It’s my birthday today and I’m so blessed to see another year at 36. I want to just first take this time to say how grateful and thankful I am to be able to experience the things in which I have, do and will do. Also thank you for the birthday shoutouts, wishes and gifts they are truly appreciated. Now let’s get into today. I promise I didn’t intend to pack today full of activities like I did but it happened so we’re going to roll with it. I set up a Roatan Island and Mangroves Tour with West Bay Tours and they had my guide Jordi pick me up from my Airbnb at 9am. I was told that basically since I was a solo traveler that there would be an additional fee of $15 which I was ok with.

Jordi picked me up and said that we would cover about 90% of the island today. We talked throughout the ride and I learned a lot about Jordi and his experiences as well as a lot about Roatan. Jordi said that he’s Jamaican, Grand Cayman and British. He also told me about 2 ghost encounters he had here on the island (one while driving and one while with his cousin). Here are a few tid bits that I learned:

•Flores Port Royal is the farthest part of the island (you can get from one end of the island to the other in 2 hrs)

•Roatan didn’t get built up until the 90’s so everything here is fairly new

•There are many people here from the mainland

•The majority of expats include Americans, the French, Canadians and the Czech

•Tuesday-Thursday are main cruise days (so traffic galore)

•Carnival has the Mahogany Port while Norwegian and others have the Coxen Hole Port (the one downtown-they are on seperate parts of the island)

•Juan Brooks Elementary was the first school on the island

•There are no traffic lights

•The only stop sign on the island is by a school and many people drive through it

•Calle Ocho is considered the slums (don’t be there at night)

•The mainland has many gangs and crime is much more current there than here

•There are many stray dogs on the street and locals call them mutts or pot lickers

•The ex president (last) of Honduras is in jail in the US for drug trafficking

•Honduras now has their first woman president (her husband was also an ex president)

•The population of Roatan is 80,000-100,000 people

•Anthony’s Key is considered the most popular resort and was the first resort on the island. (Fantasy Resort is 2nd place but I was told they’re not as good as they used to be).

•Good Friday is popular here and many tourists and mailand visitors come (locals go to the east end to escape)

•Kristie’s Overlook is an expat hangout (the owner is from TX)

•Electricity is expensive ($1/kilowatt). Jordi said his average bill monthly is $150

•September 15th is their independence day and time for the fishing tournament for swordfish

•Tourism is number 1 and Fishing is 2nd in industry attractions

•Roatan is more expensive than the mainland

•Accidents are based on the honor system (no one has insurance)

•All types of music is played here but older people listen to country music. Some locals add their own spin to it by fusing it with reggae.

•Their jail has no toilet, bed, food, nothing (so for however long you’re held there good luck).

We finally got to the Mangrove area where Charlie would be my tour guide. Jordi informed me on the ride over that it would be an additional $20 for the Mangrove tour since I was alone. I asked if he meant the extra $15 for the solo fee but he said in addition to that. I told him that that was not explained to me at all but this time (because I normally wouldn’t have done it all) I decided to go ahead and pay it since I was their but I definitely knew I was going to hit up Collette (the tour manager for West Bay Tours) to tell her I was not informed of this early on and that would’ve effected my decision. Charlie was nice and had a thick Jamaican/island accent so I couldn’t quite understand much of what he said.

I just took the time to sit on the boat and enjoy the ride. We passed by shrimp and crab boats, the coast guard, a Czech village, a plastic surgeon from California’s home, some churches and homes along the water. Passing through the mangrove felt like I was in a jungle of sorts but the water in certain portions were a beautiful hue of blue. The wind blowing some cool air under the shades of the trees with just the motor of the boat in the background gave me a moment to reflect.

After the Mangrove Tour as we rode around Jordi suggested a restaurant to stop and get food at. I was hungry and thirsty by now so I was up for it. We stopped at Wagundan Restaurant and I ordered a red snapper dish. When I tell you it was phenomenal I mean it was a 13 out of 10 as everything was seasoned perfectly especially the fish (I thought about taking another plate to go but it took some time to make-plus there’s other food). The setting was beautiful off a dock right on the water. It was definitely a great way to keep the day going.

As we continued to ride around we drove near a shop Jodi had told me about (and I had heard about it reading) where I could get some unique souvenirs. We stopped and I went in and found a few things. I had a lot of questions and Jordi for the most part had the answers. Here’s a bit more that I learned below:

•Austrailia has the largest coral reef while the Honduras and Belize share the 2nd

•Punta Gorda (the area the Wagundan Restaurant was in) has a festival every Sunday where they cook, dance and showcase traditions.

•The Garifuna people are from St Vincent and the men were being killed by the British (back when they were enslaved) so they (the men) began dressing like women to escape

•Kelcy Lee Warren owns the power plant on the island. He’s from TX and has his own island, beach, etc.

•June and July is hurricane season (the last one was Hurricane Mitch in 1998)

•Winter is considered the rainy season (December-March)

•Eldon’s owns the big grocery stores, Petro Gas stations and the freight boat in Roatan

•Pollo chuco and baleada are Honduran foods

•Salvavida and Imperial are Honduran beers. Beer trucks in the mainlands have guards on them because they get robbed a lot.

•Bojangles is the most popular fast food place in Roatan (there is no McDonalds)

•There’s only one college here with about four study areas

•In the jungles you may find ant eaters, alligators, possums, rabbits, armadillos and etc.

•Gas stations here have great food

That was the end of my tour with Jordi as he dropped me off back at my Airbnb. I had about an hour and 20 minutes before my next tour and did I rest no. I changed into my lounge clothes and began posting stories on my IG and began writing my writeup for the night. Before I knew it I had to change clothes to be ready for my next guide to pick me up at 3pm.

Ellias was my guide for the evening and as my tour stated there would be the The Rum Company, Chocolate Factory, Roatan Letters and then the ATV jungle tour. As we rode around here’s what I learned from Elias:

•22 miles per hour is the speed limit here

•The people of Roatan don’t really like people from the mainland (Roatan’s descendnts are islanders and many hispanics are moving over from the mainland and it sometimes causes friction)

•February-November is the school schedule

•Wives don’t like husbands to go away too long and are very dependent

•The mainland is 30 miles away from Roatan which is 2 hrs by ferry

I did the ATV tour 1st which was amazing as my guide Marlon did a great job leading me around and getting some photos of me. After the tour I inquired where to next and Elias made it sound like home. Obviously I’m like, “Hold up, what do you mean? I had other stops planned for today, I want my rum cake.” Well guess what the Rum Company was closed today and is tomorrow and by the time we got to the Chocolate Factory they were closed. I’m sure Elias could tell my disappointment because I no longer felt like talking.

I figured then since I clearly wouldn’t be getting my money’s worth with what I paid for that I could at least see if he’d take me ro the grocery store so I could pick up a few things and that’d be 1 less thing I needed to do. So I give him props as he did call the Rum Company to see if I could get the cakes anywhere else (no so I’ll have to wait until Monday before I leave) and he did swing by 2 Chocolate Factories and they were both closed. At the grocery store we stopped at I picked up some more drinks and snacks. Afterwards I was dropped off at home.

It was beginning to get late and it’s been suggested to not really be out after dark so I came in and changed clothes and ran out to get food. I drove to a Honduran restaurant (Loretta’s Island Cooking) not to far and ordered some food to go. By the time it was ready it was dark but I knew how to get back to my Airbnb so I was good. Night driving here is no joke because the street lights are few and far and the streets are already narrown and near cliffs so it’s in your best bet to go slow and pay attention. Funny enough I went right past my Airbnb and had to pull in somewhere and turn around as you could barely see the entrance at night (I’ll be in early tomorrow).

I for whatever reason had trouble locking my door and after many attempts and correspondence with my host got it to lock. It gets very windy at night and I can hear the wind and the trees as I sit in my Airbnb. I popped open a drink from the store and ate my food. It wasn’t as good as the food I had earlier but it definitely tasted like a southern homemade fish (but it wasn’t bad). After eating I knew with all that I’ve learned and what’s happened today that this write-up would be long so I got to work and am wrapping it up now. I had a great day today and here’s to year 36!