Legendary for it's natural beauty we discovered turquoise waters, emerald green hills and amazing white beaches. Today we decided to go on the Gumbalimba Park and Tabyana Beach tour. Excited to get going we boarded the bus that would take us to the Gumbalimba Perservation Park.
At Gumbalimba Park we walked through the 50 lush acres down a natural trail to the butterfly displays, wandered through the bird sancturay, and explored the re-creation of Coxen's Cave. Home to buccaneer John Coxen and his stolened treasures. The Mccaws were so colourful and quick to pose for a picture. Amazing birds that mate for life. One nesting in the base of the tree and the other guarding over his/her mate. Upon questioning our tour guide we were told the only way to distinguish the sex of the bird is through DNA testing. Hummmm..
Iguanas are the unofficial mascot of Roatan and are a common site throughout Hondoras. The most common are the Green Iguana and the Black Iguanas. They were absolutely everywhere in all sizes.
Next we headed over to the monkey refuge, where we were warned to hide our jewellry, not to take in any food or beverages and hold on to your hats. The monkeys enjoyed playing with the tourists and any shiny or loose items were theirs to steal.
Initially a little apprehensive, I quickly relaxed as the white faced monkey jumped onto my shoulders. Sometime I wonder who really is on display; the monkeys or the tourists? Of course the park had professional photographers hidden throughout the park and of course we had to buy the CD with so many cute pictures of us with the monkeys and McCaws.
After collecting our CD of pictures, (we now have more pictures of monkeys climbing all over us than anyone will ever need) it was time to board the bus and head to Tabyana Beach.
Lunch of fried chicken and beans was waiting for us when we reached the beach resort. Then it was time to settle on the most amazing beach of white sand looking out over the water and work on our tans. Once we had found a spot and settled in it was time to relax. The security guard came over and introduced himself. He advised us he was here to watch over our belongings and to let him know if we needed anything at all. Several times during the afternoon both the security guard and beverage attendant stopped by just to check if we needed anything. Definitely we had to indulge in at least one cool refreshing beverage.
Nicole decided she was going to rent snorkelling equipment and headed out into the water to explore. A few minutes later a young man in a kayak pulled up beside her and offered to tow her out over the barrier reef. A half an hour later Nicole comes rushing up to my lawnchairs and says you have to go snorkelling. Putting on her gear I head out to meet the man in the kayak who provided me a handle on a rope tied to the back of his kayak and we are off. The BEST SNORKELLING EVER!
Having the benefit of being pulled along and only needing to kick my legs gently, I was able to totally relax and enjoy the sights of the aquamarine water. More colourful creatures, rainbow hued fish and vegetation than I have ever seen. At one point we crossed over where the bottom of the sea dropped from 35ft to 85ft. The change in the water color went from clear teal blue to royal blue. It was absolutely breathe taking.
We stayed at the beach as long as possible catching the last shuttle back to the ship. A spectacular day!
For some reason dinner with John tonight made me very sad. It is so obvious he is a very lonely man and he was trying extremely hard to be a good conversationalist and company during dinner. He even brought a book he was reading about his native country to share with us. We did try to keep the conversation of the topic of guns though as John appears to be rather obsessed with them.
After dinner we headed to the Princess Theater where tonight's performance was a disco dance production. Lots of glittery costumes.
Having had a very fully day we headed to bed early. Tomorrow would be another fun day!
Did I mention how much we like our bunk beds? They were really cool. Nic loved that she could look out over the water in the mornings and I loved the feeling of a secure cocoon.
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