shopping in the port that is attached to the dock. We also walk around between the tour companies, finding out what our options might be for getting our own tour and get a good deal from one that explains all that they would do for us and finish shopping while we
discuss it. A freak thunderstorm comes in quickly and we take shelter in an art store and of course find something that we can buy. We also successfully keep Oscar from breaking anything in the store and feel good about that. After the rain, we decide to hire the taxi service and head back down to settle up. I make it clear that if we get a good setup, we'd be talking about it on tripadvisor and cruisecritic and they're only charging us for the 4 adults for the day. The kids are going to be free and we head off first to the monkey park. There is only one road around the island and our driver, Charles, makes is clear that he was born and lived all of his life on the island. He also makes it clear that they don't go to the mainland of Honduras and English is the main language on the island with Charles not even taking his cell phone when he has business on the mainland. He is a wealth of information and knows the answer to every question that we ask about the island. We
stop at the monkey park and at first, not planning to go in. John doesn't want to go, I believe that Oscar won't remember it and Brenden doesn't seem to want to. But Lena and Ethan are game, Julie and Dave are going and I
decide that Oscar is free, why not, then suddenly John and Brenden are hooked too. So, we went from maybe no one going to everyone going in to the monkey park. We got a guide that takes us in to the cages with the nice monkeys
and they jump from head to back to head periodically. Brenden is especially liked and when one jumps on my back with Oscar in my arms, he's fascinated and then horrified when it runs over his head to jump on John. Oscar was ready to leave after that close encounter, but I couldn't believe how light these little Capuchin monkeys were. I mean with their tail, they're longer than Oscar, but seem to be light as feathers when they land on you. We get to see other monkeys and parrots and toucans that will also land on you, but John has an aversion to birds and Oscar didn't seem to keen on these things getting any closer. There were more animals and some sloth like creature and
then "island rabbits" which are really in the rat family and are huge. Overall, a great experience that we were thinking about missing. Glad we went because Oscar kept pointing to his head anytime we mentioned monkeys, so he did remember the experience. We continued on our drive including a rum cake place where we got to try samples, the a couple of high points on the island that had great vistas. We passed a place that said that beers were a dollar and Charles
stopped and went back, so that we could get some and drive around the island drinking Honduran beer. We went to a private beach that was attached to a very nice resort, but didn't get to enjoy it because another storm came through and we got thoroughly soaked running back to the van. But it's so warm here, you don't notice that you're soaking wet. We find bathrooms and Charles takes us out to the place where people rent beachfront property and we get to discuss how we could get into a week on this island in a nice house. Unlike Guatemala, we've had a great experience here and like the vibe. When we stop at a convenience store on the way back to the ship, there are cops there with guns because we're facing the mainland again. Charles says that there is no crime on the island because
everyone knows each other, but crime does come from the mainland. John gets another beer and hit another high point with a little market attached to it. We buy some souvenirs and John gets some hand-rolled Honduran cigars which makes him very happy. All in all, a great day on a great island. And we feel that we got a serious deal with our driver, his knowledge, and what we got to do. We head back to the ship for a nap and have planned to take the kids tonight so that Dave and Julie can have a date night and then switch the next night. However, when it comes time for us to go pick up the kids from the play group, John is sick. He doesn't feel well and throws up a couple of times and now I won't let him go near anyone else in case he has what Oscar had and is contagious. Oscar and I go pick up the kids and all go to eat, where I get tested as a babysitter by requests for desserts (multiple). I agree to one dessert each and they have to choose their one, but the oldest comes back with a crepe with a brownie in the middle. We take a vote at the table and determine that this counts as two desserts and Brenden only gets half of the crepe. We take our ice creams and head out to the deck to enjoy the evening and then head down to the rooms where Julie and Dave have come to the elevators to look for us. We now discuss if there is a virus amongst us or if John has been poisoned by water on the beer can that he had separate from us. He's the only one that did ingest the native water, so we're still not sure if we're contagious or not....But now, the dilemma is if John can go on the big excursion that we have planned for Costa Maya, Mexico which is an outing to Mayan Ruins....
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