Buenos Días- Austin to Roatan

We had an early morning flight out of Houston. It was faster for us to drive to Houston rather than flying. We were to leave our house at 2 am- flight left at 5:40 am. The trip creped up on me- I had a giant workload and still had packing to do. I hadn't felt this close to exhaustion in a while. After turning on my auto responder, it was finally time to sit down and take a breather. We contemplated taking a 30 minute nap or loading up the car. We said goodbye to Loki and Aries and were glad that Kevin was staying at the house while we were gone to look after them.

Alex was nice enough to drive the entire way and I laid across the back seat. We arrived in plenty of time to get through security and board the plane. We both dozed on and off and woke up just in time to take in the rolling green mountains of El Salvador as the sun rose. Rivers flew in and out of the crevices of land.

We had a short stay at the bustling airport and quickly made our way to the mush anticipated island of Roatan. I gazed out the small window and my excitement grew! We flew over turquoise water and undeveloped landscape. It was just before 10 am!

A taxi driver escorted us to his car and rolled down the windows. The wind blew through our hair and the morning sun glistened through the trees as we zoomed by. We were headed to West End, to a small bed and breakfast that Alex found on Trip Advisor. Little did we know, Land's End would be such an integral part in our time there.

Eva greeted us and promptly got us settled in our ocean front room. She explained how the "Honesty Bar" worked and gave us a bamboo notepad to keep track of our beers. It was hot and sticky so we changed into our bathing suits and headed into town up the dirt path.

We walked down the main road and came across a lunch spot that served fried chicken, coconut rice, beans and plantains.

After a little more exploring, we stopped in the little convenient store and got a couple ice cold beers and headed to the beach. With our toes in the sand, we closed our eyes and at last, we were here!

Roatán, Honduras- the backdrop of our latest adventure!

When Alex and I were researching places for our next adventure, one spot in particular kept coming up. My Mom and Doug told numerous stories of their honeymoon in Roatan and it sounded like paradise on Earth. They had been there in 1996 when the island was undiscovered by cruise ships and major resorts. Mom and Doug were passengers on a Windjammer Sailing trip aboard the Fantome, a majestic ship that frequented Roatan. I recall stories of the crew who lived aboard her. They would sing, dance and entertain the guests and my parents always thought very fondly of them. Over the memorable days and nights that Mom and Doug were passengers, they became great friends with the lovable crew.

Two years later Hurricane Mitch flexed his furry and destroyed much of the area. For five days and nights Mitch took its best shot at Guanaja Island and the surrounding areas. Roatan, a mere 35 miles away was left undamaged. In port, locals urged the captain to drop anchor and ride the storm out there, but the captain consulting with the Windjammer head office in Miami was instructed to take the passengers to a port with transfer facilities, Belize City, to let off the passengers. In Belize, some non-essential crewmembers left with the passengers. The number of staff and crew who remained aboard is undetermined, but estimated to be 31. 

Read more here. 


The Fantome decided to leave Roatan in spite of many peoples advice. She was never seen again nor was her entire crew. Bits and pieces peppered Guanaja's shores for months. Life vests, cabin doors, spiral staircases, the bow carving, a big wooden sign all came to rest on Guanaja and can be viewed in Savaghnna bight as they are now displayed on some of the local houses.


Read an account of the Fantome's last days here. 


In addition to the natural beauty of the island, the thing that my parents loved the most were the friendly people. It's such a tragedy that the Fantome now lies at the bottom of the sea but the hearts of the crew aboard her live on today. 

Roatan is also known for it's world class diving. This sounded like the perfect place for Alex and I to explore! It was a busy time for me at work but we were determined to get away. The past few months had been a stressful time for both of us and a little R&R is just what we needed. We would be gone for 17 days- a good amount of time to unwind and refocus. 

Roatan is part of the Bay Islands, situated between Utila and Guanaja. It's 37 miles long and 4 miles wide at the largest point. It's home to the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the largest reef in the Caribbean Sea, and 2nd largest in the world. The reef is home to a diverse ecosystem of 65 species of stony coral, 350 species of mollusk, and more than 500 species of fish. It's a favored spot to manatees and wales sharks. It's a reef island so there is an abundance of dive spots right off shore. You can literally walk in from shore and within minutes you're submersed in a vibrate underwater world. 

We were in for a real treat! We would soon discover not only the natural beauty of the underwater paradise, but the welcoming community that inhabit this cheerful utopia. 

Little did we know, it would also lead the path into the next chapter of our lives...