Team Roatan-Day 3 (worldvets.org)

Arriving in Roatan a whole day earlier than planned because of hurricane Ike, we are able to sleep in. It is a beautiful sunny day and now we can see in the daylight just how fantastic our rental villa really is. We are located right on the ocean and have access to a dock equipped with multilevel sunbathing areas, a boat house full of kayaks and a ladder down into the ocean to make it easy for snorkeling.

Mike goes into town to rent a van and upon return takes Dr Cathy and me to the small town down the only road on the island. We hear that this coming Monday, Sept 15, marks the anniversary of Honduras’s independence and is the largest celebration of the year. Along the beach, street vendors are preparing by constructing small huts along the beach. Well muscled island men swing machetes while smaller boys haul big palm prawns over their backs. There is also talk of a fishing tournament.

Back at the villa, we wait for the arrival of 3 of our team members. Justine and Harriet, the two newly certified vets from the UK are taking the ferry from San Pedro Sula (yes, the “vomit comet”). Wally Diehl, a vet from North Carolina will be with Sandra. Wally flew in a week early to do some scuba diving and luckily missed all the hurricane travel drama.

The travel weary team members arrive at our villa and are shown their accommodations for the week. Harriet Brown and Justine Shotton, recent grads from vet school in the UK, have been traveling around Central America for several weeks. They met Alex Torrance and Ilona Bayliss in their travels and heard about World Vets through them. Alex and Ilona, two vet students from Cambridge in the UK, were team members on the Belize project in August.

After some brief chatting we show the new arrivals their accommodations which are the lower 2 bedroom apartment that they will share with Dr Wally. There is a lovely rock patio constructed of petrified wood that walks out onto the white sandy beach. Harriet and Justine’s eyes sparkle as they backpacks down in the nicely furnished abode as we learn that the two new vets have been touring around Central America for several weeks staying in hostels. They share with us tales of cockroaches, long shower lines and thievery.

Soon Sandra shows up with Gina Robles whom she has picked up at the Roatan airport. Gina is in pre-vet school at Poly Tech in California. After a brief chat we find out she is working part time as a vet tech while attending school. Gina will be staying on the middle floor along with me and two others. The middle floor is the largest and has a pool table, dart board, large dinning table, granite kitchen, nice sitting area, huge deck overlooking the ocean, two bedrooms and two baths.

We all enjoy a nice evening getting to know each other and sharing travel adventures.

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