We were all excited about the excursion planned for today in Roatan. After getting off the ship rather quickly, we headed right outside the port to meet our tour guides to take us to Frenchy's Island. It was quite a shock to see how third world it was outside of the port. There were cars honking everywhere and no order of any kind. The infrastructure was poor and there were only a few street lights in the main part of the town. As we sat on the bus for the short 30 minute drive we listened to our tour guide tell us about Roatan. All it took was looking out the window to see what life was really like for the people in this part of the world. Needless to say, we were all happy to finally make it to our destination where we boarded a small ferry to take us over to Little French Key Island. We decided to try snorkeling first thing and jumped right into one of the boats. There were a few other families that joined us. As the driver took us out further into the ocean Mike and I quickly realized that the waves were a bit rough to go snorkeling. Mike, Andrew and Emma jumped in the water first and started swimming. Peter, Abby, and I stayed in the boat as we were a little apprehensive about what to do. We finally decided to all jump in because the rocking boat was making us sick. It wasn't the best snorkeling and because the conditions weren't ideal no one snorkeled for very long. Thank goodness for that.
After getting back to the island we realized what a cool place Little French Key really was. After finding the perfect spot to play we dumped our stuff onto one of the lounge chairs and lathered up for some fun in the sun. We snorkeled, swam, kayaked, and took turns on the standing paddle boards. There were hardly any people in our little section of the island so it felt like we had all of these fun water toys to ourselves. Mike went out with each of the kids so that they could snorkel for real without the huge waves. Peter and Mike actually found the coolest conk shell and brought it back for us to see. There was still a creature inside so after enjoying its beauty Mike swam back to where they found it to put it back. The girls loved finding other shells and started their own little collection next to our lounge chair.
Eating lunch was so much fun. We ordered an array of island type food and ate out in the water under our own umbrella. It was completely unreal to eat and play in such a beautiful place. After eating lunch the boys went over to the rope swing to jump off the platform. Both of the boys were going to jump from the rope but realized very quickly that the rope was too thick to grab well. The next thing I knew Peter was running off the platform and into the water. Andrew watched but didn't jump. After playing for a little while longer we noticed that they were bringing out the jaguar. You could actually pay to swim with and get your picture taken with the jaguar. We thought that was totally crazy so we enjoyed the jaquar from a distance. It was seriously the coolest day ever and one we will never forget. As we sat on the ferry to head back to the buses we noticed how pink our legs were. Even after applying sun screen we were all a little burned. It wasn't until later that I realized how badly my legs had gotten burned. Sometimes it just sucks to have such fair skin.
After getting back to the island we realized what a cool place Little French Key really was. After finding the perfect spot to play we dumped our stuff onto one of the lounge chairs and lathered up for some fun in the sun. We snorkeled, swam, kayaked, and took turns on the standing paddle boards. There were hardly any people in our little section of the island so it felt like we had all of these fun water toys to ourselves. Mike went out with each of the kids so that they could snorkel for real without the huge waves. Peter and Mike actually found the coolest conk shell and brought it back for us to see. There was still a creature inside so after enjoying its beauty Mike swam back to where they found it to put it back. The girls loved finding other shells and started their own little collection next to our lounge chair.
Eating lunch was so much fun. We ordered an array of island type food and ate out in the water under our own umbrella. It was completely unreal to eat and play in such a beautiful place. After eating lunch the boys went over to the rope swing to jump off the platform. Both of the boys were going to jump from the rope but realized very quickly that the rope was too thick to grab well. The next thing I knew Peter was running off the platform and into the water. Andrew watched but didn't jump. After playing for a little while longer we noticed that they were bringing out the jaguar. You could actually pay to swim with and get your picture taken with the jaguar. We thought that was totally crazy so we enjoyed the jaquar from a distance. It was seriously the coolest day ever and one we will never forget. As we sat on the ferry to head back to the buses we noticed how pink our legs were. Even after applying sun screen we were all a little burned. It wasn't until later that I realized how badly my legs had gotten burned. Sometimes it just sucks to have such fair skin.
