January flew past…I loved my
January and I can hardly wait until February, it’s going to fly by too.
This past November I had an opportunity
to go to Panama and an invitation to go to Honduras…I said yes to both, why
not? I made a commitment to myself at
the moment of saying that yes; I would also say yes to going somewhere once
every month and to date...I have said yes until July…so far so good!
My January was filled with Roatan,
one of the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras; a beautiful, quaint, diverse
and tropical location edged by white sands and surrounded by an azure sea, it’s
waves rolling in and out over and over, taking a layer of the sand out and
bringing it all back again swirling it around the feet of those who walk there.
There is a stretch of land at the
tip of the Island called West Bay, here the resorts, restaurants, and bars line
up just beyond the sand offering up live entertainment, fresh food from the sea
and refreshing drinks, it is a stretch that follows the shore for nearly 2 km
ending at Las Rocas, the bungalows that I called home. If you walk from this point along the shore
for 45 minutes, slipping your toes into the sandy beach as you go, climbing twenty stairs
up a tall walking bridge, across and down again, through the waves that rush in
to the small coves, hiking over water ravaged rocks clearing once more to the sandy
shore, onto the path along the Sueno del Mar and turning on to the dirt road…there
you find yourself entering the West End.
The West End is itself its own
little world, a fishing village of sorts, one street lined both sides with places
to eat and drink and watch the sun set…some on the beach and some off the
docks. There are outside barbeques that grill the catch of the day or
chicken, even puerco; there are vendors selling T shirts, fruit, local art and
jewelry at makeshift tables, shops too, selling dresses, hats, crafts and beautiful gifts to bring home, there are places to sleep, to rent by the month, or
stay for the week, hotels and cabins and up stair rooms. There are boardwalks and docks and boats are
everywhere; cruise ships passing by, cargo ships in the faint distance and nearby are the water taxi boats, glass bottom boats, sail boats, boats for
excursions, fishing boats , and my favorite…diving boats.
The people in the midst of this
village are just as diverse as the West End itself; all of it a jumble of escape,
adventure and tranquility…true.
The whole length from West Bay to
West End is dotted with dive shops. I
came for the diving, thinking that this may be my last diving holiday… but
something changed my mind.
Roatan, I landed here at 11:30 am
and by noon I was already in the sea…
Before I left for this trip, I had
prayed for something or someone to change my way of thinking about what
consumed my thoughts…that while I was in Roatan my mind would be changed, diverted,
that I would find something new to be infatuated with…providing me a new lease
on life or at least the way I thought through it.
I got that!
I got that in Gods amazing
creation, above, below and on the sea; I got that through the two books I devoured
while lying on the beach; I got that from the amazing people I met here, kind,
generous and playful... and I got that from diving into the depths of the sea…teasing
life; drifting, breathing and learning to go slow, eyes wide open for God’s
teeniest creation.
Sometimes it is the smallest
things that can change a mind…I love that.
