CAT HOUSE

Utila has a new cat house.  Two of the young female divers from Austria told me about it and said the owners were having a hard time finding workers. I went down to check it out and liked it so much I told them I would volunteer an hour or so a day just for the fun and excitement of working in a cat house. They were thrilled as they have clients who prefer more mature, experienced workers.

When I walked in, I noted dozens of new beds of all sizes and shapes and comfort levels. Also, lots of enticing and unusual toys, I had never seen or used before. They said the toys excite some of the clients and those particular clients love using them. I would have to learn who liked what toy.

While getting my instructions of all the do’s and dont’s from the owner one of the clients comes up and starts rubbing my leg in a rather affectionate, erotic way.  Before I could say “Kitty Cat” several more got out of their bed to check me out. 

Disappointed it wasn’t THAT type of “cat house”– yes me too, but petting cats and kittens all day is not such a bad gig either.

I have noted three significant changes in Utila when I arrived. It has been a good 12 years since I was last here.

First the new animal shelter for the flea bitten, half starving dogs and cats that use to roam the island. In fact, many people now walk around with well breed dogs.  I have seen cute dachshunds, retrievers, fluffy white dogs, Boston Terriers- all sorts of nice-looking healthy dogs.  An American“trust fund baby” found Utila and in addition to building a large beautiful home on the water for herself she also built an Animal Shelter.

They have neutered all the dogs and cats and treat them for illness, fleas etc and feed and house them. She even employed a veterinarian from the main land to care for them.

She relies on volunteers to come and walk the dogs and help out. Some of the tourist who are here for a few months will take a dog home for the day to pamper them with attention. She built a cat house around a huge tree so they can climb up and down. I go daily to play with them and try to domesticate them.

Second there are more vehicles. Motorcycles, golf carts, 4 wheelers, mopeds. They will soon need a traffic light or stop sign on the one and only main road. In 1980 Foster, Trudy’s husband was the only one with a rusted-out truck to pick up supplies on the dock. They can not widen the road that has been there for over 50 years so everyone walks an rides shoulder to shoulder.

Ester, the island nurse, from the 1980’s owned the only moped to travel to homes at night to deliver babies or help someone in need.  No phones, if you were sick or in labor you had a family member run down to Frank Morgan’s house which was above the mayor’s office and wake him up. He would go down to the main office where there was a two-way radio and he would radio to Ester the need.

Now everyone has transportation and navigating the roads when I walk is like walking the plank on the pirate ships, one wrong move left or right and you fall off the road or into one of the vehicles.

The third change is the number of restaurants, hotels and dive shops, it is becoming quite the tourist spot, although it is still a back packers paradise.

Fish and plantain were the only food you got day in day out on the island back in the day. Once the most exotic foods on the island was a Baleadas-  a flour tortilla, mashed red beans and crema. They still have those but now they serve fish and all other food with gourmet spices and sauces.

Visitors come from all over the world to dive on the cheap, Naida has a youth hostel where they can stay free if they take a dive course. One can even become certified to become a dive instructor, then you can stay on the island and teach and earn a living or move on to other dive spots in the world and do the same.

The down side is that the increase in tourist also means more trash, fuel, and waste. Trees and land being cleared for more housing and establishments. We call this progress – but I have my doubts.