Roa Where?

If only I had a ten dollar bill for every person who's asked me where Roatan is, my vacation would be free!  One friend confused Roatan with Rarotonga in the South Pacific.  Another wanted to know if we were driving there.  The flight attendant giving gate connections as the plane descended into DFW was completely flummoxed when I said Roatan.  She'd never heard of it. 

All I can say is let's keep it that way!  This place is so chill and laidback!

I snapped this photo of the navigation seatback screen on the trip down to clarify the location for my confused friends.

 

A cute little taxi driver named Sonia picked us up at the airport in a tiny squeaky taxi, swung by the grocery store, and dropped us at our rental chattering all the way in pidgin style English.  We both understood about 1/10 of it, and she understood less of our English.  She took the local color route.  It killed me to drive past all those clotheslines without stopping to snap photos. 

 

After unpacking a bit, we mulled whether to go out for dinner or merely collapse since we awoke at 3:30 a.m to make our 6:00 a.m. flight.  Overwhelmed with curiosity, we decided to trudge down the steep hill and flag down a water taxi for a ride to West End.



This water taxi captain with a panga full of snorkelers waved at us, we waved back, and after a beautiful ride, we soon pulled up to a dock in West End and paid him our $6.00 fare.

We decided to eat some local fare at Creole Rotiserrie Chicken.  After gobbling our first meal on Roatan, we wandered the one street in West End before flagging down a land taxi driver for a ride up the dark steep hills to home. 

 The Creole Rotisserie Chicken joint.  Good eats!

 

 

A half chicken, two sides, and a bottle of Port Royal beer.  Craig's in heaven.

 

Busy Saturday night at last light in West End, Roatan.

 

A little tropical Christmas cheer!

 

 

The town library.

 

 

These crabs must love pollo because this guy and all his relatives were gathered right below the steps to the restaurant.

 

 

Ahhhhhhh.  Another crowded spot.  Muy tranquilo!

 

 

 

Stay tuned!  We'll be here for awhile!