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Published: April 28th 2009
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Waking up on Thursday morning left us breathless at the views from the ship. It was unanimous that this was our favorite stop and very beautiful. I had been most looking forward to this stop, and it did not disappoint - after all, it's not often one gets a chance to venture to Honduras!
Roatan is a small island with a single ship dock. We were suprised that we did not have to tender into the pier, so it was quick and easy to exit the ship onto dry land.
I had read on cruise critic that the way to go at this port was to just hire a guide or taxi for the day and ride around. At $35 a person, this was a deal that couldn't be beat! I had wanted to do a Victor Bodden tour as I'd heard they had a great reputation, but since we didn't leave the boat until a bit later, I'm sure that explains why we were unable to locate a guide. We opted instead for a taxi guide. Big Chris found us right before settling on the tour, and he ended up joining us as well.
Driving around the
island, it was like a tropical paradise. Everything was so GREEN! Our guide took us to several vantage points and also the West End which is a small area Americans have taken over. The charm has been amplified to basically what our defination of paradise is for such an area. Here we did some shopping and I found a nice piece of Lenka (Lenca?) Pottery. We also tried some of the local beers: Port Royal, Salva Vida, and one other type of which the name escapes me now. (Ship time was 2 hours ahead of local time.. so this was just before noon!!!)
After the tease of the river water the day before, we knew we HAD to get to a beach, so our guide took us to "Foster's Beach" not far from the West End strip. $5 per person included a free drink and usage of the facilities. (To put it into perspective, 2 cokes and 2 beers earlier in the day was $5 total, so everything in general is much cheaper). I worry about the impact of American tourism and future inflation on the locals in areas like this. Even the $1.20 or so we paid per
beer was considered alot by our guide.
We only really saw the tourist areas, but he did drive us through typical residential areas and pointed out his house to us. Just like Belize, the homes were small. They were actually smaller here. I saw more naked babies and ladies washing their clothing on washboards in the yard than we did in Belize, but you could see their happiness in such a beautiful area. I asked our guide about his family, and he lives with some other family members, I believe he said his mom and aunt. He was 26.
Foster's Beach area was beautiful. With the huts and calm, clear water... I could not believe that I found myself in such tranquility. Big Chris and Jason opted for a bit more excitement and went jumping off the two story dock. We stayed here for around 1 1/2 hours before having to rush back to the boat. We almost lost track of time, and had to get the food we ordered to go. (I got a fish sandwich with rice and beans.. YUMMM!!)
The pictures speak for themselves. 😊
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