Tuesday, February 20 2007
Tuesday, February 20 2007
Grand Princess
Coxen Hole, island of Roatan, Belize
9:52
Arrived here around 8:00. Half-slept from 7 until 9:15. Some interesting dreams this morning. Roatan is hillier than Costa Maya (which is dead flat). Reef seems to surround the coast, though the ship was able to dock at the pier. The sounds of birds, honking horns, and marimba music filled my stateroom this morning (and still do).
16:06
Now that was good. Met up with the same folks from yesterday's excursion again. Disembarked around 12. Got a bit of the runaround from a guy in town – we asked about renting scooters, they all pointed to him. He led us to his place down the street, where it was slowly revealed that a) he's the only guy in town with scooters, b) he has no scooters to rent, and c) why rent scooters for $40/each when you can take a van tour for $15/each? We extricated ourselves from that situation, it took a few minutes, then found the real scooter-rental guy. $40/per scooter. We got three. The town is a bit crazy, but not so sad like Mahahual or fake like the Costa Maya shops area. Most of the locals here are of African descent. Apparently the Spanish took away all the indigenous people.
The scooters were great. We went up and over the middle of the island – pretty high, maybe 500 feet? Beautiful views. not too scary roads, though a little bit. Took about 30 minutes to get to West End. Missed the beach, ended up in a new housing development. Went back a bit and asked for directions – go down this alley here (from some Americans that appeared to own a wine shop). Signs all in English. Town folks all spoke decent English. Actually, road signs are in Spanish, but private signs in English.
The beach was very nice. Long, sandy. Warm water. Some palm trees for shade. Stayed there from 1:30 to 3ish. Not much reef or fish, but a nice relaxing swim. Took a "wrong" turn on the way back, not as hilly / scenic but we got to go through more of Coxen Hole, and along the water. The "deposit" on the scooters was my ship card, so I was a bit nervous about getting back in time. Back on the ship at 3:30. Changed, went up to the buffet. Ran into M+R there again. Now, writing this from the balcony. The last passengers are straggling through the gate.
Back to the scooters – easy to drive. At around 40Kph it feels really fast. Got up to 60 once or twice, but mostly around 40. Windy roads, didn't quite get the feel for cornering, had some wide exits. Probably ate a few bugs. Didn't get too burned, face and left arm got it a bit, stripes on my feet.
16:59
And we're underway. L and her kids were the last ones through the gate, about 10 minutes ago. Lots of cheering from the balconies. One "Idiot!" shouted. Holy crap. Lighten up. Probably the same guy that's smoking a cigar right now and stinking the whole place up (he's down and aft about 6 rooms from me).
19:27
The moon is out. It was a faint crescent overhead at the beach. Now, it is bright, and staring at Venus (or maybe that's Jupiter), slowly sinking into the horizon. There is some glow from it on the sea.
Sat and talked w/ some folks up by the ice cream place. Had a pina colada. Back here for a quick shower etc. Too bad the moon will set during dinner. Beautiful.
Grand Princess
Coxen Hole, island of Roatan, Belize
9:52
Arrived here around 8:00. Half-slept from 7 until 9:15. Some interesting dreams this morning. Roatan is hillier than Costa Maya (which is dead flat). Reef seems to surround the coast, though the ship was able to dock at the pier. The sounds of birds, honking horns, and marimba music filled my stateroom this morning (and still do).
16:06
Now that was good. Met up with the same folks from yesterday's excursion again. Disembarked around 12. Got a bit of the runaround from a guy in town – we asked about renting scooters, they all pointed to him. He led us to his place down the street, where it was slowly revealed that a) he's the only guy in town with scooters, b) he has no scooters to rent, and c) why rent scooters for $40/each when you can take a van tour for $15/each? We extricated ourselves from that situation, it took a few minutes, then found the real scooter-rental guy. $40/per scooter. We got three. The town is a bit crazy, but not so sad like Mahahual or fake like the Costa Maya shops area. Most of the locals here are of African descent. Apparently the Spanish took away all the indigenous people.
The scooters were great. We went up and over the middle of the island – pretty high, maybe 500 feet? Beautiful views. not too scary roads, though a little bit. Took about 30 minutes to get to West End. Missed the beach, ended up in a new housing development. Went back a bit and asked for directions – go down this alley here (from some Americans that appeared to own a wine shop). Signs all in English. Town folks all spoke decent English. Actually, road signs are in Spanish, but private signs in English.
The beach was very nice. Long, sandy. Warm water. Some palm trees for shade. Stayed there from 1:30 to 3ish. Not much reef or fish, but a nice relaxing swim. Took a "wrong" turn on the way back, not as hilly / scenic but we got to go through more of Coxen Hole, and along the water. The "deposit" on the scooters was my ship card, so I was a bit nervous about getting back in time. Back on the ship at 3:30. Changed, went up to the buffet. Ran into M+R there again. Now, writing this from the balcony. The last passengers are straggling through the gate.
Back to the scooters – easy to drive. At around 40Kph it feels really fast. Got up to 60 once or twice, but mostly around 40. Windy roads, didn't quite get the feel for cornering, had some wide exits. Probably ate a few bugs. Didn't get too burned, face and left arm got it a bit, stripes on my feet.
16:59
And we're underway. L and her kids were the last ones through the gate, about 10 minutes ago. Lots of cheering from the balconies. One "Idiot!" shouted. Holy crap. Lighten up. Probably the same guy that's smoking a cigar right now and stinking the whole place up (he's down and aft about 6 rooms from me).
19:27
The moon is out. It was a faint crescent overhead at the beach. Now, it is bright, and staring at Venus (or maybe that's Jupiter), slowly sinking into the horizon. There is some glow from it on the sea.
Sat and talked w/ some folks up by the ice cream place. Had a pina colada. Back here for a quick shower etc. Too bad the moon will set during dinner. Beautiful.
posted by taylorsherman at 11:04 PM
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