Mark and Jen in Cozumel, posing in front of the ship.
(Mark says) Nov. 17th, 2004
We've done so much in the past two days. I don't know if I can get it all down on paper. I'll give it a try. We got in to Cozumel late due to, yet, you guessed it, rough seas. We couldn't go as fast due to the rough water. We got in at noon which was 2 hours late. They bumped out the departure time so we got enough time in port. Cozumel looks like a busy little town when we pulled up. Lots of little stores up and down the main drag. We had the day planned at Paradise Beach which was a 15-20 minute drive south of town. The cab drivers are very nice. I couldn't imagine driving on those streets. Narrow, lots of traffic, and pedestrians, bikes, buggies and horse drawn carriages. I don't know how they do it. The beach was nice. We swam a little and then had some lunch at the restaurant there. There were a couple of parrots there. There was a big inflatable "iceberg" in the water. I managed to climb up it (not easy) and slide down into the water. After lunch I decided to go snorkeling. It took a little while to get used to, but it was fun. Then it was back to do some shopping. It kind of reminded me of a big strip mall. Lots of stores and a lot of them were "versions" of the same store, only blocks away. Not sure why that is. Lots of people pushing hammocks, blankets, and jewelry on the street. Got back to the boat and watched the rest of the people come down the pier before we left. We docked in Roaton, Honduras, at around 12:30, just 30 minutes late. Not bad. Roatan definitely looks much less commercial than Cozumel. We got off the ship and all the buses were waiting to take us to our various destinations. We were going to do the canopy tour and the to Tabyana Beach. NCL had the rights to that beach for the day. They may own or run it, I'm not certain. The canopy tour was cool. We were in a harness zipping on a cable from tree to tree in the rain forest. We saw some birds, an iguana, and quite a few bugs. Not nearly as bad as MN in the summer. After that we got back to the vans and went to the beach. Very cool place. We had food and went to the beach. I went snorkeling again. I saw many more fish that at Cozumel, maybe I'll describe them later. Jen wants to write, or go eat, not sure which. On the way back to the ship we stopped to take a nice picture by a scenic look out. The hills looked like small mountains. Reminded me of Jurassic Park. More later.
(Jen says)
Honduras will probably be one of my favorite ports ever- a destination that I certainly would go back to- and hope to even! The people who live there are very beautiful. Their faces are full of expression, and guileless, it seems. I read of the internet that it is a poor country, with many beggars and horrid conditions, and very sad. Certainly the people are poor- but the didn't seem sad to me. The island itself is such a contradiction to Cozumel. Commercialism has not struck here. We were the only ship port, and the town is so quaint. Houses on stilts, palm trees everywhere, green water. Just lovely, if not primitive. In Honduras we went on the canopy tour. (Note, the ship rocked and rolled again last night, but more experienced cruisers are still saying it is unusual!) I had to sign a waver saying I am in good health, not pregnant (oops!) and the company not liable for falls or accidents. The tour itself is on 11 canopy lines 10-30 feet high, above the trees (so it doesn't seem so high) and between 100-600 yards long. Some fast, some slow. Your break is your hand, with a leather glove that you press down on the line. SOme lines you had to bread a lot, some they told you not to brake at all or you would be stuck between trees, pulling yourself in. At the end of each zip line you had to disconnect and re-connect to the next. I had such fun! I was never even afraid of the heights, speed, or anything. The group we were with were such people. The 30 minute drive to the tour was beautiful. The hibiscus grows like dandelions! Realty is selling like crazy, and big houses or foreigners are going up fast (made from all concrete). Our driver on the home pointed out the different flora for us, and a few animals too. After the canopy tour we went to Tabyana Beach, a lovely beach with soft sand and green waters...aqua like the color of Ethan's eyes. There was a delicious BBQ, and spaghetti and fruit so perfectly ripe and juicy it was amazing! I even tried my hand at snorkeling, which I gave up on. I panic when I get under water and see fish and the sand so far beneath me, so I want to stand up, but it's almost impossible to tread water with fins on. So I gave my better mask to Mark and play in the water while he snorkels. Then it's time to go home. I hate to leave Honduras. I loved it here. But on to Belize!
We've done so much in the past two days. I don't know if I can get it all down on paper. I'll give it a try. We got in to Cozumel late due to, yet, you guessed it, rough seas. We couldn't go as fast due to the rough water. We got in at noon which was 2 hours late. They bumped out the departure time so we got enough time in port. Cozumel looks like a busy little town when we pulled up. Lots of little stores up and down the main drag. We had the day planned at Paradise Beach which was a 15-20 minute drive south of town. The cab drivers are very nice. I couldn't imagine driving on those streets. Narrow, lots of traffic, and pedestrians, bikes, buggies and horse drawn carriages. I don't know how they do it. The beach was nice. We swam a little and then had some lunch at the restaurant there. There were a couple of parrots there. There was a big inflatable "iceberg" in the water. I managed to climb up it (not easy) and slide down into the water. After lunch I decided to go snorkeling. It took a little while to get used to, but it was fun. Then it was back to do some shopping. It kind of reminded me of a big strip mall. Lots of stores and a lot of them were "versions" of the same store, only blocks away. Not sure why that is. Lots of people pushing hammocks, blankets, and jewelry on the street. Got back to the boat and watched the rest of the people come down the pier before we left. We docked in Roaton, Honduras, at around 12:30, just 30 minutes late. Not bad. Roatan definitely looks much less commercial than Cozumel. We got off the ship and all the buses were waiting to take us to our various destinations. We were going to do the canopy tour and the to Tabyana Beach. NCL had the rights to that beach for the day. They may own or run it, I'm not certain. The canopy tour was cool. We were in a harness zipping on a cable from tree to tree in the rain forest. We saw some birds, an iguana, and quite a few bugs. Not nearly as bad as MN in the summer. After that we got back to the vans and went to the beach. Very cool place. We had food and went to the beach. I went snorkeling again. I saw many more fish that at Cozumel, maybe I'll describe them later. Jen wants to write, or go eat, not sure which. On the way back to the ship we stopped to take a nice picture by a scenic look out. The hills looked like small mountains. Reminded me of Jurassic Park. More later.
(Jen says)
Honduras will probably be one of my favorite ports ever- a destination that I certainly would go back to- and hope to even! The people who live there are very beautiful. Their faces are full of expression, and guileless, it seems. I read of the internet that it is a poor country, with many beggars and horrid conditions, and very sad. Certainly the people are poor- but the didn't seem sad to me. The island itself is such a contradiction to Cozumel. Commercialism has not struck here. We were the only ship port, and the town is so quaint. Houses on stilts, palm trees everywhere, green water. Just lovely, if not primitive. In Honduras we went on the canopy tour. (Note, the ship rocked and rolled again last night, but more experienced cruisers are still saying it is unusual!) I had to sign a waver saying I am in good health, not pregnant (oops!) and the company not liable for falls or accidents. The tour itself is on 11 canopy lines 10-30 feet high, above the trees (so it doesn't seem so high) and between 100-600 yards long. Some fast, some slow. Your break is your hand, with a leather glove that you press down on the line. SOme lines you had to bread a lot, some they told you not to brake at all or you would be stuck between trees, pulling yourself in. At the end of each zip line you had to disconnect and re-connect to the next. I had such fun! I was never even afraid of the heights, speed, or anything. The group we were with were such people. The 30 minute drive to the tour was beautiful. The hibiscus grows like dandelions! Realty is selling like crazy, and big houses or foreigners are going up fast (made from all concrete). Our driver on the home pointed out the different flora for us, and a few animals too. After the canopy tour we went to Tabyana Beach, a lovely beach with soft sand and green waters...aqua like the color of Ethan's eyes. There was a delicious BBQ, and spaghetti and fruit so perfectly ripe and juicy it was amazing! I even tried my hand at snorkeling, which I gave up on. I panic when I get under water and see fish and the sand so far beneath me, so I want to stand up, but it's almost impossible to tread water with fins on. So I gave my better mask to Mark and play in the water while he snorkels. Then it's time to go home. I hate to leave Honduras. I loved it here. But on to Belize!