My first impression of the island, earlier that morning while still safe on the balcony on the Voyager, was that it was very beautiful. Like Jamaica, Roatan is mountainous and very green. Unlike Jamaica, however, Roatan is not overly developed. Very few houses dotted the lush vegetation climbing the hills. Most of the buildings seemed to be concentrated along the coast line. It was interesting to see that the houses near the beaches weren’t the typical multimillion dollar mansions I’d seen on other islands that only professional basketball players and mid-level politicians could afford. The houses near the beaches in Roatan appeared to be just regular houses – houses the locals might actually live in. I was also amazed at the stillness of the water near the pier. If I didn’t know we were in the Caribbean Sea, I could have been convinced we were sitting in a small, protected pond with no waves to disturb the morning. Of course, we were on a boat with five-thousand people so it would have to be a really big pond.
We walked along the pier until we found our guide for the day, Rony of Rony’s Independent Tours. Rony was younger and spoke much better English than I expected. Rony led us to his van and off we went. As we drove, Rony commented on many of the sights and answered all of our numerous questions about Roatan and life on the island. He also told us the story of Speedy.
There are many wild iguanas on Roatan and some of the locals grow up hunting and eating them. Rony explained that if you grow up eating iguana, after a while it becomes like an addiction. You must have iguana every so often or you really start craving it. Usually, when Rony gets a craving for iguana, he takes his hunting dog out and they catch one for dinner. A few years ago, however, Roatan experienced heavy rains and Rony couldn’t get out to go hunting. It just so happened that Rony was house-sitting for a friend, George, – a friend that grew up in Canada – who had a pet iguana named Speedy. Rony said that as his craving got stronger, he kept thinking about Speedy just sitting there in his cage. The rain kept pouring and Rony’s craving kept getting growing. He knew that George would be really mad if he ate Speedy so he tried to resist. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and turned Speedy into stew. George was not happy about this development, to say the least, and Rony did feel really bad. He replaced Speedy with a new iguana and George eventually forgave him. I don’t think Rony gets to house sit for George anymore, though.
As we drove along roads lined by lush vegetation, I would catch glimpses of the sea through openings in the palm trees. I cannot adequately describe how beautiful Roatan was. Everywhere you turned a flower or a tree or a stretch of beach looked like something you would see on a calendar. We’ve been to quite a few islands now and Roatan ranks right at the top as far as natural, unspoiled beauty goes.
We arrived at the ranch and Rony introduced us to the ranch owner, Sharky. Sharky sized us up and picked out horses for each of us. Daphne rode a horse named Black Boy. The Tiki Gal was on Skip. Dale rode Snowflake and I got a horse named Tangerine. I grew a little nervous because of all the horses, Tangerine was the only one that had to be held while Sharky worked on my saddle. Also, Rony looked more nervous than I felt when Sharky asked him to hold on to Tangerine. I was already wondering which side would be the best to dive off of when Tangerine decided to see if the gringo could fly.
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| Snowflake and Skip |
I’m happy to say that my fears were completely unwarranted. We rode along the road to the West End beach and then down another road to the coast. Sharky showed us the dead coral that protects the island from the waves. He said the coral wasn’t pretty but it kept Roatan from eroding into the sea. Sharky also showed us many plants and told us how they could be used for medicine and in at least one case, to make explosives. We then rode right down the beach to a rocky outcropping where we stopped to rest and to take pictures.
Sharky said that when he was a boy, he could walk out into the ocean and choose any size lobster he wanted to take home for dinner. Now, the lobsters are gone. He also showed us a big area of beach front property that is owned by an old lady. He said that when she dies, her son would sell the land so he could have a better car and someone would likely build a resort or a bar. Sharky was sad to see the changes that were happening to his island. His stories made me think much differently about the places we’ve visited. I love visiting these beautiful islands but I hate what the tourism industry is doing to them at the same time. Roatan is still relatively unspoiled but it is just a matter of time before Sharky won’t be able to ride his horses along the beach anymore… all because some kid wants a better car and the tourists will pay to give him one. The worst part is I can’t blame anyone. The locals want a better life and there aren’t many employment options on the islands. The tourists want to experience something that they can’t at home and they do provide income to the locals. As always, the land pays the price. Where’s the Lorax when you need him?
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| Sharky |
Next, we went to see the monkeys and I’m happy to report that I survived the experience. However, if you travel to Roatan, I can’t recommend the monkey exhibit. It consists of a few pens with monkeys, parrots, and other birds and animals. You pay a “guide” who walks you around the backyard sized area and takes you inside a few of the pens. The monkeys are all too happy to jump on your back and walk around on your shoulders. They are also happy to reach in your pockets and unzip your zippers. Rony had warned us that the monkeys were trained to pick your pockets but I didn’t really believe him at the time. I certainly do now.
Our next stop was at an iguana farm. We told Rony he had to behave himself because we didn’t want to get kicked out because he got hungry. He agreed and we soon found ourselves surrounded by hundreds of iguanas. We fed the iguanas trumpet flower leaves and, at least in my case, a hunk out of a finger. You have to keep an eye on those iguanas because they will sneak up from behind you while you are taking pictures of their buddies and chomp down on any appendage they can reach. I blame the whole thing on Rony because the iguana was just following the law of the jungle. Eat or be eaten.
We had lunch at the Half Moon Bay resort and then went snorkeling right off the beach. We were surprised to find beautiful coral formations and a bunch of tropical fish within a few yards of the beach. Snorkeling in Roatan was as good as anywhere we’ve been. Poor Dale was bitten on the knee by a rare coral-gator, however, and will forever have the scar to show for it.
After snorkeling, Rony completed our tour of the island and dropped us back at the pier. He had spent the whole day driving us around, holding an agitated horse, telling us stories about his life on the island, resisting the temptations at the iguana farm and making sure our day was as wonderful as he could make it. For all of that, he only charged us $25 per person. If you ever find yourself on Roatan, I can’t recommend Rony’s Independent Tours highly enough. We will definitely be using Rony again in the future.
Our visit to Roatan couldn’t have been more different than I expected. We had a great day full of new experiences and beautiful scenery and we were all sad to be stepping back onto the Voyager. We hurried up onto the pool deck so we could wave goodbye to our new favorite island as the ship pulled away from the pier. The sun was setting over the mountains, the weather was warm, and we had experienced it all with our wonderful friends.
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