Blogs from Roatán, Bay Islands, Honduras, Central America Caribbean - page 14

Our sights were firmly set on the North Coast of Honduras, before we had even crossed the border.  It's a pretty simple crossing at Los Manos, but the CA4 agreement means that you don't get a stamp if you are entering and exiting from other CA4 countries.  Without thinking, we told them we were going to Guatemala next, when a simple "Belize" would gave got us our Honduran stamp. $3 and no stamp, devastating.  By nightfall we had reached Comayagua with a series of well timed bus connections.  We thought of going further, but Nic was feeling tired and had a headache.  No matter how the guide books dress it up as a "colonial" town, it's rubbish!!  The cathedral and parque central pass muster as picturesque, but don't take up more than 20 minutes of your ... read more

Friday, January 15, 2010, Roatan Island, Honduras What a difference a day makes. Yesterday we were some of the few travelers on the Rio Dulce in a motorized boat. Today on this amazingly beautiful Caribbean Island which claims tourism and agriculture as its sources of revenue, we visited a privately owned park featuring a beautiful beach, botanical gardens, aviary and a monkey rescue. The up-close and personal photos at the Gumbalimba Preservation Park tell the whole story. The park has a website if you want to check it out: www.gumbalimbapark.com. ... read more

Ok, so i'll try to keep this short because i have 13 minutes before this little internet boutique closes.. and i'll try to start up where i left off.. Sunday morning i woke up at Tegucigalpa, took a cab to the central bus station, and bought a ticket to La Ceiba, the port city, from which boats can be taken to the islands, and departed at 10 am. The ride was 8.5 hours.. (for real..), i mean including stops, and about 45 minutes of being stationary on the road (still not sure what that was about), but yeah... I passed the time by listening to 25 chapters of Dan Brown's the lost symbol, and watching the first third of "Be Cool" with jon travolta.. finally I got to La Ceiba with exhausted electronics at 6:30 and ... read more

The last few weeks have been rather eventful since my last entry. I learnt to love Roatan. The latin american experience I was looking for (whatever that is anyway) I discovered would never be found. The history and culture of the island are more routed in Garifuna traditions than Latin American ones. In fact the locals I met and spoke with did not see themselves as Hondurans at all. The Garifunas are descendents of African slaves that were left on the islands in the 1600s. The people of Roatan were warm and friendly. I was constantly invited to have dinner at people's houses. The local food on the island is great. Lots of fresh and perfectlly spiced seafood, ,fried plantain, rice, beans and the best coconut cake I have ever tasted. Their hospitality was greatly appreciated ... read more

Angelika and I returned to Roatan Is. Jan 5-13 of 2008. We had visited on our cruise in Sept. '07 and dived there. We found the place so lovely and the diving so great that we decided to return. We got a good deal on a week's stay at Fantasy Island Beach Resort (yeah, I know, corny name. They didn't have a midget in a white suit...) Anyway, Roatan is one of the Bay Islands that belong to Honduras. Originally they were explored by the Spanish in the 15th century and claimed by the British in the 17th century. Roatan was occasionally a port for pirates during the heyday of the real pirates of the Caribbean. Nowadays it's a pleasantly third world place that is just on the cusp of being discovered. The island is about ... read more