ISLA ROATAN HONDUROUS

Day 5 from Florida to Central America Adventure
ISLA ROATAN HONDOURUS

Our cruise Ship, the Carnival Legend arrived at the port named Mahogany Bay in Honduras on the beautiful Island of Roatan. The port is cool and full of eye candy but you MUST leave the port to get a real feel of the island. This manmade commercial area is nowhere near the real Roatan! We did not go with the ship on this one. I would recommend doing what we did by hiring your own driver for the day to take you wherever you want to go even on a whim! The company we used is the best we saw! We used Victor Bodden Tours click link. We would defiantly use his company again. Victor and all his employees we encountered seemed liked they were there to make sure we had a great time, and we did, thanks to them.

Our guide was Wordy. Wordy was very nice, informative and cared about what WE wanted to do! He even stopped at a local gas station for me to get the local drink he recommended, Banana soda. I recommend the soda just as much as Wordy and Victor Bodden. You can request a certain driver when you make you reservations and you don’t pay until your done with the tour!!! You have to walk out of the port gates and Victors people will be there waiting on you!

On our way away from the port area he told us about the islands history, politics, culture and food! We learned the children were getting ready for their independence day and as we saw a school band practicing he allowed us to stop and watch for a minute and take pictures! He drove us through the real roads which by the way don’t have speed limits or stop signs! Let’s just say they make great use of their horns!

Our first requested stop was the iguana farm Click Here! This place was started to protect the iguana on the island from being eaten. On the island it is a delicacy. Here the iguana are safe, protected and well taken care of. We were able to feed them giant leafy veggies and they came out of everywhere! Hundreds of them piled in mounds trying to eat from our hands! It was pretty scary! They made me realize if one of these things were to go Godzilla on us we would have no chance! They were in the trees, and crawling everywhere! You really get a good experience with the wildlife here! They have a few other animals in small cages that I wished had bigger habitats. Down at the back of this small attraction is a dock over the bay that showcases the areas sea creatures, this part is amazing. We saw all kinds of turtles, barracuda, stingrays and other things swimming right by you!

After the Iguana Wordy took us to a high mountain peak with a wonderful view with a few people selling trinkets! The view was amazing and the trinkets were neat too! We didn’t buy any because we didn’t carry much money with us over what we needed to see what we wanted to see.

We then headed to Carambola Gardens, Click here. Gabi and I were planning to visit the gardens and hike up the mountain but it was so hot we could barely do the gardens without feeling like we were going to pass out! The gardens are very worth it though! They are not some botanical garden set in the middle of some city with plants form the jungle like most places of this type, no; instead this is a botanical garden that is really in the jungle! The pathways are confusing but you will not care as the plant life at every turn is interesting! You will see hummingbirds and butterflies that are indigenous to Honduras and a delight to see! You will see glimpses and hear the Monkey Lala, a local lizard, but good luck seeing it for longer than a second or getting even a blurry picture of one of these fast creatures! This place is run by a real nice gentleman from North Carolina and is full of info! This place is worth visiting! Just make sure you have bottled water!

Next up we stopped at victor’s house where he has an attraction called MONKEY BUSINESS where you can actually pet monkeys and let them run around you! Of course they tried stealing my Gabi’s sunglasses and wearing them! We had emptied our pockets earlier and recommend you do the same or else they will steal something you won’t be able to get back! The monkey Gabi was holding was digging in her pocket and we

 were laughing because we emptied our pockets but low and behold the monkey found a bottle cap she overlooked! It was lost and the monkey had a new toy! It seemed as if they use found objects from tourists as money and/or status symbols! There is also a nice collection of birds and other animals here and for five bucks this is a must! I am not sure if any other tours are allowed here so make sure you use Victor Bodden Tours!

Wordy then took me to see a local artist that is well known here in the states for his wood carvings. His name is Melvin Bodden. We drove up to his small house and were greeted with “welcome to my heaven!” Melvin is a wonderful artist and gave me great advice for my art! He showed us his sculpture outside then took us into his house and introduced us to his wife and showed us his paintings. He told me that he has sculpture all over the states but no one ever buys his paintings so I bought one! His paintings are very affordable! I would say if you visit him make sure you have $20 to $50 to purchase a great painting from him! His paintings he holds very personal and they mean more to him it seems! Melvin was a very spiritual artist and extremely shamanistic. I loved him right off the bat and hope to one day see him again! He is an inspiration and a visit to Roatan without seeing Melvin would be a loss!

Melvin told me of how he thought angels and space ships go together and he painted it. Thisis the painting I bought from him! He had many more paintings I wanted and wished I had brought more money with me!








One of his coolest sculptures is of a mermaid giving milk/life to a dolphin repressenting sea life! Melvin loved explaining his work just as much as we loved hearing him do so!





We then drove though Coxen Hole which is a neat local town with lots to see. Wordy offered to take us to west end to see the beach but we didn’t get out as we weren’t interested in the normal vacation touristy stuff. We told him we like the underground, rare strange and unique roadside type attractions! Not sure if he understood but he must have because the day was great and we learned a lot about the Island and its people! We saw some crazy tourist spots a lot of people miss and we will always hold Roatan in our hearts! Roatan is a place you have to see and you cannot see it from the port!

Carnival will try to keep you from the real places they take you by telling you that the outside gates are not safe etc. Don’t believe it for a minute. Go see the real places or don’t go at all!


See ya on our next adventure - With love, Jason and Gabi