An early day today because they changed the ship's clock and our watches and phones didn't change with it. So we were up an hour early. No problem. Just gave us time for some protein for breakfast. We went up to the Lido deck and got some breakfast. I went to make me some tea and find somebody to get Bruce some tomato juice. While there, I insinuated myself into a conversation between two guys at different tables talking about how dangerous it was to have taken one of the excursions to the Mayan ruins in Mahahual. The concern was what would have happened if the vehicle had broken down on one of those tiny back roads. I interrupted and told them the driver probably would have just called for another vehicle. They do have cell phones in Mexico. Then they mentioned the dangers of being stranded on the back road. I told them about driving through Mexico several years ago and that in spite of all the fear mongering, we never felt unsafe, and we did get lost and have some car troubles along the way. I mentioned that Mexico was a big country, and there are neighborhoods I won't go in in the US, too. No different in Mexico. One of the guys said, "But there are some bad banditos looking for you in Mexico!" I responded that they aren't looking for ME. They don't even know that I exist. So long as you don't go getting into their business, trying to buy drugs and potentially picking the wrong dealer, or trying to compete or stop them, they aren't interested in you. They really didn't seem to like me raining on their "crap on other people you know nothing about" parade, but Bruce's tomato juice arrived, so having had my entertainment for the morning, I said my goodbyes and went back to our table.
After breakfast, we went back to the room and finished getting ready. Our room-service breakfast came, so we put it in the fridge. I will eat fruit throughout the day. We had plenty of time, so we watched the ship dock. There appear to be some sunken shipwrecks close to the docks.
When they announced that the ship was cleared, we made our way down to the gangway and disembarked. We walked through the port area with their shops and restaurants, where excursions booked through the ship meet. Finally leaving the port area, there was a taxi stand and a road going almost straight uphill. For $2 each, we could take a taxi up that hill and back down to where the private (non-ship) excursions are allowed to pick up. This was a no-brainer. We got the cab. Our cabbie took us over the hill, found our tour guide, and let us sit in the air conditioning of his car until our guide came down to meet us and all of our group gathered. I didn't take a picture of the hill going up, and it doesn't look as steep from this side, in part, because of the curve, but also because it just wasn't as steep. I've been practicing and trying to build up, but I wasn't going to be able to even walk that much uphill with my heart problems!
There were a couple of birds in the trees, and I had time to take their pictures.
Great-tailed grackle
Golden-Fronted Woodpecker (subspecies that is endemic to Roatan, Honduras, male)
When everybody showed up, Adolfo, our excursion guide, loaded us all into a van and we headed across the island of Roatan, Honduras. While driving, he gave us some history of the island and its inhabitants. I had always thought they were just part of Honduras all along, with early Spanish ownership, but that's not quite the case. Apparently, the island was a possession of Britain for most of history, and the inhabitants in power were white or black British citizens or slaves. The native Mayan language is almost gone because the government would kill the indigenous who dared to speak their native language. Nothing but English to be spoken. Soon after the country of Honduras was formed, having gotten its independence from Spain, Britain sold the island to Honduras. As residents from the mainland began moving to the island, the Spanish language started being integrated quite a bit. However, English remains the primary language on the island with Spanish running a close second. Some people have begun bringing back the Mayan languages, but they are very few. As we drove along, we came past a large white house. According to Adolfo, this house was built by a former governor of Honduras with "sticky fingers."
Adolfo decided to bypass the iguana park, taking us to the Daniel Johnson Monkey and Sloth Hangout before the crowds got there. When you go in, they put groups into four different waiting areas. While we waited, we watched some Roatan spiny-tailed iguanas. These guys are indemic to the island and are omnivorous, so they eat pretty much anything.
It wasn't long before Caleb, our Hangout guide, collected us and took us to the sloth area. We were given instructions to clasp our hands in front of us and act like a tree in no wind when it was our turn to hold the sloth. We started with Snow White, a lovely lady who snuggled in quite comfortably.
A little bit later, they brought out Bon Jovi, and he was active! He ate and wiggled around, and tried to steal one lady's hat, and all kinds of things.
Once everybody in our group had their one turn holding a sloth, we migrated over to the capucin monkeys. These guys are pretty cheeky. We were told to leave averything except watches and cameras/phones that we would be holding tightly outside, even glasses. So, we put everything in my purse and set it on the shelf outside the monkey habitat. We stood in a circle and waited for the monkeys to decide to play with us. When a group left, Caleb decided to move us to where they had been so we would be out of the sun. At the time, Bruce happened to have a monkey on his head!
They jumped around on us, and at one point, one of them got interested in my camera!
If you look by his eye closest to his hand, you can see where he left a thumbprint on the lens!
Another member of our group from Texas took pictures on his phone of the monkey playing with my camera and emailed them to me.
Bruce couldn't have his glasses, so he couldn't see well enough to take any phone pictures. But he positioned himself under their gym/swing/activity area, so he got mugged pretty consistently!
Once the monkeys were finished with us, we moved to the macaw habitat where we each had a macaw sit on our heads for a while. Bruce had his glasses back, so he took some selfies.
The bird seemed interested, too.
He managed to get a shot of me, too.
Once we were done at the Hangout, we loaded back into the van, and Adolfo took us back to the inguana park. The green iguans were on showcase here. These guys are herbivores. We got to play with the babies and hold "Grandpa".
We fed them bananas and leaves, and they climb over each other to eat. They appear to be well fed, and there is all kinds of vegetation around that they can eat whenever they're hungry.
When the males are ready to mate, they turn orange and get agressive. This guy chased one of our group around. I think he stepped on the iguana's tail.
The iguana park has a little dock down by the water where they raise tarpon. These guys were relocated from the other side of the island to prevent them from being buried in a construction project. I asked if they were native to this part of the island, and our iguana park guide, Didi, said they were not. But, she said, they have gotten well established here, so they are not an invasive species. I didn't say it, but I thought the lion fish would be happy to know that's how the invasive species thing works. I did ask if they caused any problems with other species, and she said they did not.
For drop off, Adolpho was able to drop us off at the port entrance, where we got the taxi going out. They won't let them pick up there, but they will let them drop off. We went back to the ship and had some salad and fruit for lunch. Then I dumped photos and got the cameras and backpacks ready for Belize tomorrow. We showered and Bruce napped. It was hot out today, and that took a lot out of him. So, instead of him needing to get up and dressed, I went up to the Lido deck and got him a couple of slices of pizza for dinner. I went to the Trident Grill for me with the intention of getting a fish sandwich, but they don't have fish sandwiches on the boat! So I settled for a chili dog and chili cheese fries. Bruce's pizza was good, but the chili sauce had something sweet in it and was disappointing. That's okay. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. We're taking a river boat cruise in Belize tomorrow and I'm hoping to get back in time to snorkel. The people at the shore excursion desk think it will be tight, but that I should be able to do it. If I miss it, I'll try to get another snorkel from the pier.
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