We had an early start yesterday and were at the dock ready to go out and help Casi with his Conch project. They were taking a pen down so the fence had to be cleaned, so we scrubbed and scrubbed.

After a quick shower back at the boat we headed back into town to rent a scooter and tour around the island. We had a great time exploring all of the little side roads and stopping at the local establishments for a "refresco". We came across a guy taking his horse down to the beach to exercise her - preparing for the upcoming horse races in June. She was gorgeous and very full of herself. We got to watch her gallop down the beach with the water spraying everywhere. I hope we get to see some races.

We drove past the houses that burnt in the fire. The red cross had set up a booth just outside collecting money for the families. It was a sad sight, but no one got hurt - but a dog did perish in the fire.

We were driving past a bar and saw a guy we had met last weekend. Casi's brother Gato. He gave us a big wave, so we turned around and joined them for about an hour. They told us a bunch of stories about their lives here on the island, about the corruption in the government and the pressure (or temptations) to be drug runners.

Driving around the island there are lots of people just sitting around - there are little employment opportunities.

There are LOTS of scooters and motorcycles here on the island - it is the main mode of transportation. The picture on the blog today is of a baseball player taking her infant home from the game last weekend. I have seen many cases of small kids in diapers riding on a motorcycle with their parents. Some of them riding behind their parent and they just hang on. I have not seen any accidents or mishaps since we have been here so they seem to manage pretty well.

I have started shrinking the pictures to the smallest setting. Do they still look OK? Its much quicker to upload.