Just a Little Detour

When we returned to our cabin from Costa Maya Captain Hoit came on the speakers and informed the entire ship that we were no longer headed to Guatemala due to a local political issue involving bus travel. Apparently the bus driver population was on strike and no buses = no excursions which = unhappy cruise passengers. So we were being diverted to the island of Rotan, Honduras. People on board were not happy about the change of plans - many people were really looking forward to Guatemala, but we didn't care where we went as long as it was an interesting location. We later heard that two weeks prior to our cruise a passenger off of our same ship was shot and killed in Guatemala. So our attitudes changed from indifference to relief that we were on our way to politically stable Honduras. Wait. Never mind. Honduras isn't stable either - but no one off of our ship had recently been killed there so we were gonna take what we could get.

The excursion options were more limited than before but we found a good one - it was a tour of the island with stops including a boat ride through the protected mangroves, a cultural dance and some local cuisine tasting.



Some of the scenery from one of our stops is below. The island is so small that our guide stopped at all of her friends' roadside stands so we could "shop". There was only mass produced touristy crap for sale so we felt awkward not buying stuff while we stood around doing nothing . . . waiting to get back into the van and proceed with the tour. I kept saying to the vendors who were calling to me to see their junk "ohhh yes that is very nice."


Here is a "pet" monkey kept on a rope in the backyard of the dude (another friend) who took us in the boat through the mangroves. Sad. I dreaded seeing stuff like this. She climbed my leg and wouldn't let go. I just wanted to monkeynap her and put her with other monkeys she could socialize with. She must feel so isolated.


Here are the mangroves. It was pretty cool to see all this. We were told all about how they protect the island from tidal waves and hurricanes. I was glad we were able to see them.


Here we are sitting on another bench trying to avoid the vendors. There was a starving dog wandering around that I wanted to dognap and transport back to my house. I don't think she would have made it through customs though.


Next we went to another location to watch a cultural dance. It was a really cool dance and the whole time I watched it I was thinking that I would NEVER be able to giggle my hips like the women were doing. And then one of the dancing women FORCED me to stand up and attempt the dance in front of everyone. Guess what? I looked pretty "special" asking my hips to wiggle and giggle when they had never been asked to do anything like it before. Somehow my boobs managed to wiggle and giggle more than my hips which was even more embarrassing. And no I will not post a picture.

Here is a member of our tour helping his wife up 5 steps. You see this? Below? This has inspired me to shop for a jogging stroller and I'm not even messing around. I have got to get in shape because the 50% morbid obesity rate I observed on the ship scared the hotdog and coke desires right out of me.


This lady served us food and AJ found a very fuzzy wuzzy friend. Again, I almost folded this sweet baby up and stuffed her in my luggage. I'll be the "Angelina Jolie" of the animal kingdom (except I actually eat food, not just air like Ms. Jolie).


We returned to our room and found an awesome lobster made from a bath towel. Our room steward left it for us on the bed. I was so excited! AJ and I practiced making the lobster for a half hour after we found this.