 

What a beautiful creature Simba was.

 

 

I couldn't believe how close I was to a real live jaguar!!

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Everyone finished their "swims" and it was time to put Simba back up. The hubby had spent too much time debating if he wanted to do this or not and missed out on the opportunity. Maybe next time...IF by the time we make it back there they are still able to do the swims (which he might be too old by then).

 

The hubby went over and sadly watched them put him back in the cage.

 

 

 

We headed back to the lagoon area for one last swim and drink and to agree that this is by far the best day ever.

 

I knew we would be leaving soon and I needed to go to the restroom one last time. I headed back over that way and on the way out, I ran into Kevah again and thank him for allowing us to visit his home and island and then I ask him where baby Lisa was. He pointed over in the direction and we must have went past her (and probably even taken a picture of her) and didn't know it was even her.

 

The last time we were here, she was just a little itty bitty thing and so adorable. Kevah walked over to her cage with me and told the worker "Please take Lisa out of the cage and let Kim hold her". I was so excited.

 

Picture of baby Lisa from over a year ago:

 

 

 

Baby Lisa now:

 

 

 

It's so hard to tell in the pictures, but she has grown so much. She use to be in a cage in a different location, with several other monkeys. A few of them we were warned back then that they "could" be biters. I guess it got too bad and they ended up removing Lisa from the cage and giving her her own cage with another baby monkey. They no longer allow people in with the other monkeys because of the biting.

 

Baby Lisa was so sweet and loving and would just hold on to you and hug you.

 

It was funny when the worker took my camera and said they would take pictures for me. He would call her name and she would instantly look. It was just like calling your dog and them come running. She knows her name and it was fun to watch.

 

Would you look at those teeth!

 

 

 

 

 

I noticed the baby monkey in the cage and gave a big "Awww, look at the baby" and then told Kevah that the baby monkey in the cage was about the size that Lisa was the last time we were here. He told the worker to get the baby out and let me hold her.

 

Now this is what you call monkey business.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

She was adorable, but a little scared. I remember Lisa being this way when she was little. When you try to get them off of you, they get extremely scared and will bite when this young. Otherwise, they are fine. They tried several times to get her off of me and she wasn't having it.

 

 

She hung on to me for dear life and once I tried to pry her away from my arm to hand her to the worker and yes, she bit me. It wasn't hard, it didn't hurt and it didn't break skin, but she let you know that she was there and wasn't going anywhere.

 

Only the face a mother could love I suppose.

 

 

I ended up having to back up to the cage door over and over to get her to climb onto it. At that point, Lisa had decided to climb out of the cage and going exploring on her own. She was caught running along the ocean in the mangrove. LOL

 

The baby had made it to the cage...but the outside of it. They were easily able to get her back in.

 

 

Then they handed me a cute little Lemur. He was adorable. I ask if they bite and was told these animals will NOT bite. That put at ease and I was just amazed at how calm he was.

 

 

 

Well hello there!

 

 

When I was done, I raced back over to where the hubby and Sakari was and told them to "Let's go see the monkeys, they are out".

 

We persuaded Sakari to get out of the water and headed over there. (Don't think this is an easy task. Getting her out of ANY water is a very slow process and a lot of bargaining).