Trip Posts – Roatan Vacation

The Trip Begins – Saturday, February 22, 2014

Feb 232014

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.

Roatan Day 2 – Sunday, February 23, 2014

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Feb 242014

View Up The Beach

We awoke this morning after a great night’s sleep, mostly because we were so tired from yesterday’s travel. It helped that we are on Central Time, giving us an additional hour to sleep in, which was welcome. We made coffee, and then headed to the local breakfast establishment, affectionately coined the s**t shack by the group, based on last year’s trip.

However, since it was Sunday the “shack” was closed, so we had to improvise and make some breakfast in the house. We had purchased some smoked sausage and rolls from our grocery run yesterday. In the end, we were all satisfied and ready for our day on the beach.

Our Private Beach Area By The House

We spent most of the day relaxing at the house, watching people walk by on the beach, while sitting in our beach chairs, enjoying the sunshine.

It was a little windy during the day, but it made it cooler since the temperature was about 85 degrees.

Snorkeling

Stephanie, Bryan, Ashley and I went snorkeling later in the afternoon, and it was really clear and nice. Stephanie had some issues with her snorkel, she was just not relaxed enough and got some cramps in her jaw from biting down too hard, mostly from nerves. I think we went a little farther for our first day than we needed too, but in the end, everything was OK.

Snorkeling

We only have to walk about 200 yards down the beach, so it it not something we have to try hard to do. Hopefully, by the end of the week, we will have enough time in the water for Stephanie to be more relaxed with snorkeling. Neither of us had snorkeled with swim fins on our previous vacations, and even for me, with all of my past diving experience, it required using muscles we were not accustomed to using. We will just need to do a little bit of snorkeling each day to get more familiar with it. However, even for the first day, we enjoyed it, despite some difficulties.

Chicken On The Grill

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in our beach chairs, and having a few adult beverages. While we were all relaxing, Bryan spent the afternoon smoking three whole chickens on the grill, and we thoroughly enjoyed them for dinner later.

We had a pretty nice sunset, although once again, there were some low clouds on the horizon as the sun was setting. We ate our wonderful home made dinner of smoked chicken, corn on the cob, and salad. After dinner, we all went for a walk on the beach. It was really nice since the crowds had dissipated from the afternoon. The stars in the night sky were brilliant, even with some of the light from the beachfront bars and restaurants.

Sunset On Day 2

We turned in, having spent a wonderful day in Roatan at Casa Martin.

Roatan Day 3 – Monday, February 24, 2014

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Feb 252014

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.

Roatan Day 4 – Tuesday, February 25, 2014

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Feb 262014

Today will be a little different on our beach, there are at least two cruise ships scheduled to be in the two different ports, and our area is one of the favorites for cruise excursions, and for cruise passengers who take taxis over to the beach here, especially for the snorkeling.

It did not take long for us to see some of the changes from a non-cruise ship day to today. There were many more vendors setting up boats for diving and fishing, and there were a lot more vendors walking up and down the beach.

At about 10:30 AM, we started to see some of the cruise excursion groups show up, they were wearing colored wrist bands, so they were easy to spot.

It was not terribly crowded, but you could definitely tell there was more activity going on up and down the beach.

We ate a large breakfast from the “shack”, consisting of some scrambled eggs, cheese, refried beans, some type of sauce, and what appeared to be a fried hot dog. Topping it off was two soft flower tortillas. It was a lot of food for $3.00 per person.

Since it was more crowded, we decided to delay our snorkeling adventure for later in the afternoon, after most of the cruisers had gone back to their ships.

Some of the local fishermen were selling some smaller fresh caught blackfin tuna at the nearby dock, so Ashley went down and purchased some fillets for our dinner. The fish were too small to make a traditional “tuna steak”, so they were cleaned by cutting the meat down the middle like a traditional fish is cleaned. We were going to have to cut out the center bone structure and corresponding bloodline later on prior to cooking.

Ashley and Bryan cooked up some pasta for lunch, and added some of the leftover smoked chicken from the other night. This had been scheduled for our dinner tonight, but with the tuna acquisition, we switched it to lunch in order to use up some of the leftover chicken. It was quite good.

Fish On The Reef

The rest of the afternoon we spent walking on the beach, looking at some of the vendor’s wares, and also going to a couple of nearby shops. Stephanie was able to acquire our traditional souvenir, a Christmas ornament, from one of the beachfront bar/stores, which was a flat painted metal shrimp wearing a Santa hat.

Stephanie Snorkeling

Later in the afternoon, we all went snorkeling. Stephanie did much better today, but the water is a little chilly, and she and Beth went back to the house after a short snorkel, while Ryan and I stayed out a little longer with Ashley and Bryan. The main drawback of waiting until that time of day was the wind. Although it was not too strong, it definitely was a factor in snorkeling.

More Fish On The Reef

Once back at the house, we prepared the tuna with some various types of marinades. The plan was to bake it in the oven. The rest of the late afternoon was spent sitting on our beach enjoying some refreshments, waiting for the sun to set. Unfortunately, it had been a little more cloudy today, and there was quite a layer of clouds on the horizon, which totally obstructed the sun setting below the actual horizon.

We did see one of the cruise ships leaving later, it was heading north east towards its next destination. It was most likely the Norwegian Caribbean Ship we had seen in the morning heading to the port in Coxen Hole.

Cruise Ship Departing

Apparently, the Princess Ship must have gone around the other end of the island, closer to the port at Mahogany Bay. We had seen several Princess Carry Bags in some of the groups on the beach, but never did see the ship arrive or depart.

Fresh Tuna

We had a good dinner of baked tuna, wild rice, a salad, and some rolls.

Our Place in Roatan

Afterward we just sat around on our porch enjoying the evening before heading to bed for the night.

Roatan Day 5 – Wednesday, February 26, 2014

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Feb 272014

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.

Roatan Day 6 – Thursday, February 26, 2014

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Feb 282014

The weather on Roatan was beautiful once again today, but not all of us were feeling as well as we could to enjoy it. Stephanie and I are still fighting something intestinal, we have coined it the “Roatan Rumba”. No one else in our group seems to have been affected by whatever it is we have gotten, so it must have been something we did differently from everyone else. We are thinking it may have been in something we ate the first night since we ate a different meal than everyone, we were the only ones that had the sea bass sandwich.

The Roatan Rumba is not making for a wonderful last couple of days on vacation, although we can still enjoy periodic walks, and sitting in the sunshine. It seems to come and go, and then we go……so we need to be near a bathroom.

Most everyone spent the day relaxing at the house, although Ashley and Bryan ventured out to some of the stores in West End for some shopping.

No one ventured out for snorkeling today, the wind was a little offshore, blowing onto the beach, so there was a little chop on the water. It was also the third and last “cruise ship” day, we knew at least one ship from Norwegian Caribbean was in port, we saw it leave later in the evening, near sunset. They have distinctive paint schemes on the sides of their hulls, so it is easy to distinguish their ships from others that are just painted white.

The sunset today was not as good as anticipated, there were some low clouds moving in that obscured the sunset right at the horizon.

Stephanie and I stayed at the house and made some flavored rice and ate that with some bread for our dinner. The others went down to one of the local beachfront restaurants, Bananarammas, and got some pizza to go. We had another power outage tonight, right after it got dark, making it the fourth power outage of the trip.

It was just a slow island day today, Stephine and I are hoping we feel better tomorrow.

We did not take any photos today,

Roatan Day 7 – Friday, February 28, 2014

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Feb 282014

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.

Travel Home Day – Saturday, March 1, 2014

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Mar 022014

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

Epilogue – Post Travel Thoughts

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Aug 262014

These are some thought that Stephanie had on our Roatan Vacation, and these are our own thoughts, not necessarily the thoughts of our traveling companions.

I had been a little reluctant to go on a trip to a destination where you have to watch what you eat and drink in order to avoid getting an intestinal illness. It had happened once to me in Cancun, Mexico, while vacationing there for a week many years ago. I had decided after that trip that it was more relaxing to go places where this was not an issue, especially since I had been very particular on the trip to Cancun about the water, had really paid attention to using bottled water for drinking and brushing teeth, and also paid attention to what I ate, only to get a small case of an intestinal bug anyway during that trip.

Most of our fellow travelers on this Roatan trip ended having some symptoms the intestinal bug Stephanie and I got, but it was later in the trip, or after arriving back home. We now believe that it was due to the ice we had purchased at a local bar, even though this is the same ice used for drinks at the bar itself, and a lot of tourists were drinking drinks with ice in them. We all had some of the ice in drinks back at the house, maybe Stephanie and I had more drinks with ice in them than the others in our group, and it impacted us first. It could have been something else, but the point is that it did lessen the enjoyment of yet another trip to a country where the water is not drinkable.

While the house was really nice, and in a great location, the impact of the cruise line crowds did not make it as enjoyable when the ships were in port. The beaches became crowded, and the vendors increased dramatically on port days. This certainly diminished the calm, relaxing atmosphere of having a beachfront house. It was the general belief of our fellow travelers that the beach traffic of tourists had increased even compared to their stay in the same house last year.

Lastly, the flights to Roatan are fairly expensive, surely driven by the limited number of flights in and out of Roatan, only one per day per airline (Continental, American and Delta Only), only two days of the week. Supply and demand principles at work. The experience of all of the flights leaving at basically the same time on Saturday was really unacceptable. They should be able to stagger them at least 30 minutes, there is no possible way that three large planes can all board and depart withing a few minutes of each other with the limited Roatan Airport staff.

It is surely a nice place for diving, which is why the majority of people go there to stay for a week. Without going there for dedicated diving, which is not something we participate in, it is our thought that there are more food/water friendly warm weather spots to vacation at that are also cheaper to get flights to.

The other item that seemed to cause some issues was the unreliable power. We had power outages on four nights, and the power seemed to always go out at about the time it got dark, obviously due to an increase in power loads when lights were turned on and everyone was cooking or bathing with hot water. It was not aggravating once, but it actually happened a couple of nights in a row, and was just bothersome. I guess that is why all of the larger hotels and bar/restaurants have their own generators so that they can make their own power when the outages occur.

We enjoyed it for what it offered, but based on our overall experience, would most likely not go back to for a vacation. Our motto will be “No drink the water, no stay on vacation”.