Well, as is the case with all trips, there has to be a last day, and it had arrived for us for this one. Everyone was packed and ready to go early, so we were able to enjoy a little time on our beach front porch drinking coffee and enjoying the view out over the water.
Last Morning in Roatan
Morning time had always been the calmest time on the water, and there were the fewest number of people walking on the beach. There were also less vendors, but as the morning progressed, they started to appear, and the various boats for hire also started coming in and setting up. There was only a small window of time where the beach was actually really peaceful and serine.
We did the last bit of emptying the refrigerator and cabinets of food and drink items. We had some beers left over that we found one of the neighbor’s was more than eager to take. Some of the other items we gave to the security guard that was stationed at the beach every day from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM. We had already given him some other leftovers on a previous night, and he and his family had really enjoyed them.
Beth Watching Luggage at Check-in
We decided to head to the airport a little early and try and avoid some of the lines for all of the various check-in activities. We were glad to have the small pick-up truck, the bed was full of luggage, and none of the small cars that were available for rent on the island would have been large enough to handle all of the luggage and the six of us. We had not realized that this was the first time all of the luggage was in the truck at the same time since Bryan and Ashley had dropped off their luggage at the house prior to picking the four of us up last Saturday at the airport. Now we also had their bags and it was a full truck for both luggage and passengers, Beth had to once again ride on Ryan’s lap in the front passenger seat for the 25 minute trip to the airport, first stopping to fill up with diesel fuel at the filling station.
We arrived at the airport without incident, and after unloading our luggage, the rental truck was returned. Apparently there was some issue with the fuel level being the same as when the truck was rented, which often happens in countries where the truck is less than full when rented. It is sort of a scam, since it is much harder to equally fill a vehicle to 3/4ths full, or somewhere measured in 1/8ths of a tank on a drawing of the fuel gauge on the rental agreement. Stephanie and I have run into this before, it always seems to come out in their favor. Full is full, and easy to determine, but anything else is difficult, especially with slow moving fuel gauges being used to try and measure the level when filling the tank.
The guys got in line for the exit fee payment (tax payment), which is also a little bit of a scam, since the actual fee is $39.43, but for two, the total is $79.00. They have no US change, so they just round up. I had read that some people say to have exact change, just for principle, but the extra few cents were not that big of a deal, but typical of how all of the exchange of money between US Dollars and Limperias is done in Roatan. There is a lot of rounding off when making change in the stores between the two currencies, and most always not in the favor of the US Dollar.
From that line, we got in our respective airlines check-in lines, Delta for Stephanie and me, and American Airlines for the others. We were early enough that neither the exit fee line or check in lines were more than a few person’s deep, which was nice. Then it was off for the security/immigration line, and entry into the holding pen. Stephanie and I were held up a little in the immigration line when an airport person cut in front of us with a handful of passports, apparently for immigration processing for a small group in a private jet. Must be nice.
Once through immigration, we got into the single security screening line and did the usual removal of items for screening by the walk through metal detector. Apparently, it was “search women” day, and most of the women passengers were pulled aside for additional baggage inspection by hand after the x-ray screening. Stephanie was in the lucky group, making up for the quicker screening she received on the way out at the airport when we left last week.
The holding area was mostly empty, and we easily found a seat. This was going to be a single area for all three of the flights leaving out this afternoon for the US, and also for all of the local TACA commuter airline flights. It was somewhat air conditioned, but as the crowds increased, the level of coolness diminished. This was not helped by three separate power outages, which brought the security screening to a standstill, as well as the air conditioning, until some back up generators kicked in.
There were going to be three full planes leaving Roatan, all scheduled for departure within a ten minute period, abut two minutes apart, which was a joke. Our Delta flight was scheduled to leave first, but ended up last. They were doing even more additional carry on bag screening inspection by hand on the way out to the planes, once the boarding for flights commenced. Of course, there were only enough personnel to do one airline at a time, so it was painfully slow. By this time, the holding “pen” was completely full, standing room only, and there was no air conditioning to be felt, and tempers were also rising. The PA system for announcements, especially for Delta was almost inaudible, adding to the chaos and tempers. The others boarded their American Airlines flight before us, and we were able to give them a wave when they headed out to their plane, or at least tried to.
Finally Heading Out To Our Plane
We were lucking to have priority boarding for this segment since we were only able to get Business Class tickets for this portion of the flight because of making our reservations so close to the date we left on this trip. This actually turned out to be nice since we got to board the plane first, and get into the air conditioned plane quicker. There was some water waiting for us when we got to our seats, and that was welcome, we had really started to sweat waiting in the “pen” to board the plane.
Last View of Roatan
It was nice to have the larger seats, extra amenities, and a hot meal on our ride back to Atlanta. Our plane was an older 757 than the one we had flown on to get to Roatan, and did not have seat back entertainment, which was a little disappointing. The in-flight movie that was shown on the overhead screen was not bad, just a little different. It was called Nebraska, staring Bruce Dern. The movie somewhat seemed like an “indie” movie, just strangely filmed, all in black and white, and the movie just had a strange edge to it.
Enjoying Business Class Amenities
Overall, it was entertaining, and while watching, we enjoyed our meal of sesame chicken, and we even went out on a limb and had a few drinks, Stephanie having red wine, and I having VO and ginger ale. This was the first real food and alcohol we had consumed since getting the “Rumba”, so we were hoping it did not sit ill on our intestines. At least we had our own restroom for business class, and it was close by.
The flight was a little late in departing Roatan, and then we had some delay getting to our International gate in Atlanta, about 20 minutes of delay just getting to an open gate once we arrived in Atlanta. We were able to get off of the plane fairly quickly, and walked to the immigration and customs area in the airport.
Cruising Altitude of 37,000 Over The Gulf of Mexico
It was crowded there, but the lines moved fairly quickly. Once our passports were stamped, we next headed to baggage claim, and retrieved our luggage for processing through customs. This is where Europe is nicer, you just don’t have to do this step, which I am sure confuses most Europeans. Your bags just get processed to the final destination, there is no claiming, walking past a customs person to hand them your form, and then re-checking your bags.
Once that was completed, we got into a security processing line, having somehow missed that there was a shorter line for “sky priority” tickets. Even though we were back in coach for the connecting flight home, we still had sky priority boarding passes, so I was able to ask one of the attendants to let us get into the priority line, which was much shorter. Once through security, we headed over to see what terminal we need to go to for the connecting flight, and were glad to see it was in Terminal E, the same one that most international flights, including ours, arrived in. We only had to walk out to the gate, and even with the shorter priority security line, and not having to change terminals, our connecting flight was already boarding, and we arrived just in time for sky priority seating. Even though everything moved along, the immigration/customs/security processing had take about an hour.
We were paid back for having really nice seats on the first flight by having a screaming baby in front of us for the short connecting flight from Atlanta to Augusta. This was not a happy baby once it was not allowed to freely roam in the seats when the plane was getting ready to take off. Once we were in the air, the baby must have fallen asleep, but there was about a ten minute period where it was not pleasant.
Our connecting flight arrived without incident, and our baggage came out early with priority tags. We retrieved our luggage and went out to meet our mom’s who had driven to Augusta to pick us up. The drive home was pleasant, and at about 9:45 PM, we were safe at home. It had been a long travel day, about 12 hours from the time we left the rental house to the time we got home. We had survived pretty well on the intestinal front, even with the food and alcohol consumption.
As always, we will go back through the posts and edit for typos and possibly re-write a few sentences, as necessary. We will also be providing some post trip thoughts and comments, specifically the opinions of Stephanie and myself, not our traveling companions. Lastly, we will change the post order to normal chronological order (oldest first) so that it will become easier to read as a completed trip.
Bon Voyage