Okay there’s been a lot of grumbling going on and I think most of us are tired of the cold, snowy winter weather. Jeff (my brother) and I planned a trip to warmer climates. We went to Roatan off the coast of the Honduras’s. We left on March 8th and couldn’t have picked a better time to go. The weather was in the mid to high 80’s the whole week. I found the trip advertised on Pnet. It was through Uncommonadv.com with Michael Gray. The ad caught my attention because of the beautiful water Michael was kayaking on. We kayaked, shot lots of pictures, I got to snorkel and Michael fed us well the whole week. My only complaint about the trip was I didn’t get to do everything I wanted to…the mind was willing, the body wasn’t. People asked wasn’t we afraid to travel to Central America. Yes there are armed guards at the airport and there was a check point. We got through both just fine. We got home, I turned on the news and the first thing I hear is how there was a shooting at Walmarts a couple of counties over. I’m 95% sure I was just as safe in Roatan as I am here in NC. This was a true vacation that I’d repeat in a heartbeat. It was just what I expected. Michael makes suggestions and its up to you if thats what you want to do. He has no problem giving you options. So my suggestion is that if you’re ready for a change in attitude, ready to paddle just not in your area, then take a vacation. My only sickness is Island Fever…I miss the soft warm breeze, the pounding surf and the chirping gecko’s.
She wanted to stay sooo bad…
Kathy wanted to stay so badly that she tried to get arrested at the Roatan airport as we were leaving - she tried to sneak a 6 oz. bottle of sunscreen and a multi-tool onto the airplane in her carry-on luggage!
Here’s a link to the picts I took: http://www.pbase.com/jeffshoaf/roatan__march_2010
ya missed out on a ride on the
Vomit Comet ! Ferry to the mainland as called by the locals . And just a days travel to the ruins o Copal .
The other islands are pretty cool as well , check em out if ya go back . I reconize the seecurity gate even though I was there 10 yr. ago . We stayed in tween Coxens Hole an the west end .
A really nice 3 month trip .
M
thanks for the memories
D10
Took a look at your photoalbum, Jeff and it certainly looks inviting. (We’re planning on a trip to Belize with IslandExpeditions.ca for next year). You appear to have tried some snorkeling and I’m wondering if you took any underwater photos.
The D10 is a bit more than “water resistant”… I just returned (March 3) from 2 weeks in Curacao and took quite a few underwater pics with the camera submerged for up to 2 hours at a time. It worked perfectly for a point-and-shoot which I originally purchased with the intended use of kayaking and minor snorkeling (got tired of lugging a waterproof box in the deck for my regular camera). I took it down to about 15 or 20’ and absolutely no problems at all. In fact, it worked far better than that of some relatives who were using a different model in a waterproof case good for 100’! (They couldn’t see the viewfinder through the case and the button extensions were “problematic”. And watching them muck about applying silicon grease to the case seals every time they wanted to go in the water was also ‘interesting’…NOT).
Album at http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v108/Tootsall/Curacao%202010/ with most of the underwater shots beginning around page 5. Above-water with a Panasonic Lumix FZ28.
Tootsall…
Nice shots on photobucket!
I didn’t try any underwater shots; we intended to try snorkeling, but I found out that I have a real aversion to being face down in the water - I couldn’t relax enough to control my breathing and got panicky - so no snorkeling for me.
Kathy snorkeled some and took some shots with her non-D10 camera. She’s working on getting them posted on pbase, but she’s back on her 12-hour work shift so it may be a few days.