by Rachel

This is my third time in Roatan and every time I stay here, I learn more, meet new people and have new experiences. Like Monday, for example. My friend Elias, who is Honduran, is a tour guide on the island. On Monday, three cruise ships came to Roatan, which brings thousands of people (like 10,000) to the island for the day. Elias’s wife Rosa was helping with the tours, but she doesn’t feel comfortable driving their new car so Elias asked if I could drive Rosa’s tour around.

We started the day at 7:00 am waiting for the first cruise ship to arrive. We watched it on a mobile app (www.marinetraffic.com) until we could see it from the island in the distance. The ships are so gigantic!

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Once the cruise ship docked, we joined the throng of tour guides, drivers, and peddlers all hustling their way to the passengers as they disembarked from the boat. We found our first family for the day – a Hungarian couple and their 6 year old daughter. Rosa and I took them to their snorkeling destination and returned to pick up our next group. I really enjoyed talking with the family and learning about their travels. As we drove along, Rosa and I told them about the island and answered their questions.

We returned to the port in Coxen Hole just in time to watch thousands of people walk off the second boat. We sat in traffic as we approached the port and finally found a place to park. We picked up our next load of passengers – folks from the US. Elias also had a van full of passengers. He went in one direction and I went in the other. Rosa eventually took over the car while I went back to retrieve the Hungarians who were done snorkeling. Elias picked them up and took them to their next destination. I was done by 12:30 but thoroughly exhausted from my half day of tour guiding!

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