Another early day as the chip was scheduled to dock in Roatan, Honduras at 7am. All-aboard time was 3:30pm so it was a bit shorter day for exploration. Very overcast and windy day, even some rain spattering at the windows as we were eating breakfast. Our guide yesterday told us that these were quite a bit cooler temperatures than normal, but, at 75 degrees, I’ll take it. It’s 15 back home with over a foot of snow on the ground, a very different kind of cooler weather. I’m not complaining a bit.
We had booked a private tour, including an hour snorkeling in the reefs off the coastline. We first saw some of the sights of Roatan from high on a hill, where our guide took us to some vendors of local wares. Beautiful sights from up here, and these vendors have this view all the time. We were told that the wares here are more local and the prices were more reasonable. And they were willing to deal. What we found was the prices were a little bit better than the shops at the pier, but they were not really willing to deal. We came away only with some Honduran coinage, which is supposed to be hard to get since they don’t use coins anymore.
What I found rather comical and also a commentary on the state of things today was a sign emphasizing the locality of the products in the store.
“We have nothing from China!”
We drove through the narrow and crowded streets to a dock where a small boat was coming in. This was to take us on our snorkeling trip.
We joined up with another group of four and motored out several hundred yards and tied off to a marker in the water. Then everyone donned their snorkel gear and jumped into the water.
That was cool and a lot of fun but I was quite out of breath when this was all over. The water guide, seeing the struggle Deb was having with her equipment, took her by the hand and led her (or perhaps dragged her) through the water most of the time. So she was right next to him when he called out the various things to see. And he was a strong swimmer. I was usually behind, struggling to get enough air through the little straw poking through the surface. So I was the trailer, often having to float with the snorkel out to pant for a bit, and then swim vigorously to keep up. Add to that a strong wind and a choppy surface. For a first time snorkeling, it was a rather aerobic hour.
Our guide took us on a drive around the island of Roatan after we changed into dry clothing. This is a fascinating place, usually very steep, heavy vegetation, and very green. He brought us to his favorite place, which he called the million-dollar bench, as it has a commanding view of the waterline and the outlying islands.
Now we’re back on the ship after browsing the shops on the pier for a bit. It was far past lunchtime so we availed ourselves of the buffet and topped it off with ice cream. The ice cream station is quite popular here as it has a line for most of the day.
So now it’s two full days at sea, heading back to Galveston, Texas, where we will pick up our RV and continue the journey stateside.
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