Girls Trip - Roatan, Honduras
Terri and I had the best day! Missy and G went scuba diving and so the two of us were on our own to find an excursion. We had originally tried to sign up for the cruises ATV tour but Terri took the last spot and I couldn’t join. So instead Terri found an off ship excursion with snorkeling and atv’s and it ended up being quite memorable!
We grabbed a quick breakfast and headed out of the ship and port area to find our Roatan 5 star company. Simon found us and had us wait with 3 other people — which, amazingly, were from British Columbia. The port area was so crowded because four cruise ships were in port so the roads were full of vans and buses and guides trying to sell tours and organize people. 10 minutes later we followed our driver Antonio down the street about four blocks —it was quite fascinating!
— and then into a junkyard/parking lot where we got into his personal run down grey mini van, that totally looked like it belonged in the junkyard. If the three other people weren’t there it would have made me a little nervous but Antonio was nice enough and talked to us with his limited English pointing out the schools and churches on our drive along the coast. I sat up front. Twenty-five minutes later we arrived at what looked like someone’s home on the coast.
Under the house was a waiting area with tables and chairs and Luigi - the captains pet monkey …who usually wasn’t on a leash around the house but who was around guests because of his natural curiosity and tendency to get into everything. He was so fun to watch. He jumped on anyone’s head or shoulder who got close enough, nibbled on sunglasses or bag buckles and reached in backpacks if you weren’t watching, and even if you were. And he absolutely loved watermelon. It was fun to watch him for a few minutes while all of the snorkel guests arrived.
Our snorkel tour started when we headed down to the dock and got on a small two story barge with wooden benches. It wasn’t fancy but it looked and felt like a family’s taking their boat out with some new friends to their favorite reefs for the morning. Captain ‘Uncle’ and his nephew, our lead diver, were both great. They gave us all our equipment and had watermelon, pear juice, and aunt Lily’s homemade banana bread ready for us when we finished our third stop. It ended up being one of the best snorkel tours I’ve done. Our first stop was to see huge starfish, our second stop was to see a fantastic reef with muted colors but clean clear water, varied coral and colorful fish. It was so beautiful. The third stop was to swim around a sunken ship, half sticking up out of the water. So fun.
Antonio was busy so he sent someone else in his grey minivan to pick us up. A woman who spoke with perfect English and told us about growing up right next to the ocean and how she’s now raising her three children with the same experience. Apparently our three British Columbia friends were headed to the Sloth Hangout and it was just Terri and I headed to ATV. When we pulled in the gas station and saw two ATV’s on the side, and no one else, we started to worry a bit. Our protective driver was not about to let us out without a guide in sight so we waited while she called and talked to Antonio to figure everything out. A few minutes later ‘guy in the red truck’ arrived. A big dude with earrings and a gold chain with a cross, and the important TOUR GUIDE shirt. We hopped out and waited with this guy for 10 minutes …minus the 1 minute that he left us alone as he drove somewhere to ‘check something out’. Alone at a gas station in Honduras isn’t exactly how I pictured the tour starting. I texted Chris a quick text to let him know where we were and then ‘guy in the red truck’ came back at the same time as Henry - our 23 year old guide. They jokingly argued about who really was the best tour guide on the island and then we were happy to get on our ATV’s and get going. Henry led the way on his brother’s dirt bike. He made a point of telling us that it wasn’t his and he didn’t really like riding it because it was smaller than his.
We headed down the busy street for 30 seconds before turning on to a dirt road that led right up into the jungle. We stopped to enjoy a view of the ocean and from there headed up through the coolest area of jungle homes. It was so fascinating seeing the wood and tin houses and the tiny ‘no-sign’ shops right along the bumpy dirt road. We waved to the barefoot kids playing in the dirt and the cute group of teen boys working on something in front of a house. Everyone was so happy and smiled and waved back. It was one of the highlights of the day just seeing this area of the island and imagining how they lived. When we got up to our next stop Terri said, “Lisa, I was thinking about you and how you were probably DYING not able to take pictures back there.” You’re right Ter, but I was soaking it up in my memory as best I could.
The two house pictures above are taken from Terri’s iphone while she was riding. Thanks Ter! The middle picture shows the road and village we had just come from. We had been at the peak of that hill and come down into the tourist shopping area which overlooked Roatan’s Port and our cruise ship in the distance. We had already used some of our cash to tip our snorkel crew and were saving our last remaining cash for Henry so we didn’t have any money to purchase anything. I should have brought more. We wandered past several shops until a lady said, “Hey ladies, come on it and see the view from our shop.” We entered and looked around and then told them we were sorry we didn’t have enough cash and that we were saving it to tip our guide. They asked who our guide was and when we told them it was Henry, the one in the red pants said, ‘That’s my nephew!’ We talked to them for at least 15 minutes all about their family and work. Terri even videoed them speaking Creole English - which was so fun.
After chatting with Henry’s aunt and friend, Henry’s younger brother came and exchanged bikes with him. What we didn’t realize at the time was that my shoes and extra things were in the compartment under Henry’s brother’s bike and they rode away with him.
We got back on our ATV’s for the second half of the tour and headed straight for another jungle hilltop and secluded little village, which was so neat.
By the time we had stopped at the bottom of a long hill, Henry’s brother had caught up with us. He had looked in his bike compartment and noticed my things and came looking for us.
Loved spotting the cute girl on the balcony and the other little kids running around or on their bikes as we passed through this area.
When we got out to the main city roads towards the port we followed Henry on the right hand side of the street. Henry had to put on his brakes and come to a screeching halt as a police officer in a truck drove out of the parking lot right in front of him. They looked at each other and suddenly Henry started his bike and quickly moved behind the police truck, to which the police truck backed up - almost like it was trying to hit him. Unbeknownst to us, the police officer yelled for Henry to stop but he didn’t. In an effort to keep up with our tour guide we also went around the police offer and continued down the road. Henry slowed just a little and called out… ‘Go straight down this road until you get to the stop sign and then turn right. I’ll meet you there…’ and then he was off. Henry’s brother (following behind me and then Terri) took off as well. I followed instructions and led Terri down the street and then turned right. A little while later we saw Henry. He had ditched his motorcycle behind a hut and stood at the side of the of the road waiting for us. He then explained that he and his brother both didn’t have helmets on and the police could have taken their bikes. He paced a bit wondering what to do. ‘We’re pretty close to the end but not close enough that I can walk.” Right then Henry’s brother showed up wearing a helmet - on backwards because I guess that’s cool - and volunteered to guide us back to the port. As we left we heard Henry say to a nearby child, “Can I borrow a helmet?” It made me laugh. What an adventure. Henry’s brother got us back to the port and then handed me shoes and things, which I totally forgot about. So grateful he tracked us down and followed along. Henry arrived within minutes. We tipped him but wish we had even more. It really was the best afternoon! What a day!
Back on the ship we headed to deck 16 to relax and met up with G. ‘So, did you get to see any of Honduras?’ she asked. Terri and I looked at each other and laughed. Did we ever.
Dinner back on the boat in our matching Roatan t-shirts. Terri and I bought matching ones on our way back. So did Mis and G!