NEXT PORT: PIRATES, BIRDS AND MONKEYS

Sunrise the next day brought us to Isla Roatan which is an island about 80 miles off the mainland of Honduras.

At this port the ship would be docked...what you can't tell from the photo below is that the ship is coming into port...backwards!  How would you like to steer a 963-foot ship in reverse!

As in the previous ports the Carnival Glory would be joining us.  In this series of photos you can see how the Glory turned 180 degrees in order to reverse into the dock in front of us.

Our excursion on Isla Roatan was "Pirates, Birds and Monkeys of the Caribbean".  We traveled by bus to Gumbalimba Nature Park.  This was the only time we went past the main tourist area and saw where the locals lived.  Such poverty!  The average person living on this island makes $3,000 a year.  Their livelihoods depend entirely on the cruise ship tourist trade.  Our young tour guide was very knowledgeable about her island...

For the "Pirates" portion of the tour we explored Coxen's Cave and learned about the infamous pirate, Captain John Coxen...

Saw examples of his stolen treasures...

And saw an actual barnacle-covered cannon from his ship...

For the "Birds" portion of the tour we saw beautiful macaws just sitting freely in the trees...

But the fun was having one sitting on your shoulder...

For the "Monkeys" portion of the tour we saw where the Capuchin monkeys are free to roam...

Such a cute face!

But the personal encounters were so cool!

Gumbalimba Park is a beautiful botanical park with waterfalls...

Over 200 types of tropical plants...

Beautiful tropical flowers...

And the only home to the rare Black Iguana...

We really enjoyed our day at Mahogany Bay on Isla Roatan...

But when the ships sail away, it becomes a ghost town...

Gumbalimba Park is named after one of the native tree species in Honduras, the Gumbalimba Tree. This tree has a bright red, peeling, smooth bark and dark green leaves. For more information about Gumbalimba Park, visit http://www.gumbalimbapark.com/.

We only had a few hours on Isla Roatan, but we really enjoyed our visit to Gumbalimba Park. Our next port is Grand Cayman Island. Stay tuned for our snorkeling adventures with the stingrays.