Independence Day

This 15th of September the noble citizens of the Republic of Honduras celebrate 199 years of our existence as an independent country.

Coffee with the flavor of my land

New Honduran film: Coffee with the flavor of my land.

197 years of independence

Tomorrow, September 15, Honduras celebrates 197 years of independence. Here our national flag waves above the resort's main deck.

Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Bay Islands of Honduras.

blissful summer

The natural beauty of Bliss Beach in the summer.

Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Bay Islands of Honduras.

plastic trash from Guatemala pollutes Bay Islands' waters

In one photograph taken near Roatan, an island off the coast of Honduras, a diver grimaces as he prepares to enter the water almost completely covered by waste. Another, taken from below the waterline, shows plastic bottles, bags and other rubbish on the surface blocking out sunlight. Meanwhile, a close-up image of the ocean reveals dozens of disposable knives and forks floating among seaweed. It is thought the rubbish was washed into the sea from nearby Guatemala, carried on rivers swollen by the recent rainy season flowing through towns and villages.

- dailymail.co.uk

We need to go back to the drawing board with this scourge that is "disposable" plastic. Looking at you, Coca-Cola (and similar entities). You need to clean up the mess you've made and find a better idea. The current idea is corporate negligence, plain and simple.

Yes, YOU.

Hat tip to my friend Peter!

paya from new eyes

Professional photographer Cinthia Casco was at Paya recently for a wedding. She shared these spectacular photos she took of Bliss Beach and the plunge pool. Honduras and its Bay Islands are gorgeous country. Come visit!

Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Bay Islands of Honduras.

morazán

Honduran film-making is getting better and better all the the time. Check out this trailer for Morazán, a film about our national hero, Francisco Morazán.

been traveling...

I've been traveling on the Honduran mainland the last several days. My business trip took me to...

Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, and...

San Pedro Sula, the second largest city and industrial hub.

air europa begins madrid - san pedro sula, honduras service

The Authorities of Aeropuertos de Honduras announced that as from [April, 2017] Hondurans will be able to travel to Europe having the possibility of doing it at low cost and directly from the Ramón Villeda Morales Airport from San Pedro Sula to Madrid in an airline that is characterized by having one of the most modern fleets on the European Continent. This new direct route offered by Air Europa is a historic event for the country as it will become the first direct air connection with Europe, which in turn means a bridge with some economic potencies of the world. But the importance of this flight goes much further; it is also the key in the promotion of European tourism to Honduras. The flight that will initially have a weekly regularity, arriving in San Pedro Sula every Thursday and leaving the same day, will have a duration of approximately eleven hours and with rates atarting at US $ 749, said the Manager of Aeropuertos de Honduras, Edgardo Maradiaga. Air Europa is the airline of Globalia, the largest Spanish tour group. A full member of the SkyTeam alliance, last year it transported more than 10 million passengers to a hundred destinations around the world. Its strategy is to be the airline of reference to connect Europe with Latin America through its hub, the airport Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas. 

- InterAirports

The flight from Madrid (MAD) arrives in San Pedro Sula (SAP) at 7AM. Roatan (RTB) is a short 20 minute flight from San Pedro Sula. Several local airlines cover the SAP-RTB route, including CM Airlines, which I recommend (their roundtrip fare SAP-RTB-SAP runs about US$200).

more Bay Islands history

Treaty Between Her Majesty And The Republic of Honduras Respecting The Bay Islands, The Mosquito Indians, And The Rights And Claims of British Subjects. This controversial* 1860 treaty ceded the Bay Islands to the recently independent (from Spain, 1821) Republic of Honduras. Queen Victoria was the British monarch at the time the agreement was negotiated and executed. Historians largely agree this surprisingly unconditional treaty resulted from formidable American pressure on Great Britain rooted in the United States' Monroe Doctrine and mainland Honduras' status -- at that time -- as a potential location for a trans-Central American isthmus railroad and/or shipping canal. The treaty is so shockingly unconditional that one wonders what quid pro quo arrangement the Americans made with the Brits for going through with it.

*Controversial because the British colonists of the Bay Islands were not consulted as to what arrangement they preferred. It is safe to assume -- had they been given voice in the matter -- English-speaking 19th Century Bay Islanders would have preferred to remain British subjects. To this day one can still find "older heads" of British ancestry who are still bitter about this unexpected turn of events that took place over 150 years ago. It is especially galling to some that the islands were turned over to the much disliked and distrusted "Spaniards" of mainland Honduras (recall that Spain had been Britain's archenemy on and off for centuries prior). Happily, younger generations of English-speaking Bay Islanders, for the most part, have had this historic bitterness diluted from their cultural DNA. 

been travelin'

Been traveling on the Honduran mainland the last several days.

My business trip started in the Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital city...

...and concluded in San Pedro Sula, the country's Second City and industrial hub.

it's "cold" in roatan!

Google says it's currently 72 degrees (22 C) in Roatan. An Arctic cold front (largely defanged by the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico) has been sliding across the Gulf of Honduras the past 48 hours. After some stormy weather, a gentle, cold rain is now falling outside. Note that the forecasted high for tomorrow is a mere 78 degrees (26 C). I've experienced it getting as cold as 65 degrees (18 C) here in the Bay Islands, but this is our more typical winter chill. After the front moves through, we'll get glorious, sunny beach weather again. Winter in the Caribbean!

Map: NOAA

food for thought

Saw this photo in Honduran daily El Heraldo just now. It shows a group of deported Honduran immigrants arriving at the airport in Tegucigalpa from the United States just as an American Airlines plane either takes off or lands in the background. Aside from being an awesome photo, it struck me because there is some kind of sad irony to the whole scene.

- El Heraldo (Spanish)

video: wéndeti nagaira

This new Honduras tourism promotion video is a very slick production! "Wéndeti nagaira" means my beautiful homeland in the Garífuna language.

a great choice!

The more I learn about Tim Kaine, Hillary's choice for VP, the more I like him! What an awesome man. His strong connection to Honduras is very intriguing.

After being admitted to Harvard Law School, Kaine took a year off to volunteer with the Jesuits at a vocational school in El Progreso, Honduras. In Honduras Kaine learned to speak Spanish, a skill he will likely use on the campaign trail this fall. According to Kaine, that year was a watershed time in his life. “I think of El Progreso everyday,” Kaine said. “The people, aside from my family, are the most important in shaping who I am today.” He also claims his experiences with the Jesuits have inspired his public service: “I do what I do for spiritual reasons. I’m always thinking about the momentary reality, but also how it connects with bigger matters of what’s important in life.

- TIME 

article: a beautiful and affordable caribbean isle

Flying in, you'll see an island that is about 40 miles long, 5 miles across at its widest point and vibrantly green. There are no high-rise hotels, because building regulations don't allow for them. Density restrictions within the beach zones have contained development in a good way. Cows and pigs still graze this lush, green island. Bananas and coconuts still grow wild. Despite the dramatic growth in its expat population, Roatán remains an untamed paradise and a Shangri-La for nature lovers. Honduras, with the help of its Ministry of Tourism, became the first country to adopt the concept of "geotourism" as its tourist agenda, going a step further than the popular "ecotourism" and meaning to suggest a very natural experience.

- U.S. News & World Report 

Photo: Devon Stephens Photography

awesome roatan!

Recent guests shared these great photos of their overall Roatan experience...

Roatan, Bay Islands of Honduras.

senator rubio on honduras

...After spending time last week in Honduras, I am encouraged by promising signs that the country's trajectory is on the right path, with violence still too high but down significantly, and the United States having a real partner in the Honduran government and people. For the United States, our interests in Honduras are clear: to see a safe and prosperous Honduras with a thriving economy based on manufacturing, tourism and agriculture. Ensuring that the U.S. government's Alliance for Prosperity is well funded, and that those funds are properly apportioned to enhance security, incentivize programs that help reduce the levels of corruption, and provide economic opportunities that combat poverty must be a priority for Congress and the administration this year. A special focus on Central America is warranted considering our national interests in this hemisphere.

- U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, The Miami Herald

video: mr. brown coffee

Mr. Brown Coffee, a Taiwanese company that manufactures and markets coffee drinks, produced this slick video that highlights the beauty of Honduran culture, its history, and its coffee producing regions.

roatan developer arrested

Honduran authorities say an Italian-Argentine man suspected of running a Mexican drug cartel's local finances has been arrested in the Central American nation. Police spokesman Leonel Sauceda calls Franco Daniel Lombardi the Sinaloa cartel's "financial arm" in Honduras. He adds that U.S. anti-drug agents participated in the "important capture." Sauceda says Lombardi was arrested on the Caribbean island of Roatan on an international warrant. He is suspected of drug trafficking and money laundering.

- New Zealand Herald