Roatan bus ride and Mahogany Bay beach

I often run the camcorder looking through a bus window while I am ashore on these excursions so that I get a flavor of the place I am in.

Of course it is different than looking out the window of a bus in Chicago, the third biggest city in one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

Honduras is not a wealthy country.

Not all the roads on Roatan are paved and there aren't many street lights or lights visible in shops some of which, as you pass, are in darkness except for the glass refrigerated cases. In some gardens you'll see trash that the occupants have discarded, leading one to surmise that weekly trash pick up and the use of landfills doesn't happen.

I imagine, as a result of this, repeat cruise visitors stay away from the villages and towns and spend their money as we did on Princess excursions or in Mahogany Bay so the money is not trickling down as it would in say an island like St. Maarten where an infrastructure is in place for the locals and the tourists alike and the shops see a lot of business.

Here's the video

Once back in Mahogany Bay we visited the ship and had some lunch on deck from the Trident grill which serves free burgers and fries among other grilled treats. Carol had the excellent thin crust Princess Pizza from the Pizza station on the same deck, by the Neptune Pool.

It was a beautiful afternoon so we decided to go ashore again and visit the beach near the ship.

Although there was a chairlift (for a fee) we decided to walk along a Nature Trail by the water.

The chairlift

Wooden statue on the trail

It was hot and the path was rough (not suitable for wheelchairs) so it was nice to find a bench

Cloudy

We come to the end of the Nature Trail

and the beach is straight ahead

You are never far from the ship if it rains...

 ...or you could take shelter here. Watch out for the giant sea creature!

More sea creatures!

We found some loungers on a nice sandy beach

Great swimming off this beach. Warm, clear water, no rocks.

After a couple of relaxing hours on this beautiful beach we decided to return to the ship but this time we would take the chairlift just for fun...

While we walk to the chairlift here is video from our beach afternoon...