Roatan, Roatan! (sung to the tune of Mayatan)

After living here for the better part of two years, I finally went to a Honduran beach. I had been to beaches in Guatemala, though most of my beach experiences were in Belize, but for the first time, I went to a Honduran beach.

As a self proclaimed 'codo' it was hard to imagine relaxing enough to let go of the money it would take to go to a place like Roatan, but I did it. I had saved up some money and I had some money that I hadn't touched since Christmas (still in USD) that I just dedicated to the trip.

It was beautiful. White sands, clear waters, coral reefs within wading distance of the shore. I got my fill of new types of lizards, wood peckers, and fish (I know that's an odd combo, but hey, it's me).

We took off at 6am from Copan and rode buses around until we got to Ceiba at 4pm, just in time for the 4:30 ferry. I do believe that the Galaxy was the biggest boat that I've ever been on. I sat up on the deck and buckled down for the rather choppy hour and a half ride to the island.

As we went, the sun was setting. It was beautiful and cliché in every way. I mean, in every way. I watched a giant cruise ship (a thing I have never seen before. I think they are monsters and I am both in awe and disgusted by them. Those things could house a small country.) sail off into the setting sun. Very cliché, very beautiful.

We took a taxi to our hotel, and English-land began. Much like in Antigua, Roatan is so touristy no one even bothers speaking Spanish to you. It was strange.

 The hotel was great. We were three to the room, Danielle, Vadal, and me. (Though, we started traveling with Emily, lost her in San Pedro when she went to the airport to get her sister and sister's husband. Then we traveled to Ceiba with Dave; he left to go hang out with his uncle. Then we met back up with Emily and company on the Galaxy. They went to their hotel in West bay, we left for ours in West End. Kat and her friend where staying in our hotel as well; this was planned. Ragan and her mom were there too; this was a pleasant surprise.)

Anyway, the room has a single bed, double bed, kitchen, and porch. There was a nice place for reading on the water, and a very pleasant ambiance.

We had two days on the island, which was awesome. It was really funny to me, though, because I have gotten accustomed to my 2 days of travel, 1 day vacationing trips to Belize. We squeezed everything into the first day and almost didn't know what to do with ourselves on the second day.

The first day was bright, sunny, and skin burning. It was a relief, then, when the second day was overcast and rainy. I was badly burnt on the first day, but I believe that's because of the brief morning rain that came right after I applied my sunscreen. That and a failure to reapply. I peeled. It kept me up at night. I am recovered now.

I ate lots of sea food, enjoyed a beach massage (best invention ever), bought myself some new earrings and a necklace, and over all enjoyed the experience.

Of course, we snorkeled. This is where most of my cool pictures would have come from, had I had an underwater camera. However, I did not. Somethings just need to be remembered. It was a very different experience from my Belize snorkeling. For one, no boat was needed. We just walked out into the water with our rented equipment and looked around. It was mostly warm, until we came to the drop off. It wasn't as epic a drop off as in Finding Nemo, but it was pretty cool. And cold.

Among the various types of coral and fish, a couple really stood out. We saw a young barracuda. He did not look like he wanted to play. Or swim. Or be near us. We also saw a large school of really cool fish just making their way through the reef. I followed them for a while. The most beautiful fish to me were a dark blue, with glowing lightning blue spots or strips, depending on the fish. That brilliantly bright blue was amazing to me. I also saw a bigger fish with crab legs in his mouth. Happy fish. Jealous Sarah.

We had the option of a 3$ water taxi ride or a 45 minute walk to and from the hotel to the good beaches. We usually walked. I really enjoyed it. It gave a chance to see more and stretch our legs. It did, however, involve a death climb and decent up and over a canal on a metal bridge. I say death climb, because the stairs were rusted and falling away. You had to put on your shoes, step on the edges of the stairs and hold on in case you fell through. And hey, I updated my Tetanus shot recently!

One evening we had the pleasure of catching the tail end of a fire show used as a fundraiser for a local school. I wish we could have seen more of it, these people were really talented. I've seen fire shows before, but never anything like this.

On our second morning, we took advantage of our kitchen and made breakfast. The cinnamon roll was purchased, and the beans were from a bag, but it was awesome. Plus, we saved a buck and considering how expensive food was, that was a good thing.

Once it was time to go, I was ready. Roatan was nice, but there were a lot of tourists and it was hard to get to know the local people. I find that I really enjoy small towns, which I knew, even for my vacations, which I suspected.

Anyway, this is a cashew fruit and nut.