Meet Tony Fitz (AKA Irish Tony and Kevin or English Tony etc..)

A simple Blog report is far to small of a venue to explain the complexities and simple mantras of this next "Roatan Character".

The real name (as far as we know) is Tony Fitz. His alias are many and include Irish Kevin (that came from Trish and I who had a foggy memory of Irish Kevins watering hole in Key West). He is also known as English Tony and who knows what the rest of the world calls the man.

He lives in Roatan but came here via, Panama, Candada (nova scotia I believe), London England and originally from Ireland. Anyone that has Ireland, Canada and England in his blood probably has a fair amount of Alcohol in his blood too and Tony does not disappoint as a drinking buddy. In fact during a recent invasion of our Florida friends I put Tony on late night duty with the girls to keep an eye on them for me while I got my beauty sleep (unsucessfully of course).

He did his best to keep up with Trish and her gang and for that I owe him.

When he is not helping me entertain our friends Tony owns and watches the operation of his piece of paradise Hidden Garden Cabins http://www.hiddengardencabins.com/.

This is not a full time job because he has good help so he helps Gene and I out at the vacation rental biz with a bit of repair and maint. work for which we are always greatful as he is a fair and good fixer of all things.

In his former life Tony was a motorcyle man and owned and operated and or worked at motorcycle shops. That is a skill that still comes in handy and he keeps a few of our two wheelers on the road. In fact I have a new pair of break pads I need to get him to put on my DR 200 sometime soon.

If you come down and want to meet Tony just go to Sun Downers he will probably be there if not break something in one of our rentals and we can call him for you. It is well worth the repair bill to meet another Roatan Character.

Roatan Radiators

If your ever hanging around a construction site in Roatan your bound to see a Roatan Radiator.

Anytime the work stops (that can happen quite frequently) you will see all the guys talk and then they pull there shirts up over their bellies to cool off. A buddy of mine William Crisp has had a few different additions going on at his place. He was the first to my knowledge to notice this behavior and give it a name.

During a recent party this story and behavior was a topic of conversations and a few of us demonstrated the act to a few guests our Friend Trish Gonzalez had brought down from Florida.

From Left to Right the radiators in this picture are: Deveon, Mario (he is a real radiator as a full time contractor and the inspiration for William), Irish Tony (sometimes known as Irish Kevin), Mitch and yours truly.

Take a good look ladies, radiators like this are not born they are made!

Pico Bonito Cloud Forest

In late February Cindy and I took a quick over night trip to the mainland of Honduras and spent the night up at a lodge in the Pico Bonita Cloud Forest along the Cangrejal River.

We stayed at the Omega Lodge. A small eco lodge run by some Germans that specializes in Rafting, Hiking and hanging out. You can check it out at www.omegatours.info

True to the German ownership the lodge ran like a clock including a question upon check in that really suprised me. What time and what would you like to have for dinner? At that point we picked up the menus chose our dishes and picked the time of 7:30 for dinner. At 7:30 I was at the small bar finishing a nice 12 year old Flor De Cana on the rocks when the waitress came up and said your dinner is ready to be served. As soon as we sat down there was my schnitzel and everything else we ordered.

I guess it was the first time I have ever had such a prompt meal in Honduras. Frankly I am so used to island time I was a little put off by it. Luckily the good pork put me right out of my bad mood and into happy stomach mood.

That night we stayed in the suite they named "Beauty View" When we checked in it was rainy and cloudy (imagine that in a cloud forest) so we did not appreciate the name of this room till the next morning.

When we awoke we had a great view of a large waterfall down the valley and the sounds of many tropical birds. After a quick breakfast we set out on a nice hike and did some great bird watching.

It was all over too fast as we had to go home that afternoon. We are already looking forward to another trip to do some more trekking and maybe Cindys favorite rafting.

Island Car Lift

In Roatan this is a common sight. wood ramps to raise cars and trucks up to work on them. The great thing here is they will let you drive them up on there (if you want). Needless to say I leave this stunt to the pro's.