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For those who dont know, I've just turned 19 and I celebrated it the best way I could; by partying on a carribean island with five other great project trust volunteers. Luckily my birthday falls around the honduran independence day so kate and I were able to leave thursday afternoon for roatan, a small island off of honduras, and we came back wednesday morning. However, our greatest challenge was the travel. Being so far away from the coast, we had to travel to Tegucigalpa first, staying the night in a hotel with a decent shower we had been deprived from for many months. The next morning at 5am we got a bus to la ceba which took 8 hours, and after this long journey we had to get a ferry to the island. After all of this we finally arrived on roatan at 6 pm and were greeted by the boys staying in punta gorda.
Although we couldn't see the island at it's best in daylight, we were able to experience a few pretty cool things. As it was too late for buses we jumped into the back of a passing truck to get back to their house. Although it sounds quite dangerous, people on roatan are very hospitable and its normal for them to give free lifts around the island. So we were dropped off near their house (I say house but that really isn't the best word, but I'll come to that in a bit) and we had to walk quite a bit through their town. It's much more rural than catacamas and the people were much darker, with african carribean skin. We stopped off at their regular hang out place for a drink, and both kate and I were so jealous that they had a place where they can sit out on a deck over the sea with a hammock every day, ultimate chill spot!
But the most anticipated moment was when we finally got to see their home for the year, a small hut inside their school grounds. It is surrounded by supposedly 'secure' gates, although they just had to climb over them to get in. Then the hut is up quite a steep hill. Inside there are only four rooms and one door, luckily for the toilet. There's no running water and the sink is missing, and all they have to cook is a very small camping stove. Although this ounds kind of rough, I thought it was an incredibly cute place to stay as the hut had been decorated by previous volunteers and it is so different from anywhere else I've ever seen.
The four of us stayed a night in punta gorda and then left for west end the next morning. This was the nicer part of the island consists of a road along the shore with lots of touristy restaurants and shops. We were staying in such an amazing place for our three days in roatan. It was a cabin with three bedrooms and in the middle a kitchen and dining area. And of course it had a hammock on the outside deck. So we had the whole place to ourselves and it felt great!
The boys took us to the main beach in west bay, just round the corner. But to get here you had to take a water taxi. This had to be our best mode of transport yet, and half way there we looked down and the sea was literally turquoise blue. Ione compared it to bright luminous lights which describes it perfectly. There was also white sand and free deckchairs with bars and restaurants behind. The water was unreal as it was so warm and clear with the sun shining down.
Michaela and Ione arrived the next day and we took them to all the hot spots. It was great having all six of us in the cabin as Ione made us all professional cocktails and cooked us a decent meal while we all shared our experiences and looked back on when we first met in coll. At night we went to the center of west end and there was live music and dancing in the streets which was so much fun and we have plenty of funny photos of us all.
On monday we did pretty much the same: eat, go to the beach and have fun. It was so sad leaving at 6am tuesday morning as it felt like we were leaving too early. Plus we were both dreading the awful journey home. But I was so thankful for the four days I spent on such a beautiful island with some really great people. It will definitely be a birthday celebration hard to forget!
Kate and I were hoping to get back to Catacamas in one day but as we arrived in Tegucigalpa in the evening we were told there were no more buses till the next morning. So we had to stay another night in a hotel and travel back on my birthday. I was so sad I'd be missing school as I couldn't wait to see my students. Luckily we made it back in time for the afternoon. I was greeted immediately by the grade 1s running up to me and pushing me over while strangling me. My grade 6 class then sang happy birthday to me, and lastly my grade 5s ran up to me in the corridor, hugging me and giving me silver heart earrings. I was so flattered and thrilled to see my students and know they remembered my birthday.
When I got home Mery, the woman I live with, bought a gigantic honduran style birthday cake with lots of icing and whole strawberries on top. She had invited her family over and they all sang happy birthday to me in spanish. It was such a special day even though we spent half the day travelling and we also had no electricity in the evening. But I couldn't have asked for a better birthday in honduras. Although having my friends and family there would have been the icing on the cake!
- comments
Mum I'm so pleased you were able to spend your birthday in such a great way - Roatan sounds wonderful! Missing you lots but it's lovely to read about your adventures - keep them coming, All my love, Mum xxx