I’m Off Again
It’s so exciting to be heading off onto my next scuba diving experience, Honduras or to be more precise, Roatan, a small island off the coast.
But to experience Roatan, I wanted to know more of Hondoras as well. It is said Hondoras is a beautiful but dangerous place itself. Many Archaeologists have shown that Honduras once had a rich, multi-ethnic prehistory. A once major Mayan city (Copan) which is said to have existed from the fifth century to the early ninth century, but by the time the Spanish arrived the city was overrun by the jungle and no human trace of the Mayans existed.
After three centuries of Spanish rule, Honduras was granted independence with the rest of the Central American provinces on September 15, 1821.
It is also considered a biodiversity hotspot because of all the plant and animal species that can be found there. Honduras is 43,278 square mile country that is host to more than 6,000 species of vascular plants, with over 630 are Orchids. (the country’s flower). Not only that but there are around 250 reptiles and amphibians, with more than 700 bird species and 110 mammal species, with over half of them being bats.
In the northeastern region lies the Rio Plantano Biosphere Reserve, which is a lowland rainforest home to a wide range of life. It also has cloud forests which can rise up to nearly three thousand meters above sea level. You can find mangroves, savannas and mountain ranges with pine and oak trees, and in the Bay Islands there are bottlenose dolphins, manta rays, parrot fish, schools of blue tand and whale sharks, which is were we will be heading to explore the underwater world of Roatan.
Once we land in Roatan, which seemed like the shortest, ( that once you land, the whole plane breaks out in applause), airport runway ever. As we deplane you can fill the heat and humidity and after going through customs we caught a cab to Anthony’s Key Resort, where we will be staying for the duration of our trip. The resort is wonderful, it has a rustic charm to it and a feeling of leaving the fast paced life behind to a feeling of a unhurried pace that awaits you. (Sounds like a commerical doesn’t it?)
The coolest thing is our rooms. In order to get to them we have to take a boat across a 30 foot expanse of water to reach an even smaller island to get to our rooms. Then we would walk through the sand and palm trees to reach our final destination.
Though our rooms were not air-conditioned they were prefect. At night it was cooler so we would open the slated windows and be cooled off by the ocean breeze. In fact, the rooms were right off the water. Many a night you could watch a light show in the distance ocean as lightning danced off the water. Truly remarkable. During the day when we weren’t diving we lounged in the hammock outside our rooms and relaxed and took naps. (One of my favorite things to do.)
The resort had so many things to do, not only diving but you could snorkel, swim with dolphins, horseback ride or go kayaking in the lagoon. I had never kayaked before so I’d thought I would give it a try and it was a blast. At first I was worried that I would capsize but I never did, I finally got the hang out of it and went exploring on my own. I spotted parrots and green lizards.(Iguana) The water was beautiful and there were coconut trees everywhere. Our first day there we couldn’t go diving because of safety reasons, but it didn’t matter there was so much to see until then.
I found out that Raotan has a population of about 65,000 people and that is is one of the largest and popular islands to visit. It is about 50km long and just 2km to 4km wide. And for those who don’t dive you can visit the botanical gardens, butterfly and iguana farms, family recreational areas, and canopy tours. The Islands were once a base for Pirates and buccaneers where they would attack Spanish galleons carrying precious metals, woods, and other bounty bound for Andalusia. Not only that, there were as many as 5,000 living and hiding their booty there in the peak years. But later the British ships dumped around 2,000 rebellious Black Caribs, descendents of Arawak Indians and escaped African slaves, and over time the Caribs morphed into the more mellow Garifuna people of today.
I hope to see you in the coming weeks as we begin to explore the many dive sites that surround Roatan in the Caribbean Sea.
Hope to see you there!
