the sky trail

 

Another view of the Sky Trail that is currently under construction.

gratitude

Question:

Is

"I'm happy and grateful for being happy and grateful"

the exact opposite of

"I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired"

?

the little waterfall

The little waterfall trickles quietly into the plunge pool on Bliss Beach. It creates soft music that complements the sound of the waves breaking on the beach. This picture also captures the beauty of the rock formation that towers above the pool.  Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras.

sea breeze and shade

With the cool sea breeze constantly flowing in, the newly shaded area of the main deck is the perfect place to have a leisurely multi-cocktail or multi-cerveza lunch. Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras.

February 2010 newsletter went out today

 

link

quote of the day

We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.

- Unknown

photo of the day

A view towards the restaurant and main deck area. Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras.

parallel parking Roatan-style

 

First, the ship is stopped and positioned for a stern entry into the bay.

 

The ship is then backed in. Beep... beep... beep...! The tug boat visible on the left is on standby to assist.

 

The ship safely inside the quiet harbor, with its port side near the mooring pier.

Roatan's new Mahogany Bay terminal can handle two simultaneous ships. The best thing about docking in Roatan: Roatan! A beautiful, green gem of an island atop the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System with a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural mix of warm, happy people.  What's there not to love?!

Paya Bay offers a limited number of shore excursions to the resort. It's a wonderful way to experience the beauty and the people of this fantastic island.

Photos courtesy of Carnival Corporation.

quote of the day

Be a man! [...] You're brave speaking at a distance, but a coward when it comes to talking face to face.

- Colombian President Alvaro Uribe ripping Hugo Chavez a new a__hole, today  at the Rio Group Summit in Mexico.

Love me some Uribe, primarily because he's the anti-Chavez. He's one of the few leaders in the Western Hemisphere who has the balls to confront Chavez and tell him like it is.  Interim (June 2009-January 2010) Honduran President Roberto Micheletti was the other one.  These men are men.

video: the sky trail

This is only about one 1/20th of the eventual length of this amazing trail. The deep crevasse you will see at the end of the video will be crossed with a rope bridge and the trail will continue on the other side.

the power of gratitude

If you make time to list all the things you are grateful for, and you feel the feelings of gratitude, you will feel amazing every day. Your frequency will be high and you will move through your days in love with being alive, bringing joy wherever you go, positively affecting one person after another.

When you live a life like this, everything you want will come before you even ask.

- Lessons from The Secret

gumba limbas

 

Beautiful gumba limba trees (Bursera simaruba) in Paya Bay's Tropical Garden Reserve. These trees are easy to spot with their red, smooth, peeling, paper-like bark. Mainland Hondurans call this tree "indio desnudo" (naked indian), a name that coincidentally goes with the whole Zone 3 theme.  Local tour guides like to joke that it is the "tourist tree," an association of the peeling bark with the red, peeling skin of sunburned tourists. By the way, the thin, smooth, constantly peeling bark is an evolutionary adaptation that keeps epiphytic (air plants) or parasitic plants from attaching themselves to the tree.

quote of the day

To succeed is nothing - it's an accident. But to feel no doubts about oneself is something very different: it is character.

- Marie Leneru

living in the magic of life

This amazing journey only gets better every day.

the sky trail

 

The guys made good progress on the Sky Trail this week. This will be one for the record books. Eventually it will even have a rope bridge over a deep crevasse in the rocks.

good omen

 

A green grasshopper visited the Bliss Bar last night.  Know what that means?! Lotsa money on the way!

the bliss pool

Truly one of a kind! Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras.

quote of the day II

I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems.

- Sir Elton John

Absent father. Overbearing mother. Twelve male best friends he invited to be "fishermen of men." Persecution for being different. Hmm....

quote of the day

Don't wait for your ship to come in, swim out to it.

meet the paya staff: Winnie

 

Ms. Winnie is Paya Bay's chef.  We think her "secret ingredient" is the love and care she puts into making delicious food.

the parking lot-o-meter

 

Paya's parking lot today. It's an awesome feeling when you are in the business of selling happiness, good energy, and Ms. Winnie's great food... 

... and your parking lot is full. 

quote of the day

Winners expect to win in advance. Life is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

-  Unknown

video: the stairs from buccaneer landing to bliss beach

Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras.

quote of the day

To love what you do and feel that it matters - how could anything be more fun?

- Katharine Graham

you're not you when you're hungry

Very clever and funny!

quote of the day

What you think, you create. What you create, you become. What you become, you express. What you express, you experience. What you experience, you are. What you are, you think. And, the circle is complete.

- Unknown

the secret cove sunset run

 

A dude guest carries his bucket of cervezas to Secret Cove...

 

...where he and the girl guest enjoy sunset bliss.

Photos courtesy of tripadvisor.com

lessons from the secret

Whatever feelings you have within you are attracting your tomorrow.

Worry attracts more worry. Anxiety attracts more anxiety. Unhappiness attracts more unhappiness. Dissatisfaction attracts more dissatisfaction.

AND . . .

Joy attracts more joy. Happiness attracts more happiness. Peace attracts more peace. Gratitude attracts more gratitude. Kindness attracts more kindness. Love attracts more love.

Your job is an inside one. To change your world, all you have to do is change the way you feel inside. How easy is that? 

- from The Secret

photo of the day

Lucky and Foxy go for a refreshing mid-morning swim on the Big Beach. What a life these two have!

organic bananas and chatas

 

We grow organic bananas and chatas (a smaller and less dense variety of a plantain) that we use in the restaurant. Interestingly, the nutrients in the turtle grass that washes up on the beach seem to be ideal for banana trees.  We place the raked-up turtle grass in the banana patch around the bases of the trees, and as it decomposes it feeds the bananas. It works perfectly. Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras.

quote of the day

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals.

- Unknown

the garden of the gods

 

  

  

 

We are about to continue working on the Sky Trail, which will tread-lightly through this beautiful multi-acre natural garden. I call it The Garden of the Gods because both the rock formations and the trees are so wonderful and majestic. The beauty of this place is nearly indescribable.  Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras.

It only gets better.

quote of the day IV

Money does not buy happiness, it just allows you to be miserable in a nicer place.

- Unknown

 Hat tip to Dimi!

quote of the day III

I'm post bullsh*t.

- me

quote of the day II

Those who think the sky is the limit have a limited imagination.

- Unknown

Thanks, Dimi!

quote of the day

You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration.

- James Allen

buzzing about buzz

 

If they do for social networking what they did for email, I have a feeling this is going to be extraordinary!  It will be the thinking man's (and woman's) social network.

Yeah, I'm a total googlehead. There is reason to be excited, these people are geniuses with LOTS of money!

photo of the day

 

A guest takes the Zen Path to Bliss Beach. The path is lit in the evenings along its entire length. Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras.

rooms with a view

 

Our clifftop bungalows, with their unparalleled location right above the Caribbean sea, are favored by many of our guests. Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras. 

quote of the day

It's better to have sprinkled and lost than never to have sprinkled at all.

- my Splenda packet this morning

good is all that exists

Good is underneath every single thing that appears to be negative. If we can know that good is all there is, including in a negative situation, then we will see a negative situation transform into all good. Most people keep the good away from themselves because they label something as bad, and then, of course, that becomes their reality. But there is no bad in the Universe; it is just our inability to see things clearly from the bigger perspective.

Peace comes from knowing that good is all that exists.

- from The Secret

the mesoamerican barrier reef system

 

The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System begins off the northeastern tip of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, continues southward into Belize, across into the Bay Islands of Honduras, and ends off the northeastern coast of Nicaragua. Extending over 700 miles, it's the largest reef system in the Western Hemisphere and the second largest barrier reef in the world.

A good friend was just diving in Cozumel, Mexico and sent me these amazing photos he took (click on images to enlarge them):

A transparent shrimp with brilliantly colored legs is the master of its anemone domain. If you've seen the movie Avatar, this photo will have an extra special meaning to you.

A juvenile grouper camouflages itself to match the coloration of a vase sponge.

 

An angelfish seems to guard a lair or egg nest that is covered in sponges of many different colors.

Photos: Matthew Shankweiler. Map courtesy of Google Earth.

meet the paya staff: Evelyn

Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras. In this clip I caught her returning from gathering fresh flowers for the tables in the restaurant. Evelyn has been learning to speak English (her native tongue is Spanish) since she started working at Paya. She's come a long way.

Bravo Miss Evelyn!

quote of the day

There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come.

- Victor Hugo

the dogs at play

Our two very happy dogs, Lucky and Foxy.  It's said our pets remind us of the attitude we should have toward life.

Feel Good. Be happy.

sunsets at paya

A spectacular sunset taken at Buccaneer Landing. Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras.

photo of the day

Spotting a hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) on a dive can be a spiritual experience. These endangered animals are reef dwellers that feed primarily on sponges.