Friday – Roatan, Honduras

Today, we arrived in Roatan Island, a long, thin slither of an island, no wider than four miles at its thickest point.

We weren’t down to be escorting a tour and had no particular plans other than checking out the local township and hunting down a nearby beach for a swim. This changed rather suddenly when Karin, from the Shore Excursions desk asked us if we’d kindly help her out by escorting a tour this afternoon. Naturally, we try to get ourselves on tours that particularly interest us, and nothing had really grabbed us when we’d looked at the list for Roatan, but we also make a policy of helping out whenever we can, in the hope of accruing a few Brownie Points.

As it happened, the tour we were asked to escort turned out to be a right belter!

On paper, it didn’t blow us away; we’re not generally mad about tours involving ‘Gardens’, but this one was something a little different.

When we arrived at Carambola Gardens, a horticultural delight, bursting with botanical samples of every kind, in well-organised and well-tended grounds, it seemed like it was going to be just another ‘Botanical Gardens’ excursion. But after being led a short way through the well-manicured bit for a while, the tour took an altogether different turn.

We found ourselves embarking on a hike that actually felt like a ‘hike’. Through dense woodland, and along rough pathways strewn with fallen palms, we followed a trail marked simply as ‘Mountain View’.

The trail was easy to follow, but wild enough to feel like we were really at one with nature. Steep and rough at times, the winding pathway led us gradually up the hill known as Carambola Mountain. The local guide was brilliant; he clearly knew the route well, and understood the needs of the not-so-young, and mostly not-so-fit group, pausing every now and then to insist that we pace ourselves, take a rest and drink water. If I’d known it was going to be as tough as it was, I would have worn my trainers and not my sandals. The hike definitely seemed to surprise most people in the group.

After about an hours hard walking, we finally reached the summit, where the views were more than compensation for the effort required to get up there. Coming down, if anything, was more challenging than going up, but we finally arrived at base camp with everyone feeling that they’d achieved something.

The second half of our tour was a visit to West End village, where folks could swim for an hour if they wished, or spend money in the local shops. We hunted down a bar and enjoyed a cold beer before heading back to the bus.