Cruise: Roatan, Honduras

Oh my gosh.

I didn't think it could get better than the last two days,

but today's excursion may have been our favorite

OF ALL TIME!

Roatan is an island off the coast of Honduras.

Honduras is not necessarily the safest place to travel

right now, but we spoke with Honduran friends

before the cruise and they ensured us that Roatan

is BEAUTIFUL and SAFE.

Did you know that Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head

were in demand for photo ops? I didn't.

I ended up booking our excursion with an independent company, not Carnival.

That meant we had to leave the terminal and take a 

five minute walk to find a driver who was waiting for us.

Larry was our personal driver,

just for our family.

It felt so luxurious to have him to ourselves!

Beautiful, tropical drive.

Larry drove us to Daniel Johnson's Monkey Sloth Hangout.

It was AMAZING! 

Each of us got a turn holding a sloth for a couple of minutes.

What???

Are you serious?

Our sloth was named Sid.

His claws were SO long

and super sharp.

But he was so cute and gentle.

Unforgettable.

Next, we got to go in a cage with Capuchin monkeys.

The workers warned us to take everything out of 

our pockets before we went in. 

This monkey went straight for B's pocket!

Those monkeys were hilarious.

They jumped all over the cage from head to head.

They LOVED my hair and spent way too long grooming me.

It was funny... and then kind of creepy.

This picture makes me laugh so hard.

I'm crying right now.

Andrew thinks I'm nuts.

These two monkeys were having a fight on Andrew's back.

They settled down right when I got the video going.

Of course.

 We also got to hold a yellow-naped parrot.

And a gorgeous green Macaw.

 As if that wasn't enough adventure,

we were done playing with the animals,

we got to go on a short 5-10 minute board ride

to go snorkeling in the world's second largest barrier reef.

Yes!

The water was SO CLEAR.

And the fish were spectacular.

Lobster

Lionfish

Can you see the long skinny fish in the bottom right?

I'm pretty sure it's a needlefish...

Super shallow water and so easy to see.

Brain coral.

Crab

Sea cucumber

Hermit crab

I actually saw him walking along the bottom.

So cute.

Sand dollar.

Amazing snorkeling.

Loved every minute of it.

After those awesome adventures,

we got back in Larry's van and he gave us a tour of the island.

We got to see everything from thick, lush, tropical, jungles

to poor oceanfront neighborhoods.

There were fancy resorts and gorgeous mansions on the hills.

We loved this place.

I'd love to come back.

B says he wants to move here.

Paradise.

When we got back, we ate yummy gelato at the terminal.

Then showers and naps on the ship.

We went to another family comedy show with Tony Especito.

He was hilarious! NO child abuse jokes and only a couple

potty humor jokes. We loved him.

We had a second elegant dinner.

B was off with his friends, so it was just the girls with us.

C got filet mignon and was in HEAVEN.

Drew and I listened to music again afterward.

What is this woman playing???

It just looked like a wooden box!