2015 Cruise - Roatan Resort, Restroom Door

What do you suppose this room is used for?

I got caught in sort of a mess with this one.  There I was, snapping away at the cute sign and happened to be pointing the camera right at some guy as he exited the restroom...

2015 Cruise - Roatan Resort, Bar Bottles

I'm not a drinker at all - threw that out when I was young, realizing the trouble it can cause.  And I am blessed to be married to a lady whose family actually has an allergy to alcohol in the genes, so there's none of that to deal with now.  Could not have custom-ordered a better life and situation in which to raise kids and lead generally wholesome lives.

Not that there's no room for adventure!  So many think that a life led by Christian values is dull, but nothing could be further from the truth - even in the simplest of things there can be great joy and satisfaction in the life of a Christian.  Try it sometime - God will provide plenty of opportunity for fun and frolic, along with the anguish and travail that necessarily come with such a calling...

2015 Cruise - Roatan Light Cover

The place was well-maintained, with even the bird droppings barely making a mark...

2015 Cruise - Roatan, Coconut Umbrella

As stated before we had the whole place to ourselves.  So among the 20+ empty tables there sat my family, living it up with coconut milk.

2015 Cruise - Roatan Mansion

Nearby there were some mansions on the property surrounding a plaza that had this fountain.  This shot is reminiscent of one taken at a wedding venue in Houston six or seven years ago.  Very postcard-ish but nice nonetheless...

2015 Cruise - Roatan Resort, Waterside Umbrellas

These shots were captured from the beach itself.  The picture in yesterday's post was taken while standing on the bridge in the photo below:

2015 Cruise - Roatan Resort, Beachside

After being entertained by the iguanas we headed on the bus to this place, a resort of sorts.  Odd because, despite the presence of an abundance of amenities, we were the only ones there so had the place to ourselves.  This perspective is from across a body of water looking beachside, with the focus deliberately set on the water's reflection.

A few steps back and you see the bridge from which the photo above was captured, as well as the surrounding terrain:

2015 Cruise - Roatan Iguana Farm, Rooftop Picnic

These being iguanas, hanging out in flat sunny places is all in a day's work.  Payment comes regularly as farm attendants and tourists toss up leaves to watch them fight over the best morsels.

2015 Cruise - Roatan Iguana Farm, Feeding Time

This being an iguana farm, felt obligated to include some iguana pictures.  Above is my darling bride feeding the masses, and one below getting away with some of his loot:

2015 Cruise - Roatan Iguana Farm, Dock Scene

While on a cruise we try to fit in an excursion with each stop, and in Roatan it was the iguana farm.  Who can resist a place where they grow iguanas?  After being deposited at the farm we wondered down to where the water was - would have loved to have been here sunrise or sunset.

We had boats in the family when I was a kid, but early on (say, but the time I was seven) I concluded that it's not worth the work and hassle of owning one.  Besides, the little ones don't feel very secure...constantly bobbing up and down when you're not going anywhere, slapping hard against the waves when you are moving at any speed at all, and no brakes!

2015 Cruise - Flowers at Roatan 03

2015 Cruise - Flowers at Roatan 02

2015 Cruise - Flowers at Roatan 01

2015 Cruise - Roatan Docking Ropes

These ropes were connected to the front side of the ship after we were in place.  It's interesting to see the mechanics of how they handle a ship that large when it's so close to the dock and other objects...

And how they do some of the housekeeping:
 

2015 Cruise - Roatan Disembarkation

The disembarkation areas of cruise ports are something to see - well-developed infrastructures built to do nothing but disgorge passengers so they can spend money.  In many places what they see upon reaching land is a venue very much like a Disney or Sea World park.  Beautiful and appealing.  However, once passengers leave the safety and security of its borders (sometimes reinforced by tall, thick walls) in a place like Freeport, Nassau or Belize City, a very different world envelopes them with the realities of deep poverty and, at times, crime.

Looking back from within such a venue in Roatan, the sheer size of the ship is startling.  How they park these leviathans so gently against the dock never ceases to amaze:

2015 Cruise - DC3

Saw this guy coming in while standing on the upper-most deck of the ship.  I've always loved aviation, and the sleek lines of an aircraft never fail to stop me in my tracks.  Actually flew one myself for a while as a teenager - a Cessna 150 - but when the time came to practice for the FAA-mandated check ride did not see a practicality in attaining a full license.  Besides, a relationship with a girl got serious and the money went to other places...

2015 Cruise - Roatan Shipwreck

We sailed fairly close to the shipwreck on our way in to dock...myself and a few other serious camera bugs were all over the decks, high and low, to get just the right angle as we were passing by.

2015 Cruise - Honduras, Roatan Approach

Next stop on the cruise was the island of Roatan in Honduras...little islands like this dotted the seascape on the way in.  Note the shipwreck at center-right in the 5-shot panorama below:

2015 Cruise - Belize, Junior Howler

And here is junior.  This little guy kept hanging down to get closer to satisfy his own curiosity (I imagined).  Mom allowed this but stayed very close...

2015 Cruise - Belize, Howler Mom / Getting "Sprayed" by Dad

After lunch we stopped by a place where there was a "wild" troop of howler monkeys that we could observe.  As it turned out, it was a single family that was allowed to roam free but likely fed to keep them close for the tourist trade.  Still made for a very interesting jaunt.

We started out with a short hike in the jungle where a guide pointed to items of interest and shared some lore of the area.  On this hike we occasionally heard the very distinct and loud howling of a monkey at our destination, which built anticipation of our arrival.

When we got there, after about a 20-minute walk, sure enough they were there, this family of howler monkeys.  The noise that we'd heard was caused by the previous group of tourists, which irritated the male of the family.  And the reason he was so irritated was because his girlfriend and baby most obligingly hung out (literally) very low in the branches to interact with the people below.  The male became more vocal as the tourists got closer to observe and take pictures.

And here is mom.  The branch was so low and she was so close that at any given time someone could have reached out and stroked her fur, though no one did because we were strictly admonished to refrain from that temptation.  She was clearly curious and was subject to her own temptation to get as close as she could to us.  Meanwhile, the male stayed high up in the trees and hooted and hollered his displeasure at what was happening below.

Though the photo above makes it look as though she is alone on the branch, there was such a rush among those in our group to get the best camera angle or simply to get very close that I kept my distance down the path and waited for a better opportunity.

That was a strategy that did not work to my advantage.  The pissed-off male, hollering and hooting up there in the tree, obviously saw my isolation as an opportunity, and before I knew it he had taken position directly above and rained his own brand of misery on this unwelcome intruder.  I felt something, looked up, and, realizing what was taking place, got much closer to the pack that you see below (tour guide in orange on the right):

2015 Cruise - Belize, Lunch Stop

Traveling from the zoo by bus, we stopped by a river for lunch, where this pic was captured.

2015 Cruise - Belize Zoo, Deer

2015 Cruise - Belize Zoo, Purple Succulents

Once, when I gave consideration to selling photos to a stock house, there was a notice on the way in (online) that they would be taking NO MORE FLOWER PICTURES.  I was a little surprised, but then again not so surprised.  Everybody takes pictures of flowers.  But there is no end to the variety and compositions out there, so I'll stick with them for a while...

2015 Cruise - Belize Zoo, Pelican

2015 Cruist - Belize Zoo, Undergrowth Tangle

2015 Cruise - Belize Zoo, Moss on Pine

2015 Cruise - Belize Zoo, Bird of Prey Behind Chicken (Wire)

2015 Cruise - Belized Zoo, Orange Flowers

The simplest of God's designs are sometimes the most appealing...

2015 Cruise - Belize Zoo, Blue Stalk

2015 Cruise - Belize Zoo, Stop & Stare Chair

Things like this were placed in many parts of the zoo, all couched in humor (slight pun intended).

2015 Cruise - Belize Zoo, Exotic Flower / Two Mexican Bus Drivers

This species is so unusual and beautiful it's worth posting again, even though a couple of other pics of the same flower were posted a while ago.  This is the second most exotic and interesting flower I've ever seen.

The most exotic and beautiful species I've ever seen was in old Mexico, near the town of Puebla.  I was attending college there and two busloads of us students were on our way to the silver mines for a look.  We had arrived in Puebla, however a VW bug was in our way along a narrow street.  The car owner was not careful in the way he parked, and it was positioned some distance from the curb.  Without a moment's hesitation the two drivers hopped out of their buses, both grabbing on to the rear bumper of the VW.  They then began to bounce the car up and down until the back wheels actually separated from the street.  It was then, while they were in the air on each bounce, that the bus drivers nudged the car closer to the curb until it was in place and out of the way, first for the back of the car, then the front.  I'd never seen anything like it.  They carried on with this business as if they did it every day, which they may well have.

It was during this exercise that I walked over to a wall where a vine was spilling over the top, and saw the most beautiful and exotic flower I'd ever seen.  Did not get a picture, but believe it to be of the genus Tigridia.