Ok, so a couple of days ago (I think...it's Wednesday....I think.) we returned from a week in Roatan, Honduras. It was a dive trip organized by Adventure Sports, Auburn and hecka fun it was, too! We were housed in a gorgeous resort, did some lovely diving in an assortment of reefs, including a night dive where I got to see my first every live-in-it's-natural-habitat octopus. Bucket list item checked. Capt got some good video of it, and I haven't yet figured out how to put that up here without chewing up so much bandwidth the computer goes on strike.
Anyway, we figured out that Roatan isn't where we want to go. Yes, it was a lovely place but it didn't speak to us.
One the plus side, did you know that you don't need a prescription to get an antibiotic? My body decided to cultivate a raging bladder infection. I was kind of freaking out about it, although there was an urgent care center a couple of blocks away, and one of the members of our group was a physician. Someone told me "you don't need a script and the pharmacy is that blue building right there." So I asked the doctor what I needed and was able to get it for a pittance and boom, all done. That was nice. And yes, it worked so I know it was real and not little cornstarch pills.
Now we're home, we also imported a Honduran Head Cold. COVID! shouts the world. No, a head cold. It lasted 4 days and other than a little residual congestion we're fine. 8 loads of laundry, lovingly separated by colors by Capt, because he knows I'm picky like that, and washed by Capt because I was sound asleep on the couch for 2 days. (good man). He also made a big pot of chicken soup, heavy on the garlic, because good man and it's what I need when I'm sick.
On the minus side, when we got home and I stepped out of the truck, I smelled a stench. I thought it was the dog, who's a big German Shepherd and prone to rolling in dead things. It wasn't the dog. I heard a chiming sound, of the sort made by our large freezer as an alert when something isn't right. Upon approaching said freezer, the stench became stronger and I realized something terrible was amiss with it. Yup, Freezer wasn't frozen. Contents were not only not frozen, but were ambient temperature and making themselves unpleasantly known. So I called Dad to ask if there was some sort of electrical issue. "Yes, there was a lightning storm Sunday night (exactly the day after we left) that set our stove on fire and blew out several of our appliances. I checked your place and didn't see anything wrong." Unfortunately, the freezer was packed with a couple $K worth of meats, casseroles, seafood, vegetables....it was a big freezer. Capt did some investigations and determined that the storm blew up the compressor on the freezer. Dangit. We aren't going to replace it just yet. No need to spend the money on it if we're just going to move somewhere else soon.
So, why not Roatan? What didn't speak to us? Well, it's a bit on the Third World side, where we were. The area was said to be the Happening Side, with the businesses and amenities. And yes there were a couple of great restaurants and the sort of shopping that appeals to the cruise ships. But the roads were terrible, food would be purchased from individual vendors "The Fruit Guy, The Fish Lady, etc...and you have to know who they are. I talked to a woman who moved there in 2005, and she told be about how wonderful it was to have to figure all that out and how awful more developed places were. Having spent some times in St Croix (a More Developed Place) I appreciated her perspective on it and am very glad I talked with her about it. I think if we were in our 20's or 30's it would be an exciting adventure, but we are not. I want to know some things are readily available- like excellent medical care, good BBQ, and a library. And fairly regular mail service.
The one thing Roatan had going for it was low living expenses. Rent is cheap, but electricity is sketchy unless you put in solar or a generator. Those are expensive because they have to be imported. Water is collected in cisterns, and that means bottled water or a super-filter for drinking. Also...soap doesn't lather. That's disconcerting. Capt said at one point "I want to live somewhere that soap lathers. This is making me nuts." It's funny how you figure out these details but really, even though it seems like a small thing it's kind of like...do you really want to marry someone who squeezes the toothpaste in the middle, or loads the toilet paper wrong onto the holder? It's those little things that eventually drive you crazy.
So the upshot is...Roatan is a great place to visit. The diving was fabulous. We ate at this restaurant that was a 200 yard walk down the beach, called The Argentine Grill where I had the most amazing skirt steak ever...so good that I had it twice in one day. And the second time I said "no sides, I just want the meat." Everyone thought I was a bit odd until I let them have a bite. It wouldn't hurt my feelings to go back for another visit.
So where to next? We're looking at the Florida Keys, still considering St. Croix, and want to check out parts of Panama and maybe Belize. Staying in the US type of territories would be the least complicated, logistically speaking, but in the long run places like Panama or Belize may be more economical.
In the mean time, I'm going to sit here and sip on a Cruzan Rum Painkiller:
- 2-4 oz Cruzan Aged Rum (made on St Croix)
- 4 oz pineapple juice,
- 2 oz orange juice
- 1 oz coconut cream (which I could eat right out of the can but won't)
❤❤ sounds like a good place to visit.
ReplyDelete