Days 15-27 (July 12-24) - Palmetto Bay Plantation in Roatan
From the tiny Roatan airport we were picked up by the kind Palmetto Bay Plantation's driver. The small minibus (busito) drove easily on the paved road, until a surprising sign pointed up the hill on a rough unpaved road "To Palmetto Bay". It was somewhat nerve-wracking to see the 2-wheel-drive busito climb the road, but the following trips it was much better. Before going up the hill, we asked the driver to take us to a supermarket nearby to stock up on groceries. At Palmetto Bay we rented a 2-bedroom house with a kitchen, as we planned on lots of cooking. There is a well-stocked supermarket called Eldons, right nearby at French harbor. They even take credit cards. We later learned that 5 minutes away by car there is a new great bakery called The Bakery at Plaza Jackson. They have very good bread and excellent bagels (the best ones I've ever had).
The road climbs up to the tip of the hill, cutting through the island. At some point there is a view of the coasts on both sides of the island - a magnificent ride!
Palmetto Bay Plantation is a group of houses built on stilts among lovely gardens. There are 2- and 3-bedroom houses, all with a full kitchen, dining area, sitting area, and small balcony. The houses are owned mainly by North Americans and a rental office rents them out for them. Several of the houses had "for sale" signs, and there always seemed to be a real-estate agent hanging out by the pool. The swimming pool is very nice, and it was the meeting point on many hot afternoons. The weather was unusually rainy (with one or two showers during the day rather than only during the night). From the Palmetto Bay website it was hard to figure out what kind of beach they have. It does look very lovely, and it's a perfect place to sit and sip something. But it is not good for swimming. The reef is very close, and there is a wide band of seaweeds that are not very pleasant to walk on. There is, however, a nice wooden walkway that leads to a deeper spot. We jumped in twice, but after Noa got stung by a jellyfish we resorted to pool swimming...
Our next-door neighbors turned out to be a lovely Canadian couple from British Columbia who have decided to try and retire on the Island of Roatan. They were staying at Palmetto Bay until they complete building a house on a small nearby cay. If not for them, we would have stayed in Palmetto Bay the entire 2 weeks except for supermarket hopping. But they took us around the island, and we saw all the new development going on. To me it was quite disconcerting to see the flashy condo complexes with artificial lakes and the palace-like houses built on the best spots in the island. The reason is that these were all catering to people from the US, not the local Hondurans who cannot afford it.
Another big difference from the mainland was that on Roatan English is widely spoken. The population there is black and Hispanic, and has the British influence. There are two parallel economies: one in lempiras for the locals (reasonable food prices, etc.) and one in US Dollars for the gringos. For instance, we were offered a massage for USD 40/hour! That's when the hourly pay is around $5.
A real treat was the vegetable truck that arrived every Tuesday and Friday at the Palmetto Bay restaurant. We would buy almost every fruit and vegetable on that truck. Each delicious and full of flavor (unlike the plastic ones we get here in DC).
We spent two weeks doing nothing but reading, cooking, chatting, drinking the local beer, and teaching Noa to swim in the pool (which she mastered pretty quickly).
From the tiny Roatan airport we were picked up by the kind Palmetto Bay Plantation's driver. The small minibus (busito) drove easily on the paved road, until a surprising sign pointed up the hill on a rough unpaved road "To Palmetto Bay". It was somewhat nerve-wracking to see the 2-wheel-drive busito climb the road, but the following trips it was much better. Before going up the hill, we asked the driver to take us to a supermarket nearby to stock up on groceries. At Palmetto Bay we rented a 2-bedroom house with a kitchen, as we planned on lots of cooking. There is a well-stocked supermarket called Eldons, right nearby at French harbor. They even take credit cards. We later learned that 5 minutes away by car there is a new great bakery called The Bakery at Plaza Jackson. They have very good bread and excellent bagels (the best ones I've ever had).
The road climbs up to the tip of the hill, cutting through the island. At some point there is a view of the coasts on both sides of the island - a magnificent ride!
Palmetto Bay Plantation is a group of houses built on stilts among lovely gardens. There are 2- and 3-bedroom houses, all with a full kitchen, dining area, sitting area, and small balcony. The houses are owned mainly by North Americans and a rental office rents them out for them. Several of the houses had "for sale" signs, and there always seemed to be a real-estate agent hanging out by the pool. The swimming pool is very nice, and it was the meeting point on many hot afternoons. The weather was unusually rainy (with one or two showers during the day rather than only during the night). From the Palmetto Bay website it was hard to figure out what kind of beach they have. It does look very lovely, and it's a perfect place to sit and sip something. But it is not good for swimming. The reef is very close, and there is a wide band of seaweeds that are not very pleasant to walk on. There is, however, a nice wooden walkway that leads to a deeper spot. We jumped in twice, but after Noa got stung by a jellyfish we resorted to pool swimming...
Our next-door neighbors turned out to be a lovely Canadian couple from British Columbia who have decided to try and retire on the Island of Roatan. They were staying at Palmetto Bay until they complete building a house on a small nearby cay. If not for them, we would have stayed in Palmetto Bay the entire 2 weeks except for supermarket hopping. But they took us around the island, and we saw all the new development going on. To me it was quite disconcerting to see the flashy condo complexes with artificial lakes and the palace-like houses built on the best spots in the island. The reason is that these were all catering to people from the US, not the local Hondurans who cannot afford it.
Another big difference from the mainland was that on Roatan English is widely spoken. The population there is black and Hispanic, and has the British influence. There are two parallel economies: one in lempiras for the locals (reasonable food prices, etc.) and one in US Dollars for the gringos. For instance, we were offered a massage for USD 40/hour! That's when the hourly pay is around $5.
A real treat was the vegetable truck that arrived every Tuesday and Friday at the Palmetto Bay restaurant. We would buy almost every fruit and vegetable on that truck. Each delicious and full of flavor (unlike the plastic ones we get here in DC).
We spent two weeks doing nothing but reading, cooking, chatting, drinking the local beer, and teaching Noa to swim in the pool (which she mastered pretty quickly).
posted by Galit Shmueli at 3:00 AM
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