Monkey La Las on Roatan, Bay Islands

Exchanging the crisp blue skies and -20 degree temperature of Calgary for the emerald seas and 30 degree breezes off the Caribbean, we step off Continental Flight #2103 onto the tarmac of Roatan airport in Bay Islands, Honduras. There was no question that Roatan – the largest of the Bay Islands off the eastern coast of Honduras – was going to be the perfect place to launch our three-week midwinter trip.

West Bay Lodge

Relatively unknown, mostly unspoiled and rife with local charm, potholes, power outages, cheap beer, hamacas and sunset palapas, we quickly assume our tropical identities on this under-the-radar Caribbean island.  Our hosts for the first few days are Milos & Celeste Pospisil (transplants from Prague, and Portland, Oregon) of West Bay Lodge. The lodge’s resident parrots, cats, garden bungalows and passageways that led to the best-on-the-island beaches and snorkelling reefs gently acclimatize us to island life

Monkey La Las

Not wanting to remain hostage to the island’s 18-year-old taxi drivers, we spring for a car for the week on Roatan and leisurely explore the 50×8 mile area of the island. We enjoy our escapes to the lushly foliaged and less populated areas of the northern and eastern sides of the island. Here, we take in a jungle trail – dark and cool in mid-day – feed the Monkey La Las (pet name for the indigenous lizards) and drink Monkey La Las (national beverage) in vine-laden tree forts. We explore palm-bedecked beaches as long as those in Thailand and as deserted as those in Cape Scott and pass up endless opportunities to skeet through jungle canopies or hire a dive-boat for the afternoon.

Paya Bay

On one trip up the island, we were able to secure two nights at a quiet out-of-the-way resort called Paya Bay. Imagine a pastel Tara-like home perched atop a seaside cliff, a restaurant/bar built to maximize the glorious light and breezes off the Caribbean sky and sea and a cluster of bungalows sitting snug in white-railed, fan-palmed tiled terraces. Picture rooms that wed Polynesian design with Cape Cod whimsy; high bamboo ceilings and wicker furniture juxtaposed with vibrant yellow walls, and white and blue furnishings. And porches that lean out onto the Caribbean, its crystal-clear waters crashing on the rocks just below your feet.

The brainchild of two Hondurans – both born on the island not ten miles from the resort – Paya Bay Resort originally acted as a beach-club for the locals. It then slowly built up the status and infrastructure of a fully-fledged – if somewhat miniature – resort. True to the mission of the resort – which was to welcome guests into their family – our hosts found time to hover and visit at our table at breakfast. After a morning jog, it wasn’t hard to capitulate to Roatan-style afternoons which meant ‘self-enhancement’ time (a term borrowed from what teacher-initiated school holidays in Roatan are called!!) at one of the resort’s wild beaches or along the cliff-hanging, bouganvillia-edged “Zen-Path”.

Jungle canopies, boat tours, beach bars, and secluded ‘zen retreats’; Roatan realizes that its visitors have different ideas of what a holiday is, and amply caters to us all. And this may be one place you can afford to travel in the Caribbean!