What I Did For Summer Vacation (in February) #6

Day Five (Thursday)

Zipline – We walked right off the boat and into a market square where we quickly found our guide.  With wrist bands on, we were loaded into a van for a 30 minute curvy bumpy drive to the zip line area.  Unlike Belize or Costa Maya, the 36 mile long island of Honduras is filled with hills so we were on some pretty crazy and curvy roads.  This also gave us a chance to see more of the “real” Honduras – poor yes, but bustling with people going about their lives.  I didn’t feel sorry for any one or any circumstance I came across.  In our van we became acquainted with some of our fellow zipliners  - we would see Jeremy and Kathleen later in the day.  At the zip line company’s parking area, we got outfitted with harnesses and helmets.  We were then transported to the top of a “mountain” on an extremely steep road – we were quite glad we didn’t have to walk.  There were at least 8 zip line segments, some of the quite long.  Everyone did quite well and had a good time.

 

Roatan Shopping – After zip lining we returned to the ship, put some stuff away, grabbed some gear and then headed back out to Roatan for some shopping. We left the “safety” of the port shopping area (managed by the cruise line) and ventured out into the “real” city – or at least that part of the city that catered to tourists.  Carol-Lynn found some soccer shirts for her boys.  Cassandra some shells and mother-of-pearl things and Cindy brought 3 conch shell bracelets (only 2 lasted long enough to make it back on board the ship).  All of these purchased at the same shop from a very nice older woman (Carmella) – who played a mean Conch Shell.  A little farther down the road Cindy found a Christmas ornament made from Mahogany.  Case and Carol-Lynn purchased other items in this area as well.  I was pleased to see how respectful everyone was to these merchants – the bartering was kept to a minimum.

 

Back on Board – We returned from shopping and then started to wander around the ship.  Bidding farewell to Roatan from an observation deck, Trivial Pursuit in one of the lounges, a meal in the buffet line, followed by an acrobatic show by a Russian husband and wife ballet team.  With a rather big day planned for Friday we turned in relatively early.