At It's Best....ROATAN

Road Trip! We piled into Adi's van and head out for island exploration. Roatan is 28 miles long and 2 miles wide. We covered all of the paved road on 3/4 of island and I lost count on the number of bumps we covered on dirt roads. Plenty! It was Sunday, church day. Locals were all dressed in their Sunday best, villages were quiet and tiendas were closed.

Marivilla Beach was a local family picnic scene, with children splashing in the water wearing street clothes, adults lazing and eating in shade of coconut trees, two men walking a laid out net through the water, swooping up everything in it's trap (ouch!).

Local long line fishing and lobster boats filled the docks of the harbor towns.

We slithered with iguanas at refuge where a Welsh couple rescue the iguana from being a locals scrambled eggs or dinner. What curious creatures! Biggest is about 3 foot long, very pre-historic looking with spikes along spine, under jaw, wattle under neck, long tail and very leathery skin. It was mating season, so lots of activity to attract the female, hisses and jostling to ward off other males, until the final act, which is very motionless.

Dirt road to Punta Gorda lead us to a step back into past in a laid back native Garifuna Village with locals living a simple life of fishing, farming, harvesting coconut for oils. Many homes and beach huts are thatch roof, with more boats on the shore than cars in village. Streets were quiet, yet church was full.

My journaling of Hole In The Wall will not do it justice.... We await on a dock surrounded by fishing boats for our dinghy taxi, driven by a young local boy of about 10, to Hole In The Wall. Putt putt deep into a lush, quiet Mangrove lined bay, past colorful fishing shack homes that are accessible only by boat. We pull up to dock with cantina shack built over a sunken boat. The owners greet us with cheers as if we are long time friends, as they hoist us up out of the dinghy. These 3 Salty Dog men have each sailed around the world and set anchor at this back bay to now let the world come to them. What characters Bob, Dwayne and Harry are! What a fun scene they have created! Sundays are the day to visit, with the local expats, boaters and drinkers gathering for floating party and an all-you-can-eat lobster, meat, mashed potatoes, and cole slaw feast. Tequila Mary's are a specialty, and I would agree! We practice our cigar aficionado skills, share juicy stories with expats who make Roatan home, as "story shared at Hole In The Wall stay at Hole In The Wall", and "no judgments made!" The bathroom has a shower overhead for boaters with holes in the floor to drain into water (we are on a dock) The walls and ceilings are decorated with lost and found objects, tee shirt and bras (stories left there) and graffiti is welcomed. Kara walked out of the stall with bathing suit bottoms in hand and hoots and cajoling lead her to staple them on the wall and sign a message. What a hoot! Fun! Fun! Beyond fun!


































Adi's buddy's boutique hotel was hosting a dinner that evening, so after quick showers we headed to Tranquil Seas. WOW! Chris has built a true island escape with cabanas on hillside, thatch roof restaurant and cantina overlooking ocean and sunsets, hand crafted Balinese root furniture, with no details skipped. Tranquil it was not. A talented musician played guitar, harmonica and sang, while expats, hotel guests and friends all had a fun evening. Monica cooked up her native specialty, a Spanish paella with abundant local fresh fish. Fun fun fun!