As I mentioned in my previous post about our cruising budget here in Honduras, there just aren’t a lot of extracurricular activities on the islands. Which is fine by me—beaches and reef snorkeling are pretty good, and inexpensive, ways to pass the days. Though we really do need to get off the boat and go find something else to do around the island soon.
Sure hope this thing doesn’t venture outside the reef.
When we snorkel in West Bay we share the reef with this hunk. Kind of funny to watch tourists go by, sitting behind a wall of glass, as if we’re in an aquarium.
These kids walked by with their dad who was just so stoked that they had found this puppy crying in the rocks, covered in fleas. They were taking her home to be the new family pet, and had already named her Victoria. Why Victoria? Because he had a new daughter on the way in a couple of weeks and he was also naming her Victoria, of course. That won’t be confusing at all.
For Easter this restaurant had a Kid’s Day party. I think they underestimated how big a hit this would be. There were probably 100 kids in the pool eventually, but I would guess only about 12 adults in attendance. Fun day for everyone.
West Bay beach when there are no cruise ships in port.
This is the first big school of fish we’ve seen in the reefs. I’m no expert, but I have to imagine that twenty (maybe even five) years ago there would have been a hell of a lot more fish around here.
I suppose it was inevitable after being in a pool all day with a hundred kids—and I shudder to think, one bathroom. The kids woke up with temps of 104, and after some quick googling we were on our way to the nearby clinic.
We got there and were asked for their passports, which was something we’d never had to produce before, so while they sat and waited I zipped back to the boat. Once back, we signed them in, paid, and went in to see the doc. Two nice English speaking doctors gave them a good look and asked a bunch of questions. They had us stick around for a little while so they could monitor their fevers and make sure they didn’t keep going up, then gave us medications including everything from hydrating drink mix, to Tylenol, to antibiotics. All of this, medicine included, cost $6/each. $20/each if, like us, you wanted to get bumped to the front of the line and not sit outside in the heat. All in all, another good 3rd world medical experience.
Everyone is feeling better now.
11 Comments on “Roatan Pool Party”
Guess I will be first comment. Have followed u guys from the start. Enjoyed every post. Even tried to run into u guys in Florida. Once in Indiantown and once in Ft Myers. Keep up the great work. Thanks.
You tried to run into us?! Twice! 🙂
Thanks, Bill.
Bummer about the sickness.
The school of fish are Blue Tangs in a feeding aggregation. They school up like that to scour the reef for food; safety in numbers and all that.
So you are just seeing less fish life in general on the reefs there?
Wonderful Post . . . as always. Glad everyone is now OK. I really find it hard to believe (but, of course do believe) your comments concerning the lack of fish in the Caribbean areas you are visiting. In the 50s and 60s it was an underwater tropical wonderland. To what do you attribute this? Really.
so glad to hear everyone’s better! my own little guy had similar from swimming pool last summer — they called it swimming pool fever. good name.
Yes, a good name for public pool swimming sickness. Poor kids. I asked O. and L. if all the fun they had that day was worth being this sick. Nope.
Good that you took the photo down of Ali suffering from the crud, she really looked like she was on death’s door. Hoping all is well now. Keep having fun!
I took that photo down! Not flattering at all – yes truthful but man… I still have a cough – the kids are back in full swing. Pat got it for a day. Lucky he is.
We were there about 5 yrs ago (with 2 kids), I had broken a tooth in the Bahamas, they wanted about $1k to put a crown on it(like the states) so I waited until Honduras (Roatan). I got it fixed for about $200 – very happy with the results- equal quality. We also found Roatan to be a good (cheap) place to get certified diving – if you stayed at the marina in French Harbor you got a big discount (though I can’t remember what it was). My then 12 yo and I got certified…wish I was still out there…
3rd world medical experiences can be rough. Our 7 y/o daughter was bit by a dolphin in Jamaica. Probably could have used a few stitches, but they did a good job cleaning it up. No infections, and only a few scars 8 years later.
That is sad for both your daughter and dolphin.