Roatan: Melting Pot of the Caribbean (The CoastWatcher: Caribbean West)
News from the Honduras Bay Islands and North Coast
05 May 2001
By Pierre Renaldo, The Coastwatcher©

It was just like the old days in Florida. The island was packed to the point of sinking with the influx of visitors from everywhere. And like the good old days we had house guests. And very welcome house guests at that. (I added that last line so that you would not get the impression that we had visitors in our home reluctantly, because nothing could be farther from the truth).

April, without a doubt will go down in the annals of Roatan weatherize as the best month so far in 2001. With the exception of a few days early in the month and an intermittent lull in the sea breezes it was the undisputed winner. March got the first place votes in our recent survey, but this year April took the grand prize. It makes me wonder if there might not be some substance to that wobble theory I talked about a few weeks ago. Things sure do change.

There were a few remarks and observations advanced by our recent company that I think may be interesting to you, my readers. One of our guests commented about the wide range of geographic origins of the people he met while visiting Roatan. Some of them he met in our home. I'll try to list those exotic far away places just to satisfy your curiosity.

Not in any particular order. New Zeland; Australia; South Africa; Vietnam; China; Palestine; England; France; Italy; Germany; Canada; Guatemala; Ireland. There were likely others but the foregoing will give you an idea. We have been discovered by people from all over the world. Our guest thought it was remarkable.

It is always interesting to me when I can see the faces of first time visitors to the ironshore. The reaction is almost always the same. They are completely enthralled with the vista of the coast erupting into geysers and foam as far as the eye can see. "Spectacular! Awesome!", they exclaim. Then they just stand and stare in fascination. Several later stated that they had never seen a shoreline so interesting and beautiful anywhere.

We had a delightful group in for a dinner party one night, and later in the evening we all retired to our large open porch that overlooks the Costa Cascada. It was a pitch-black night with no moon and the winds were picking up perceptibly. I suggested that we try an experiment by turning off all the lights in the house and just look at the Caribbean in the darkness. All agreed but some had reservations. "How can we see in the darkness?", one lady asked.

"Your eyes will become accustomed in a few minutes, and you will see much more that you think possible in a total blackout," I answered. "Just keep looking," I encouraged. As if on queue, the sea put on a dazzling show that will be remembered by those observers for a long time. The waves looked gigantic and the music of the sea became apparent to all. It was my Caribbean symphony, playing to a new audience. They all loved it.

The next morning, in daylight the sea was still showing its fury. We drank our coffee silently, no one wanting to interrupt the magic scene with words. Finally Mistress Gloria said the whole sight of the coast would make a wonderful video, especially set to the right music. What a brilliant idea. Now I am excited about her doing it. She knows how to do things with cameras, still or motion, like nobody I have ever met. It will be outstanding.

There are many unusual formations in the magma that make up the ironshore. There is a long submerged shelf, projecting out from the cliff face, just underwater at high tide, which is easy to walk along during more calm conditions. We have names for these rocks because of how they actually resemble real life things. One of our favorites is the large Roman Pool where we often lounge on hot days. It is a natural recess in the rock that is constantly replenished by the sea crashing over the cliff face, refreshing the pool with new water every few moments.

There is one we call the Ram's Head, then Castle Rock, the Kneeling Camel, the Dinosaur Head, the Shark Fins, and the Spires and Pulpit Rock. We also have the man made steps that we use to get in and out of the sea when we snorkel. The living reef is two kicks from shore. The sea creatures hardly pay us any attention when we go to visit them.

There were so many people coming and going to and from the mainland that M/V Galaxy was making three round trips per day.
The sea was very rough over Easter Weekend and many days following, so the 'Vomit Comet' lived up to its unwanted reputation. The airports were pure mayhem, with far more passengers than the local airlines wanted all at once. It reminded me of the conditions of overcrowding and confusion that existed here shortly after Hurricane Mitch.

It was really fun this year. I guess we just had the right combination of people. The lovely young woman from Canton, China was probably the most excited by all the new sights and sounds of Roatan and the ironshore. She speaks perfect 'American English', Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, and French. (And then there's guys like me who are still having trouble handling one language). How do some people get so smart?

The family of this charmer has recently opened a Chinese restaurant in San Pedro Sula. It has been decided by the 'night vision group' that we will all get together for a reunion at said Chinese restaurant sometime in June, with the charmer herself as hostess. Boy, am I ever looking forward to that!

Remember, I'm always happy to hear from you out there. Address questions or comments to: elouis@globalnet.hn
If you plan to some day join us here then I would suggest some good reading on the subject at: http://www.eroatan.com/pierre/books.html

That sums up our events for April. It was a wonderful time of seeing old friends, meeting several new ones and good reason for celebration. Life is back to normal now. Well as normal as it gets in paradise. More next week

Ciao, Pierre

By Pierre Renaldo, Mountain Coastal S.A,. General Contractors, Construction Management and Construction Consultants.