05/07/2006 - Guanaja, Honduras

May 1 thru May 7, 2006 – Guanaja, Honduras, Exchange Rate = 18.5 limpiras to 1 USD

On May 1st, we anchored at the settlement of Guanaja, a very small island, it took 10 minutes to walk the perimeter, it reminded us of the streets of Genoa, Italy, a maze of streets, one house on top of another, you could also compare it to a very small New York City, because there was very little grass or plants, just wall to wall houses and stores and people. There were canals filled with trash and sewage, yet the streets were clean. We found a good Mexican restaurant, a sign that we are indeed very close to Mexico again. We also found the best internet café we have ever experienced, fast and inexpensive. A local named, Barney, came up to us. He gave us the grand tour of the settlement and helped us translate when speaking to the port captain who knew no English and whose Spanish was so fast we could not understand him. Since we had arrived on a holiday, Labor Day, everything was closed except the internet café, we had to wait until the next day to check in with Immigration. We found out the immigration officer was still on holiday and might be arriving within a day or two. We said we would wait. Our only other option was to go to Roatan to check in and we didn’t have time to do that.

Our next anchorage was called El Bight, the first night we heard splashing and we saw that a dolphin was swimming around the boat. We also went to a small bar there that had just opened up and paid 25 limp for a beer (about US $1.50). There were lots of bugs here called, no see ums, because they are so tiny you can’t seem them. The bites are similar to mosquito bites the bug itself looks more like a gnat. This was our first experience with the no see ums. We never had a problem with these in the rest of Central America.

The next night we spent at Northeast Cay anchorage which was a deserted island just inside the reef. Crashing waves, choppy seas with white caps, and the open ocean were just a few hundred yards from the boat but we were at a calm anchorage protected only by the reef. We spent the day snorkeling, and greeted a local fisherman who sold us 2 pounds of conch. We gave him in exchange $5 USD and a small bottle of rum which he said he could sell to help feed his hungry family of five. That conch fed us for two days. I made conch ceviche, conch fritters and conch chowder. Jake liked the chowder the best. My favorite was the ceviche.

The next day we explored the really cool canal that runs through the middle of the island connecting the north side to the south side. There was full protection from the wind and the water was so calm in the canal that Jake and I planed (skimmed the surface) easily in the dinghy which made for a very smooth and quick transit of the mile long canal. If we had taken the time to sail to the north side it would have taken at least 3 or 4 hours. In the dinghy with the shortcut through the canal it took about 20 minutes. We discovered that the north side is totally uninhabited, no residential homes. There were a few dive shops, restaurants and bars. The north shore had beautiful white sandy beaches, but lots of more of the no see ums.

We were sad to only have a week to spend on this beautiful island. Guanaja is definitely a place we would like to return to in the future and we recommend this as a site for all to visit.