We were very lucky to get to spend 4 nights and 3 days on the beautiful island of Roatan in Honduras, between 1th and 14th of August. Getting there required a long journey but it was worth it! I think we left at 6am on a private mini bus transfer which took us to the border where very little was required of us (no walking with bags this time!) as Greg (the tour leader) sorted it all, we just had to hand over over our dollars (can't remember the amount) to leave Nicaragua and enter Honduras. Both borders took about an hour and a half in total then we continued on our way to the airport at Tegucigalpa, Honduras' capital. It became a bit of a race against the clock to be able to arrive in time for our flight, it looked doubtful at one point. We drove almost 4 hours in Honduras, with quite a few stops by the police, I think there were 4 within the first hour and 2 more after that. Just random stops, wanting to know who was travelling, etc. Seemed a little strange that there'd be so many, especially after we'd got awayfrom the area near the border. Anyway, we just made it in time for check in and grabbed a sandwich as we'd not really eaten all day (except of couurse for 'snacks' , ie. crisps and more crisps, which have become our usual food on travel days). Flight to La Ceiba took about 30 minutes maximum wherewe hadto change planes to a smaller plane, probably 20 seater. I've been on one similar before in Venezuela and also smaller ones (eg 5 seaters) but for some people it was a first and wasn't great for those who weren't fond of flying. This flight was also very short and we'd landed on Rotan by about 3.30ish I think. We had to wait for our bags though as they were in the plane with us we probably could have just taken them! Then we got taxis to the hotel at West End, a popular part of the island with travellers not staying in the more high end resorts. Our hotel was nice at one end of West End, with a pool and set by the sea, but with no beach actually there. A short walk took you to the beach and through the small 'town' which took about 15 minutes i guess to walk from one end of West End to the other, along the one street, lined with shops, restaurants and bars, some facing the beach. A very nice place to spend a few days!

Coincidentally the Dutch guys I'd met on my Peru trip last year where at Roatan at the sametime on a trip going in the opposite direction to mine, so I went to their hotel to try and meet them. I found Ron and Jim and joined them for a drink with their group (I tried another beer, this time Port Royale, another light one), before going for dinner with some of my group. We planned to meet up later but our paths didnt end up crossing. Some of us went for a bit of a dance at a bar on our way home, but it wasn't a late night as wewere knackered from getting up at 5!

The next day was pretty relaxed. I slept really well then went to get breakfast (which was a little disappointing and expensive!) then I went to the pool, where i spent most of the day, either sunbathing and reading or sitting in the pool and reading! It was also a relief to be able to get in the water to cool down in the heat! I also lazed in a hammock in the shade for a while too! As I said a relaxing day! Greg had organised a beach BBQ with the other GAP group so I caught up with Ron and Jim again and we had some delicious food. Basically this couple cooked the food and you could choose between veggie, chicken, pork or prawns. I had prawns, it was really tasty. We also got to see our second beautiful sunset on the island, where the sun set over the sea. After this was a Karaoke bar where various GAP people plus other people in the bar sang! I got up and sang with 3 of the other girls, Shakira's 'Hips don't lie'. Since I can't sing I made sure I wasn't near the microphone!! Ha ha!!

Friday 13th was another lovely day! The majority of our group decided to go to West Bay, which is a 10 or 15 minute water taxi ride away, where the bigger resort hotels are. It had a beautiful beach and was also good for snorkelling. I went out and was quite proud of myself as I mostly snorkelled on my own, usually I prefer to be with other people as I'm never that confident in the water and scared of big fish! Ha ha! Saw some lovely fish, really bright and colourful. After snorkelling it was time for 'shadebathing' (far too hot in the sun) and lazing in the crystal clear water! It was lovely!
In the evening we went out for a group meal and to celebrate Erin's 30th birthday. Before we went out we'd organised afew birthday surprises for her, including a little cake with 30th candles, a happy birthday banner and tiara and a pinata! The pinata was funny as you fill it with sweets then the person smashes it to getthem out, she hit it and hit it with no result, finally it broke and we discovered it was made from ceramic, not paper mache as we'd thought, no wonder it would not break! She looked a little like a bride to be on a hen do in her birthday accessories but you have to mark your birthday and she had a great time. After dinner we went to the bar with the dancing for the third night in a row, was good but this time much busier and even hotter, they had an air conditioned area but it was useless!

So, our last day on the island and i opted for another chilled out day by the pool. I slept late, was woken up by room service just after 10! Went straight to the pool and later went for lunch with Erin and Carmen. More relaxing in the afternoon and another beatiful sunset, followed by a lovely prawn dinner. All in all had a lovely 3 days on Roatan and it was very, very relaxing :-)