Roatan Vacation – 2014

We woke up early this morning to get ready for the 20 minute ride to the airport, and the tenuous process of checking in, checking in the luggage, and getting through security.  Thinking it would be easy and quick at a nice small airport early in the morning, it was not.  The problem was that everyone in line at 6:00 AM was there for our flight to Atlanta, and there was limited security personnel there to process us.  Somehow, Stephanie was selected to go through something call the TSA Pre Screen, which apparently is a randomly selected process that actually makes the security process much quicker, no taking off shoes, no unloading the computer from the backpack, no lines, no waiting.  It was somehow keyed into her boarding pass.

Meanwhile, I was not so lucky, still having to go through the slow line for the normal security screening process.  Finally, with both of us through security, we went to the gate, and within about 30 minutes we were seated on our plane.  The flight to Atlanta was uneventful, and after getting to our connecting flight gate, and then waiting about 45 minutes, we boarded the plane for the 3 hour, twenty minute flight to Roatan.  We were able to see our luggage being loaded onto the airplane while we were sitting inside the plane at the gate, so we knew we would not have any luggage issues when we arrived in Roatan.  We thought we were getting a meal on  the flight, so we did not purchase any food in the Atlanta airport before boarding the flight to Roatan.  Unfortunately, we were wrong, and had to buy a “snack box” on the flight.  We had not eaten any breakfast earlier, and so we had to have something to go with our two adult beverages.

Flight to Roatan

It was a nice smooth flight, but the service for drinks was slow, for the entire flight duration of over three hours, they only made one round for refreshments.

We flew past the island of Roatan, and turned back around to head into the wind for landing at the single runway airport, right along the coast.  Of course, there was no elevated walkway for getting into the terminal from the plane, we had to walk down stairs out on the tarmac, then across to the small terminal where everyone headed to be processed through Immigration and collect their luggage.

Flying Past The Airport

Once we retrieved our two checked bags, which for some reason did not come out anywhere close to being together.  It actually gave us a scare, we thought all of the bags had already been placed on the luggage carousel, and knowing both bags had been loaded on the plane, we were a little worried that someone may have accidentally taken Stephanie’s bag.

Our Plane in Roatan

While I was looking through the large piles of luggage retrieved for some of the large resorts, Stephanie’s bag actually came out onto the belt.  I was getting worried because I did not see it anywhere in the piles of luggage, and was unaware she had subsequently retrieved it on the other side of the carousel.  I think we were a little gun shy after our recent experience with luggage in Barcelona.  And worst of all, there is only one flight coming in from each airline, only on Saturday’s and Wednesday’s.  We thought we may be facing a the possibility of having a missing bag that might not get here before next Wednesday.

The Gang With Luggage Loaded Into Our Rental Truck

With bags in hand, we went through the “customs” which consisted of all bags going through x-ray, and handing over a form we had filled out to the agent.

While we were doing this, we saw the American Airlines flight land, which was the airline that Beth and Ryan were on.  Bryan and Ashley had been in Roatan since Wednesday, and had rented a small extended cab truck.  They were inside the terminal when we got through Customs.  We waited for Beth and Ryan to go through the same processing, and then we all headed to the parking lot to drive to the rental house.

We stopped at the local grocery store to pick up some supplies, and then headed to the old cruise terminal to pick up some adult beverages from the duty free liquor store.  Unfortunately, there were no cruise ships in port until Monday, and so the store was closed.

Sun Setting Seen From Our Porch

We then went to the house and checked in, and then unloaded all of the luggage and supplies.  After doing some unpacking, we headed out to the porch, and relaxed after a fairly long day of travel.

Sunset From The Porch

Our group headed to a nearby beachfront restaurant for a late lunch, and then back to relax on the porch with some refreshments.

We watched the Sunset, which was a little obstructed by some low clouds out on the horizon.

Later, we were thinking about heading to get some dinner when the power went out for the entire area.  Luckily, there was a large hotel a couple of blocks up the beach that had a back-up generator.  We headed over there and had some dinner out on the beach, which was really nice other than it was pretty windy, and sand was blowing around some and getting onto our food at times.  Before we finished dinner, which took a while with service being on island time, the power came back on.  Apparently, the power is an issue here, there were several battery powered lights in the house for such events.

We were all tired by this time, and after staggering our showers to conserve water pressure and hot water supply, we turned in for the night.

Today was just another sunny day in Roatan, but somehow, we found a way to suffer through it!!

This morning, we were able to get breakfast from the “shack” although we were a little late and missed out on the limited supply of meat to add to our breakfast tortillas.  It was still good, and we all ate for the grand sum of $6.00.  Not bad for fresh cooked breakfast, although we were not quite sure what all was in our tortillas.

Afterward, all of us but Beth headed out in the rental truck for some additional groceries, and to try and find some Captain Morgan Spiced Rum for Beth, and some other spirits we had not yet purchased. The truck is really only made to sit 5 persons, and having all six in it on the severely pot holed roads was just not any fun, so Beth readily volunteered to stay at the house.

The cruise terminal at Coxen Hole was scheduled to be open today, and there is a duty free liquor store there that had carried the Captain Morgan Rum that was purchased last year during the Roatan trip.  We had already found out it was not available at the grocery store, so we were hopeful we would find it at the cruise port.

We stopped first at a small store called The Roatan Rum Company so that Ryan could pick up some of their hand made hot sauce.  They also carried several varieties of infused rum that they made themselves, purchasing regular rum from a rum supplier, and then infusing it there with flavorings.  They did have some spiced rum, but we were on a mission to find Captain Morgan, and passed over their variety of the spirits.

We actually headed over to Mahogany Bay first, which is the newer cruise port for all of the Carnival Ships.  However, they were closed since no ships were scheduled to be in port at Mahogany Bay today. Since this was the farthest destination away from the house, we now knew our last hope was to stop at the port facility in Coxen Hole.

Our House From The Dock

Since we were passing the grocery store on the way back to the Coxen Hole, we first stopped there to pick up a few things, and once again looked over their liquor supply just to know what they had.  We picked up a few food items and other drinks, and headed over to  the Coxen Hole Port.  The liquor store did not appear to be open at first, but a person inside the store saw us and came over and unlocked the door.

Unfortunately, they did not sell any of the Captain Morgan Spiced Rum like they did last year.  We did purchase some other items, and then headed over to try one last store in West End Bay.  Unfortunately, they also did not have any of the spiced rum, so as a last resort, we stopped at the Roatan Rum Company Store on the way back to the house and purchased some of their spiced rum.  We just had no luck finding the real Captain Morgan, but had enjoyed seeing some of the other areas on the island.

The Beach

Once we got back to the house, it was time for bathing suits and relaxation.  We did end up going back to the “shack” for their lunch, which consisted of a salad, fried pork strips, rice and some beans, all for $4.00 per person.  We brought it back to the house and ate lunch on the porch, and then spent most of the rest of the day hanging out on the beach.

Fresh Vegetables and Fruit

There was a seafood vender and fresh vegetable/fruit vendor that came by in their respective trucks to sell seafood and vegetables.  We purchased some shrimp and grouper fillets from the seafood man for later in the week.  It had been flash frozen, mostly for being able to transport, but was still somewhat “fresh”.  We also picked up some fruit and vegetables for salads and for making some fresh guacamole.

We did make a late run to the local store to get some ice, it is only a few blocks walk away.  They did not have ice, but directed us to one of the beachfront bars, where we acquired a large bag of ice for drinks.  Since we have to use bottled water and ice trays to make ice on our own, and the freezer is really slow at freezing the trays, we were constantly fighting a loosing battle to keep up with our ice demand.  The large bag will keep us supplied for a while, and we can always get more now that we know where to go.

Day 2 Sunset

We passed by a Thai Food establishment, and looked over their menu.  Some of the other guests in the houses near us had said their food was good, and we had planned on eating there tonight, so we were able to get a menu from them so we could figure out our orders for later.  It was a small place, really mostly set up for take out.

After watching the sunset, the girls walked  over to the small restaurant and ordered the Thai food, and upon their return, we had a pretty good dinner out on our porch.

We spent the rest of the evening having a few adult beverages and enjoying the peaceful water and beach from our porch.

NOTE: Since there were so many pictures of the group with the parrots and monkeys, and on the zip line, to post in the blog, please visit the Roatan Day 5 Photo Album for all of the group’s photos.

We awoke to another sunny day in Roatan.  Today is going to be another “cruise ship” day, so once again, the beach will be more crowded with cruise passengers.

Gumbalimba Park

After eating breakfast, we all decided to go to the Gumbalimba Park, which consists of some tropical gardens, a beachfront, and a zip line.  It was only a few kilometers from our house, so it was a short drive to get there.  We decided to do both the gardens tour and the zip lining, which was a combination ticket for a negotiated price of $50.00 per person.

They had lots of iguanas, some tropical birds, and an area where you could have both parrots and monkeys sit on your shoulder for photos.

Monkey on Stephanie’s Shoulder

The gardens area was nice, there were lots of tropical trees, some exhibits about the island of Roatan and its history, and even an insect display where most all of the indigenous insects were mounted in display cases by species.

Parrots In The Park

There were some really pretty butterflies, but then there were also some really large and ugly beetles.

The garden tour was guided, and after about an hour, we were finished with that portion of the overall tour, and were ready for the zip line portion of the adventure.  They loaded us into a bus for a short ride to the top of the mountain, and we were required to sign a liability form with lots of disclaimers and hold harmless provisions.

The Gang On The Zip Line

It was one of those cases where if you want to do the zip line, you just have to go ahead and sign your life away, the company was not going to be responsible for anything that may happen to you.

After signing the forms, we were outfitted with our harnesses, gloves (the brakes) and helmets.  We had two guides, and they went over the safety rules and instructions for the zip line, mainly on how to sit in the harnesses, and use the brakes (the leather gloves rubbing on one of the cables).

Stephanie On The Zip Line

Stephanie and I were the only ones in the group that had not ever done zip lining before, so although the instructions were perfectly clear, taking them from reading and verbal instruction to actual practice was still a little daunting.  The guides were great, they assisted Stephanie on the first of the 12 segments of the zip line, which was not that long or fast, a perfect initiation run.  After that, none of us had any issues with the remaining 11 runs.

Ryan As Superman

Ryan did a run down with one of the guides that simulated flying like “superman”, none of us felt like being that adventurous.  However, there was a really short zip line run that both Ryan and I tried going upside down, which also happened to be backwards.  The run was all of about 40 feet, and really slow, so it was a good run to be a little crazy, or possibly stupid.

One of the guides volunteered several times to take the camera and take our pictures as we came down, which allowed me to be in some of the photos.  Although at first I was a little concerned, it actually made it easier for me not to have the camera draped around my neck as I went down.

Safe And Sound At The Bottom

We ended up at the beach on the last run, and we were all glad we had made it safely, and had really enjoyed the experience.  The guides helped us out of our gear, and we gladly tipped them for have done such a great job, especially with Stephanie and myself, being our first time on a zip line.

We headed back to the house for some lunch and then some time on the beach.  The cruise ship crowds dissipated at about 3:00 PM, and the beach was much less crowded.  We did some late afternoon snorkeling, about 45 minutes before the sunset.  The fish seemed to be more prevalent, probably because there were not a lot of other people out on the reef to disturb them.

Another Great Sunset From Our Porch

We were cooking some shrimp and fish on the grill tonight, but unfortunately, for some reason, I was starting to not feel very well, and after showering, experienced some light chills.  I headed to the bed to warm up, I had experiences a couple of bouts with some intestinal bug earlier in the morning, and generally did not feel that great.  Stephanie was not far behind, she actually had some of the dinner but was not feeling well soon after that.  Somehow we both have picked up a island bug, and will have that to deal with until it subsides.  Hopefully it will not last more than a day or two so we can enjoy some of our remaining time here.  None of the others in the group are having any issues, so it is something the two of us ate, touched, or did differently from them.

The last full day for us in Roatan was sunny, just like all of the days prior to today.  The weather for the week has been the best part of the trip, we could not have asked for anything better.  We have had zero rain, and just a few clouds on a couple of the days.  The wind today was a little more onshore, so it was a little rougher out on the water once the wind kicked in.  However, it seemed a little drier today, a little less humid.

We had another casualty last night on the intestinal front, Bryan had some of the same issues as Stephanie and I had.  He had some issues during the night, taking his turn with the Roatan Rumba.  Hopefully, his will be a little less sever than ours, since we are still suffering from the Roatan Rumba today.

It seems to be a little less severe, but with having to travel tomorrow, we were not willing to party like Roatan Rock Stars on the last day here, and then face all of the airport and flight time tomorrow, with limited bathroom access, while dealing with the  “Roatan Rumba”

We were able to spend some time out on the beach, and since our place is located right next to the beach, it afforded us equal opportunity to either be on the beach or inside on the circular dance floor doing the short Roatan Rumba sessions.

Although being ill has been a little disappointing, Stephanie and I were able to enjoy ourselves some, it could have been worse.  Stephanie and I are probably benefiting from the positive impact of zero adult beverages, a diet of rice and bread, and no snacks or sweets over the last three days, the best weight loss diet we have been on in a while.

We had another nice sunset tonight, although it was a little hazy.  However, the haze added some nice diffused orange color to the sunset.

Stephanie and I did some packing while the others got ready for going out to dinner at the Argentina Grill, a short walk down the beach.  Bryan was brave enough to go despite dealing with his case of the “Rumba”, Stephanie and I gave him kudos for that.  We stuck with our rice and bread prison diet, but it was nice to sit and relax, and we were able to Skype and Face Time with our moms.  It was a little tedious, the internet here is as reliable as the water and the power.  Knock on wood, we have not had a power outage tonight, as of 9:15 PM, so we hope we are home free.

We have to leave for the airport tomorrow by 9:45 AM, apparently there is some additional security time restrictions being implemented on the American Airlines flight the others are taking that is connecting in Miami, specifically the added security seemed to only impact flights to the Miami Airport.  We were informed of that yesterday by the Management Company agent for the property, she had received an online notice about the American Airlines Flights.  Our flights are scheduled to both leave around the same time, and apparently there is some amount of time required to get through the check-in, security, and to pay the exit fee.  We also have to return the rental car.

It has been an enjoyable trip, even with some of the health issues Stephanie and I faced.  We will just have to pick a couple of nights after we get home and go to some of our favorite restaurants at home to make up for the prison diet we have been on here.

We did not take any photos today either, just not up for it being under the weather.