Wednesday, January 16th - Day 4 of the cruise:  Today we stopped in Roatan, Honduras.  I booked an excursion which entailed driving around the island in a van, stopping at The View (the highest point on the island), visiting various local spots (with lots of opportunity to spend our tourist dollars - but I felt better spending money in obviously local places than in the tourist trap next to the ship); then taking a wooden dory down a river system which has earned Roatan the nickname of "Venice", right through hundreds of mangroves.  It was jolting to see the big, obviously rich houses nestled in the trees, then the local hovels crowded together in communities.  I asked our guide who lived in the rich houses, but she didn't really answer me - guess that would have been politically incorrect . . .

First sight of Roatan as we pulled in to dock

                                   

The big tourist trap - our guide told me that tourism is really the only industry on the island.

                                   

Notice the lines of buses and taxis waiting for us to disembark.

                                      

Self-explanatory!

Our ship from the dock.

Past the tourist trap

Central meeting place for tourists - right at the beginning of the tourist trap.

Road leading into local towns

Local houses beside the dock for the dory

Local shop.

Local shop

I've got a lovely  bunch of coconuts . . .

Local people dancing and playing music for the tourists (omg, that's me . . .)

                                     

Local shop/house

Local street

Mangrove roots from the dory

Putt-putting along the river

Houses along the river

Mariner of the Seas

Pulling away from port