We met old friends here as well as new ones ... and the best part is that everyone has a story to tell!
The music playing , the drinks flowing ... darts being played in one room and the ring game in another!
Problem is that I have to order for him!
Guanaja Sharon welcomes back Jack and his wife Darien from their trip to New Orleans .....
Mike is wearing one of my favorite T-shirts that always makes me laugh!
Houdini is trying to sweet talk Geri out of some BBQ!
Brian making an editorial comment ...
Anke and her husband along with Jannette .... Cathy and Sharon in the background!
Guanaja Honduras is just one of those places that is special. Everyone has welcomed us here. Most of the people pictured have retired here in Guanaja. Some live here part time, going back and forth to the US or Europe and there were many more people that didn't hold still for pictures. Whether you decide to live Guanaja or just to travel here, you won't be disappointed!
Perhaps I have my rose colored glasses on .....
We saw all kinds of parrots .... wonderfully colorful birds that fly from tree to tree. Some are tame and can even be coaxed over.
So, to answer the question, how do you build a house? One piece of lumber at a time! Every nail, 2x4 and fixture has to be shipped from the mainland of Honduras and then off loaded at the dock on Bonacca to be then transported to its final destination on the "big" island of Guanaja.
You would think that this would be terribly expensive, but this is the way of life over there. Their home, a 2 bedroom, 2 bath with wrap around porch, 50 feet from the Caribbean Sea is under $200,000! Talk about affordable retirement living!
And ... what a view from the from porch!!!!!
For anyone thinking about affordable retirement and or living options outside of the US, Guanaja may just be the place you are looking for. You can follow along with Brewski Bob and Aunt Patti's adventure by stopping by their blog at: http://www.Club-Brown.blogspot.com
Holy Crab! These cute guys are everywhere in Guanaja. This type of land crab grows to be about 6 inches across and they basically eat vegetation and small insects. They dig their holes and wave their claws at people passing by and in general keep everyone entertained.
Brewski Bob felt the need to de-stress after a delightful lunch before the boat ride back home! There is never a need to rush into anything on Guanaja.
While at Bo's, we ran into our friend Jim Jones while he was giving a boat tour to a couple from Vermont. Ann and Jim have been checking out Guanaja from afar for a couple of years and finally decided to check it out for themselves ... much like Alfred and me. Ann, a RN and Jim, in construction, sounded like they weren't disappointed with what they saw. After all, what's not to love about this sun drenched paradise?
Guanaja, Honduras, a Bay Island paradise ... come down and kick the tires for yourself!
Another local "star" is Ian, a British ex-pat who lives on the island. A talented artist, he designs the artwork for t-shirts as well as painting murals and signs throughout the island. When he is not creating, he can also be found "jamming" at the Manati. Ian plays a mean keyboard as well as drums!
Of course, this is only two of the many multi-talented people on Guanaja ...... with every person comes an interesting story. Sometime when you aren't busy maybe you should just wander on down to this Bay Island paradise and check it out for yourself!
I'm not sure what I love the most, but the whole package just seems to come together quite nicely. 
Another really positive aspect to Guanaja is the fact that it is surrounded by the world's second largest barrier reef ... only to be outdone by the great barrier reef in Australia. This reef protects the island from a lot of potentially damaging waves and currents.
Fresh water is abundant on Guanaja and there are fresh water, waterfalls and streams that come down from the mountain side. Everyone taps into this source and the water is good enough to drink right from the tap! Guanaja is the only Bay Island that has fresh water, a plus indeed.
The main question when deciding where to live is, do you want the mountains with an ocean view or do you want to walk out your front door and squish your toes in the sand. Both have so much to offer .... decisions, decisions...
Great food, cold drinks and lot's old and new friends meeting for a day of fun. Music was provided by the Guanaja Boys. Everyone in attendance agreed the evening was quite a success!
The ferry from Savannah Bight comes by overflowing with people ready to start the weekend. HOLY SMOKES, you think they have room for one more?
Mayor Richmond's message was simple. He is concerned with his island's economy, tourism and the environment. The mayor wants tourism to flourish and to have these same tourists to return because of favorable experiences. The government has made money available just for this purpose.
The airport in Guanaja is quite informal ... actually a couple of other attempts have been made to build new terminals, but for now it is comprised of a landing strip, a building that is used for storage and if you are very brave, a toilet! The Thirst and Last Stop is usually open for beverages and is owned by one of the local business men Captain Al.
We were staying at the Castaways Resort and Marina in Guanaja and each of us had one side of the duplex. Each side had one bedroom, one bath and a large living room decorated with heavy island style furniture made right there in Honduras. Air conditioning and fans in every room, although the breezes off the Caribbean kept us cool and we never used the AC. The resort restaurant opened at 8:00am and stayed open until the last guest left in the evening and they featured good Honduran home cooking.
Another wonderful day in Guanaja, it's tough, but someone has to do it!
Our day begins by going over to the bank. Yes, the electric is back on and we would like to open an account in this foreign land as we are planning on making this a part time haven. I have planned (I thought) for all possibilities, after all, how hard could it be? OK, if you have gone through this drill before, I'll wait for you to catch your breath as you are probably laughing yourself silly!
The internet connection is pretty fast .. not like cable of course, but still pretty decent ... at least I am "connected" to the world wide web.
As we are leaving we notice this business man, in his dug out canoe, coming in to sell fresh conch meat. What a terrific dinner idea ..... fresh cracked conch and cerviche. The "conch dude" bargains and for a few pennies we have our dinner entree. Alfred knows his way around a conch from time spent in the Bahamas and volunteers for kitchen duty this evening.
Dinner was a total success and we even added a butter fish sashimi with wasabi to the menu. What better meal than fresh from the sea ingredients? I don't know if it gets any better than this!
My husband decided it was a good time to stick his head underwater. He decided to snorkel right at the dock and found a little bit of structure at the end of the dock with small colorful fish and a lot of turtle grass. The best snorkeling is just a little further out on the reef. 
Kind of a lazy day. Meeting new people at the resort and then renewing friendships from our last trip here. Nothing moves fast in Guanaja, so sometimes it is best to just sit back, sip on a tasty aged rum and ENJOY!
The ferry boat, or yacht, as the islanders call her has seen better days. She looks to be some kind of a large lake boat, refitted with seats taken from an airliner. The seat in front of me cautioned to keep my tray table in an upright position and to fasten my seat belt during take off. At this point I am ready for anything!
The locals that take this ferry all the time know the drill, get on board just in time, grab an extra seat cushion for a head rest and camp out in the center aisle for a three hour siesta. Next time we will know all the rules! For those of us who decided to stay awake there was entertainment on board. A few minutes out, the mate started up a movie on a flat screen TV up front. This would have kept me occupied except that the kung-fu movie they chose to play was in Chinese with Spanish sub-titles. YIKES!!!!
The seas were calm, but with a bit of a roll, just enough to be interesting. I think that was why the locals try to sleep on the voyage.
The Castaways Resort sent their driver, Arturo, to pick us up in his boat, so once again we moved our stuff. We arrived at the resort just as the sun was going down ... a beautiful time ... the restaurant was hopping with people and it was good to be on land again. What better plan than a cold beer?
Paula and Gunther were wonderful hosts and as you can see, quite doggy friendly! Houdini found out that Gunther had sold his Harley before coming to Honduras and thought that he would wear his own Harley gear for the birthday party.
Relaxation is the key here and brightly colored hammocks strung between rustling palm trees were a great way to spend the afternoon and then a nice walk on the beach at sunset.
Another young business man we passed was holding up an Iguana for sale on the side of the roadway. Why would anyone want to buy one of those, I asked? Miguel gave me one of those looks and said that the local people like to eat them. YIKES! He said, not to worry, they taste a lot like ... you guessed it ....Chicken!
The picture below is a Honduran cattle drive. These ol' doggies are being driven right on the side of the road....occasionally one of the unruly ones steps into the road so caution is advised! During our 3 hour trip to Trujillo we saw a cowboy on a bicycle herding cows as well as a motorcycle. Everyone of them just doing his job the best way they could.
Honduras is an interesting place for a spoiled American. I find it fascinating and wonder if I could live under such conditions. One thing I found out from driving though mainland Honduras is, just because you only have a two lane road, it does not mean that you can't have four lanes of traffic and a pedestrian or two along the way. This brings a whole new meaning to "fasten your seatbelts"!
OK, time to go to plan "B" ... whatever that was! We found a taxi to take us to La Ceiba for only $20 more than the bus....what a deal! Our private car, cold cervesas and no stops to make! Houdini enjoyed the ride along with his companion Miss Tiger Lady!
We took a lot of pictures along the way, but I must mention, it is not the best idea to photograph the policio while going through their occasional road stops. My husband had the camera on the dash and was clicking away when one of the local police told him NO and shook his finger at him. Well, at least I didn't have to bail him out!
After breakfast we went shopping. I wanted to get an idea of the types of products available in Honduras. Long story short.....you can get just about anything from around the world. The picture below was taken in the Diunsa store, very similar to Target, but with name brand appliances available also. The store was extremely clean, well stocked and the associates friendly and helpful.
Later in the day we found our way to a Price Smart store, this was the equivalent to Sam's or Costco in the states. I was amazed, everything and anything was there. The prices were less than what we pay at home in Florida and many products were the same name brands. I think that with some planning, that living large in Honduras would not be too difficult.
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