Relaxing in Roatán

Hola friends!  This post comes to you from sunny Roatán, Honduras.   We booked this trip during the cold snap back home.  Plus, it was time to get David back to breathing under water!  Roatan definitely delivered warmer temps, bright sun, lush greenery and a fun dive destination.

We stayed in a small, family run resort right on the ocean.  We had lovely views the ocean right from our window.  There was an ocean facing pool and sun deck that saw a lot of use.

The family who ran the property were delightful with their friendly children, especially a precious 1 & 1/2 year old girl who charmed everyone.  The home cooked meals were delicious and we enjoyed visiting with the guests..many of whom were from Canada.

Most of the Canadian visitors come to the island for a minimum of 6-15 weeks to avoid some of their frigid winters. Hearing them describe their winters with multiple feet of snow, extended periods of below freezing temps and outdoor activities such as cross county skiing  and cold, snowy walks for exercise, I realized I had no business lamenting over our KC cold snap which others view as a ‘warmer day’ in Canada!  Perspective!

The property also had a house cat, Felix. He is a savvy feline who knew precisely when people were dining and more specifically, who was having seafood.  He had no qualms about jumping on the table to make his presence known.  He did respond to redirection to the floor.   Did I save shrimp tails for him?  Yes, yes I did.

We also saw a small rodent like creature one night that David said looked like a large rat without a tail.  Yikes!   Turns out it is an agouti or rabbit type creature that is common on the island.  I’m including a pic of one from the internet.  It seems all the pics I took were blurry as I was taking them while moving away from said critter.  Once I learned they were in the rabbit family, I ceased fleeing from them but didn’t have an opportunity for another picture.

Speaking of rabbits, the kind we are use to, with ears and a cotton like tail, are also common.  There were 4 that hung out around the property and didn’t seem to mind people at all!  Despite that, we didn’t try to pet them, feed them or put them in a hat. Haha.

I also enjoyed the lush green foliage and tropical flowers.  Plants that take me years to grow seem to flourish here, including some on fences and power lines.

David was thrilled to be diving again and continues to love the underwater majesty.  He thrives on the peace and beauty of the sea.  He saw turtles, porcupine fish, shrimp, moray eels and large coral.  He said the sponges were the largest he’s seen yet!  He capture some fun pics of coral with shrimp and other creatures inside it.  Sadly, the coral in Roatan is also experiencing the impact of climate change with bleaching and smaller numbers of sea life present.

Mother Nature also demonstrated her power with a couple days of ‘wind’ and rough seas.  We saw swells up to 10+ feet high off the resort (sorry, no pics of this). The water crashing on the rocks with huge sprays was incredible to see. At one point, it even looked like there were white caps in the pool!  I wondered if we were about to experience some next level weather and staff said it was just some ‘wind’ with no escalation or concern.  It was quite impressive.  That said, I can’t hardly imagine the intensity of tropical storms and hurricanes and it gave me pause for all who have experienced that.

All in all, it was a nice trip and we experienced much beauty, nature and graciousness in this little developing island. We remain grateful for the gift of travel.