Learning more about Honduras everyday. We took a trip around Roatan yesterday. It’s definitely easier to get around in a rent-a-car, but you can easily take a moped. Princess S. Pants opted for the car, so we got our Kia Rio with the sporty tinted windows - you can’t see out of them at night, no wonder Hondurans are such crazy drivers - and headed out for the day. Our first stop was lunch. Turns out you have to take a boat to the place we went to, an all-you-can-eat lobster chow line that costs way too much. Being a Vego, PSP only ate the mashed potatoes and cole slaw. Twenty bucks for cole slaw!!!! From there we went through the rest of the island.

 

“An authentic” experience seems nearly impossible to get these days. And we trucked from one all-inclusive to another, past dive resorts (only accessible by boat) and high-walled second homes. The real surprise for the day was the great beach at Paya Bay. If you have lunch there, you can go across to the private beach with massages on site, and tops optional.

 

Even better was the Garifuna town of Punta Gorda.... here was that “authentic” experience we were looking for. Families playing on the beach, little boys riding a toy car down an impossibly steep hill, soccer on the sand and plenty of folks just milling about enjoying their Sundays. Reading through the history of the island, I imagine that this is what all of Roatan must have looked like just a short time ago. But the almighty lempira (the local currency) is a mighty strong temptress and ladinos of mixed indigenous and Spanish descent have been moving in en masse. As have gringos, Euros and the Canadians. Part of me thinks: “what a shame. This place has become spoiled.” But then I remember that culture, history and societies are a morphing monster. And that you can never really beat back the march of progress.

 

In ten years, Punta Gorda will probably have its very own all-inclusive. There’s already “The Garifuna Experience,” a garish spectacle that attempts to recreate the dances of these coastal people. But for now, I was happy and really thankful to see the town as it is... trash everywhere, t-shirts hanging from the line in front of the beach, and broad smiles that could beat the sun back....