Bright blue in color, it was perched in the coconut tree.

Reminded us of India streets at every step. You walk around as you will on the road and the traffic is expected to work around you. There are shirtless young kids, dogs and roosters darting across the road all the while!! Lots of shops and restaurants trying to get you to step in…

We had some great food at Happy Harry’s Hideaway!

Our hotel is filled with germaniums (Rongon for my Bengali friends). Saw a couple of hummingbirds merrily feeding off their nectar.

These reminded me of the mangroves we explored in Marco Island. One unique experience this time was that Captain Diaz drove into the mangroves (you can see a couple of openings like tunnels in the picture). Learnt a lot of about mangroves. I did not realize that mangroves is used to make wooden furniture.

You can see all those dead coral reefs off the water in the picture. My strong impression of dead coral reefs is that they are very lifeless, arid places. In fact, I remember the southern shores of Aruba that had flat desert-like dead coral reefs for miles and miles!!

So, I was very surprised – and confused – to see so much greenery growing out of the reefs. More interestingly, big houses have been built on it too. Going by the structures, they had to drill some solid foundations.

Perhaps, I was confusing the otherwise desert environment of Aruba with presence of coral reefs. Meaning they were independent things.

Any one of you seen this kind of development on dead coral reefs?

We got ourselves a boat to go around Roatan. Captain Ronaldo Diaz, a portly local with a very friendly demeanor, took us to where the dolphins were. On the way, we were cruising over a shallow patch when he asked us “Do you want to see starfish?”. Of course, we said “Yes”.

He stopped the engines and to our complete surprise, jumped off the boat into the water! He quickly grabbed couple of brown looking stuff that we would have mistaken for rocks and brought it up to show us.

I cannot remember if I have seen a starfish being held by anybody before.

I certainly had expected Roatan to be lush green (which island is not?). What I had not expected is how hilly it is. The roads in West Bay is as winding and steep as in the North Georgia mountains. Because of the coral reefs, I had expected it to be relatively flat. I learnt that it is actual part of a volcanic ridge.

The winds have picked up. The feeling is very different from that of last two days. Feels much cooler to the skin and makes one very drowsy. The aperol spritz is not helping in staying awake!!

Remember how I was wondering what that helicopter was doing in the middle of Flower Bay? I asked my friend Juan – the security gentleman here – who has been helping me with a lot of arrangements here.

He solved the problem for me.

Well, it is not a helicopter!! It is a old sailboat that ran aground. People, over time, have stripped it off its valuable parts. What remains is an old vessel lying there. In fact, if you zoom it enough, you can discern the boat and the broken mast fallen behind it. From the air, it looks eerily like a downed helicopter!