Lions and Tigers and Pythons...Oh My!

Today marks the end of my first week in Roatan. I had little idea what to expect stepping onto the hot tarmac at Roatan’s little airport and to be honest one week later I still have no idea what to expect. 

Frenchies Key

I spent my first weekend here relaxing with some new Honduran friends. We went to a beautiful little key right off this island called Frenchies. It’s honestly one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. After getting sufficiently sunburned we took the scooter all the way down to Punta Gorda, a Guarifuna community in the north western part of the island. 

Scooter ride

Frenchies Key

This island has such an interesting mix of cultures between the original islanders, the Guarifunas, and immigrants from mainland Honduras who moved here looking for a better way of life. The Guarifunas are descendants of Africa who migrated to Roatan after British invasion of St. Vincent in the Caribbean. They’ve managed to stay a coherent community with their culture and language left mainly intact. 

Entering Punta Gorda literally felt like stepping into a West African village somewhere. We were greeted by live drumming and Carribbean dancing. We ate dinner in under the shelter of palm fronds and grass while children as young as 2 years old were dancing around their older siblings as their parents played the drums. It was absolutely invigorating! I passed the afternoon trying to ‘shake it like Shakira’  and playing futbol barefoot in the dirt with a group of local boys. 

But it just got better...As our scooter hugged dark curves along the winding road home we came across what I thought was a large branch in the middle of the street. We whizzed by but then to my surprise we turned around and headed back to the dark shape strung across the road. As our headlights illuminated this large branch I realized, it wasn't a branch at all but a python just hanging out in the road. Snakes are not my favorite animals on the planet. So you can imagine I was less than calm as my friend jumped off the scooter, grabbed the python by his tail and drug him to the safety of some nearby brush! Welcome to the jungle! 

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