Honduras is a gorgeous mountainous country with lush greenery, crystal clear blue water, and dynamic coral formations everywhere.
To get there we flew to Roatan on United and then took a little puddle jumper (6 seats including the pilot - we needed 2 flights to fit our whole clan) to Guanaja. Cessna selfie!
Just like last year we stayed in the Chapman House - an impeccably appointed and incredibly constructed home built into a hillside.
From the open air dining room (which juts out) your view of the ocean spans nearly 180 degrees.
There aren't any real roads so you rely on boats and ATVs to get around which was fine with the kids!
Even if we got caught in the rain on one trip. If you like pina coladas...
The Caribbean waters are home to many tasty fish and we chased them around a good bit. We didn't have as much success this year as last but you know what they say - A bad day fishing beats a good day working. The men had a few fishing outings on their own but all 10 of us went one day.
And a couple of wee ones earned their Captain's title.
While others were rocked right to sleep by the waves.
We did a lot of swimming and playing on the beach, of course.
Natalie had her first real snorkeling lessons and did amazingly well!
Audrey had a different idea about how to get around and see wildlife underwater.
And see wildlife we did! While snorkeling we saw many colorful tropical fish and a few starfish. Chris even saw an octopus and stingray.
Pelicans were busy fishing all week. It was neat to watch them swoop and scoop.
There are many kinds of lizards.
Including iguanas.
Hermit crabs of all sizes are prevalent as well. Some are even toy sized. Larger ones stick to the jungle and eat produce peelings and rinds you throw out.
We met two domesticated parrots on a visit to a private cay owned by some ex-Pats. They'd been trained to say, "I can talk. Can you fly?" and "Buy low, sell high." There are a few wild parrots around Wilmont Bay but we didn't see much of them this trip. Last trip they were much more interested in us and even bit Alexis's foot going after food. She was fine with their absence this time!
The boys (mistakenly) caught an eel while fishing!
We had many tasty island treats including some Honduran food cooked for us at our house by a local woman. We recommend the coconuts - fun for all ages.
We also tried a new restaurant on this trip (there aren't many) called Manati's, owned and operated by a German couple. You can travel all the way to Honduras and still find bratwurst.
There is a grove of lime trees behind the Chapman House and both regular and key limes were ripe for picking.
This was serious business.
The Chapman's groundskeeper, Alonso, was very popular with the kids last year but was laid up this year with a broken ankle. He still hosted them for painting lessons a few afternoons.
We also took a jungle hike to a cliff top overlooking the bay.
It was a wonderfully fun and relaxing week in the tropics and after the long travel home we arrived to this. Samantha had been hard at work crafting, cleaning, mowing, and cooking which was such a sweet homecoming. A great week all around!
