Feb 28, 2018 - The idyllic charm of Cayos Cochinos

We saved the best for last. After the disappointing news about my damaged ear and inability to dive, Fran suggested that we make lemons out of lemonade by using our time in the Bay Islands to visit the very undeveloped national park of Cayos Cochinos. Last year, our Indy friends, the Peckinpaughs, invited us on a day trip from Roatan but unfortunately it was out of our budget. Instead, Fran found two places to stay on the islands, so we decided to spend the money and effort to get there for a two week stint. Way to go, Fran! I cannot say...

Feb 20, 2018 - Day trip to Pigeon Cay with Blue Island Resort

We reluctantly left George's cabana (darn those other tenants!) and headed up the street to an inexpensive airbnb apartment near Sandy Bay. Fran suggested we check out some other options along the coast, and he found a place called the Blue Island Dive Resort, with the adjacent Salty Mango restaurant. Snorkeling off their pier to an area called Jaeger Bomi revealed a lovely wall of coral and loads of fun fishes. We enjoyed the area so much we made several trips out and took fish counts, where we counted various species of fish and entered...

Feb 12, 2018 - Have you hugged your sloth today? Daniel Johnson's Monkey and Sloth Hangout on Roatan

To hug or not to hug? Our Indy chums told us that they wanted to go interact with the animals at Daniel Johnson's Monkey and Sloth Hangout. The weather was lousy, and I was a bit hesitant. Are these animals indigenous to the island? Were they brought here just as a tourist gimmick? After being so vocal about not feeding the fish, I needed to do more research to feel good about patronizing this place. And now, I can honestly say that I am happy to have done it! The "hangout" began when Daniel Johnson, whose family was originally from Great...

Jan 20, 2018 - Roatan Redo! Snorkeling, steel drums, and Garifuna dancing!

I remember the first night we arrived in Roatan. We took a quick snorkel in Half Moon Bay, had dinner and ended up at the Sundowner (a bar where everyone goes). While chatting with someone in the bar, Erin Peckinpaugh came up to me and said that she overheard me say we came from Indiana. Soon we had four new friends from the same flight! The Peckinpaughs and Roylances turned out to be wonderful connections for us in Indy. But that night in the Sundowner, I snobbily told Erin that it wasn't nearly as nice as places in SE Asia. Wow, was I...

Jan 8, 2018 - Villas Pico Bonito!

Last year many travelers recommended the splendors of Pico Bonito National Park to us, so because we flew into La Ceiba we decided to spend a week on the mainland to check it out. Our host at Villas Pico Bonito, Richard, upgraded us to a beautiful apartment right on the water. What a treat! Richard has created a fantasy world that rivals something made by Frank Lloyd Wright. How he managed to build such a beautiful property in such a wet and undeveloped place I will never figure out. From our very modern and spacious apartment we were able...

Dec 10, 2017 - Western Caribbean Cruise

We caught the 12:35 ferry on November 24 to Horseshoe Bay and headed for the airport. Larry dropped Maureen and the bags at the YVR Fairmont Hotel (our favourite) and went and parked in the Park n Fly. Maureen checked in and they brought the bags up to the room. The service is great at this hotel – foam pillows and close to the elevator as requested. We went to Hanami Japanese Restaurant for dinner. It wasn’t as good as it used to be. When we came back from dinner the hotel staff remembered our names! We went to bed early because we had an...

Nov 5, 2017 - Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

Our flight to the island of Roatan in Honduras was really good on the smallest plane we have been on. 12 seater, no separate cockpit, we could see the all the instruments. The views of the Mesoamerican Reef were beautiful. We had a good week scuba diving at Bananarama Dive Resort on West Bay. We had some really good dives and saw loads of sea life; green turtles, hawksbill turtles, green and spotted moray eels, lots of fish, and even had a eagle ray to wave us goodbye on our last dive. The most interesting dive site was Mary’s Place where...

Aug 16, 2017 - Copan Ruins

This morning we try to have breakfast at a cafe outside the Hotel but there seems to be nothing open early enough, so we head back to eat in our Hotel. Our tour of Copan ruins begins at 8 am before it gets too hot. This Mayan city of 20,000 inhabitants thrived from the 5th to the 9th century and covered an area of 27 sq kms. We meet our guide Cesar at the entrance to the site. Our first stop is not the main area but the Sepulturas, which is further down the road. Here was the residential area of the middle class. We can see the remains of...

Aug 15, 2017 - Roatan Island to Copan

Happy Birthday!! Unfortunately not an exciting day for my birthday as it is a travelling day. We leave our lovely hotel on the waterfront this morning at 6.15 to catch the ferry at 7am, from the other side of the island, to return to the mainland. The ferry is modern and leaves on time for the 1 1/2 hour journey. We sit on the back deck to get some fresh air. We disembark and collect the luggage and Hector is there to meet us. He has driven the 6 hours to get here while we flew. We stop for breakfast on the way, very hungry so we order the...

Aug 14, 2017 - Roatan Island, Honduras

So another early start, up at 5.45 am to leave at 6.20 am. We have only 6 kms to get back to the airport but it will be Monday and peak hour and Tomas does not want to leave anything to chance. There is a slight delay as the traffic has built up because a high truck went under a bridge that too low and his load was tipped all over the road. A TV crew were interviewing the driver. We negotiate that and took a wrong turn once, but make it by 7 am. Our flight is to leave at 8 am. We eat hurriedly, and share a panini of ham and cheese and have...

Aug 13, 2017 - Leon to Roatan, Honduras

An interesting day today!! We have to be up at 4am and we are leaving at 5am with a packed breakfast to cross over into Honduras and then catch a flight from the capital, Tegulapica to Roatan an island in the Caribbean Sea. Our driver is late picking us up and we end up having time to eat our toast, fruit and coffee before we leave. He doesn't pick us up till 5.30 so we are already half an hour behind. Off we go and it's an hour and a half to the border. We complete the formalities on the Nicaraguan side but because our bus is not...

May 9, 2017 - Honduras - Roatan - Wildlife

I was again up early and at the devotions. The ship had not docked when I came up to the room and we went to the buffet for breakfast. We went back to the room and packed our things as the boat docked and we read for a little while as our tour was not till later. We eventually went off the ship and walked along the pier and up the hill to a square where the guides were to meet us. I had remembered the time without checking the tickets and we were early by half an hour, over and above the extra time we had allowed ourselves. We stood in as...