Blogs from Roatán, Bay Islands, Honduras, Central America Caribbean - page 24

Today we did our last open water dive and are certified scuba divers! We dove at a site called canyon reef. It had deep crevices and canyons that you could swim through (hence, the name). We saw an eel, a big crab and lots of different fish. For dinner we went to the crab races (aka tequila downs) at Bay Island Beach Resort in Sandy Bay. It's a weekly charity event that benefits the public schools in Roatan. They have a pig roast, and you buy crabs ($10 for 3) and race them. There are two "heats," and the top three from each compete in the finals. There is one winner. Half the money from the races goes to the schools, half to the winner. But, if the winner doesn't give their half to the ... read more

This week is Semana Santa (Easter week) and its a big holiday/spring break week for all of Central America. Roatan is expecting 12,000 additional tourists from surrounding countries and the mainland--on top of the usual cruise ship dockings that occur 2-3 times a week. The clinic at the hospital is closed, so Peggy asked if Amy would help out at her clinic since they were going to be short-staffed. Clinica Esperanza is in Sandy Bay (a town between West End and Coxen Hole) and was just opened about a month ago. Its a bit unfinished, but they are already seeing about 50 patients a day. Amy saw the pediatrics patients (and a few parents as well) on Monday and Tuesday. They have more support staff than her usual clinic--2 nurses in addition to Peggy, plus ... read more

We arrived in La Ceiba to get the boat to Roatan. I was excited to start the beach part of our vacation. The van was left on the mainland in the parking lot close to the boat dock. After an hour and a half of Caribbean Sea, we were on Roatan. Our beach town is called West End and it is small enough to have a welcoming feel. The hotel where we are staying is called Posada Arco Iris (meaning Rainbow in English), which has rooms high in a jungly setting. Outside our hotel is the main road of the town, a sand road that is parallel to the beach. A nice bay with a coral reef is only fifteen metres from our room. Almost every day, I have gone snorkelling, seeing a variety of ... read more

This was to be Amy's first day of work at the public hospital in Coxen Hole, Roatan. Coxen Hole is a town about 15 minutes from West End (where our apartment is). Upon arrival at the Hospital Publico, the pediatric clinic was closed and locked, and a doctor informed her that no one was coming in because the hospital workers were on strike. (The cause, apparently, was that the Cuban doctors that work at the hospital were getting paid more than the Honduran doctors). So, it was a day off! We took the opportunity to get some groceries and explore West End. West End is basically a sandy dirt road along the beach that is lined with hostels/hotels, dive shops and restaurants. It's very laid-back and relaxing. One result of our exploration was finding Aaron's ... read more

What a Whirl-wind! This cruise has been full of highs and lows, good times and bad, and moments of dis-belief. We are currently sailing back from our Central American or Western Caribbean cruise. The cruise started off with Vanessa my previous T&D Manager signing back onto the ship. I am so happy that she is back. And she is happy to be back as well. I can say the dynamic duo are back together and going strong. For the first few days we caught back up and talked about what it was like onboard without her here. We laughed and then found some very interesting records left behind from the previous manager. But for the most part we have just been talking about the T&D Managers conference and what it is like to go to conferences ... read more