Roatan - Bay Island Get-A-Way

Before we get to "all of that", we must first rock and roll! It’s AA Tuesday, when I ask your burning questions with wit, sincerity, and a touch of sarcasm. This week’s question comes from Anne of Zen Pulse, and she asks: 

Amy, what is the best Honduran food you've had yet? Foodies need to know!

Anne, anything fresh is anything good! I'm talking fresh pineapple, fresh papaya, fresh coconut... straight from the tree. If you're talking "staple dish"? I have to go with the Honduran Baleada, the simple Honduran tortilla filled with beans, cheese, and egg. Think soft taco, but fresh, homemade ingredients. Simple. Delightful. 

Ok, so the vacation you've all been waiting for me to recap. Roatan! Have I been building it up enough? Have more than 3 of you been reading the last few days to know that I went on an amazing island vacation last weekend and have been dangling it in front of you like fish bait in the last two blog posts? 

Roatan is one of the three Bay Islands of Honduras and without dispute, the most beautiful. It is well-known for its beautiful beaches, Caribbean influence, coral reefs, diving, and snorkeling. It is also a very popular cruise destination. To get from La Ceiba to Roatan, you can fly (15 minutes) or take a very fancy and speedy ferry (1 hour) from port to port.  Sam and I opted for the latter option because really... who needs to fly when you can see the Caribbean? 

Here we are leaving the port in La Ceiba. The mountains are Pico Bonito National Park (where I live). If you knew that, you get a point!

The boat ride was smooth sailing as far as I could tell, despite stories that the ship was nicknamed the "Vomit Comet" or something like that. Apparently Hondurans have very weak stomachs. We arrived and our man Davis, who was stoned, picked us up from the port and drove us to Lands End, which we soon found was our own private resort. Thank you low season! 

View from room. Nice! 

We did a little exploring on the West End of the island. 

It was nothing like I expected. (Expected: touristy, uppity, resorty, cliche, lots of Americans laying in bikinis on white sand, etc. Actual: Caribbean, Off the beaten path, breezy, chill, etc.) They loved the slogan, "Go Deeper." I guess its a "diving" thing... I'm just super immature. 

 

"Go deeper"... heh heh.

Exploring ended early because traveling + sun = sleepy and grumpy Amy. At least we caught sunset over the Caribbean. Yes!

Sand flies were horrible and I could not stop scratching. My legs look like battle fields.

We started the next day at Ronnie's Barefeet Bar for early morning cocktails.

I kid. I kid. I just took the picture because of Rani... except its not how she spells her name. But, well, anyway... we passed Rani's bar on the way to West Bay, the resort-end of the island, for Amy's first snorkeling experience. The walk was beautiful.

I was a bad ass. Well, Sam was a bad ass and I was kind of an accomplice. At least for the picture. I held a coconut that he stole from a real-life resort coconut tree and then jumped on a trampoline that was part of a really fancy resort.

Karate Kick! 

Shh! Don't tell anyone that I'm posing for this picture.

I did yoga. Kind of.

Sam wanted to show me how monkeys open coconuts. But I think he really wanted to show me that he is, in fact, the Missing Link.

Oooh Oooh Aaaah Aaah Aaaah

And then Man discovered tools.

And then Man gave Woman food to eat.

Coconut = Good

Cool thing about the island is that you have to watch out for crabs. There's also some cool crustaceans as well, like this little fella:

Finally, we arrived at West Bay beach. Now THIS was what I expected. Sand, water, and white people.

Banana Colada in hand, I grabbed my snorkel gear and attitude and headed out to sea.

I was discouraged. I hate water. I had a tantrum.

Round 2. I switched masks because the one I had was broken. I swear it was the mask, not my face. I made it under water, breathing steadily, floating, smiling with my eyes.

Swimmin with the fishies.

Do I look incredibly uncomfortable in this picture?

I'd say snorkeling was a success. I'd probably do it again. On the walk back to West End, we saw a cool sea snake. Sam said: "Sea snakes are probably the most venomous in the world. Way more venomous than land snakes. I'm going to take a picture. I wonder what he's going to do if I touch him."

The snaked freaked out when Sam touched him. Sam freaked out when the snake freaked out. Sounds like a formula for safety.

We returned to Lands End and hung out our best mate, Buckus. We're not sure how Buckus got to Roatan, but we do know that Buckus is married to Doey, and they have a son named Joey. Buckus got a little fresh with me.

At first it was cute.

It's still kinda cute...

Then it became a little creepy.

Crotch cam. No, Buckus. No!

I had to basically peel Buckus off of me so that I could shower and get ready for dinner. We headed back down the beach to eat a delicious whole, fresh caught red snapper at The Lighthouse, which was a restaurant over the water. 

We met our friends, Billie and Bruce, for a few drinks. Billie, pictured below with her boyfriend Bruce - in Shark form, goes to school with Rani at Northeastern. They don't know each other despite the fact that they are both Jewish and are into to "business" things.

Fish are friends, not food.

Sam made me leave the island the next day. I was pouty and didn't want to go home. It's tough leaving the beautiful island for the beautiful jungle. I feigned a smile for a picture, but I was really crying inside.

I took this photo, and I think its awesome. I don't know how to end my awesome vacation blog post, so...

End.