What Is an Eco-Park, Anyway?

March 14, 2023

Roatan is an island that is part of Honduras. Some people on our tour today didn’t know this. Oy vey! It’s not like they are sitting at home in Iowa watching Jeopardy and playing along. They are here. They came here. They knew they were coming here. They suggested it was part of Belize, part of Mexico, part of Cozumel(!), and a separate country.

Here is how our day unfolded. We arrived at Mahogany Bay. It’s one of those made-up places I mentioned earlier. You have to go through the duty-free shop to get anywhere.

Our guide, Sherika-Gail (phonetic spelling), met our group and led us to our van. It was a small group tour and there were 11 of us. We drove to a souvenir store on top of a hill so that we could get a nice view and buy souvenirs. 

The unremarkable view from the souvenir store

As we drove around, Sherika did a very good job narrating. She offered a polished presentation about life on Roatan, including healthcare, crime, the economy, the natural history, and education. She said the main driver of the economy is tourism, with a little bit of fish exporting, which I gathered did not occur on a large scale. There did not seem to be any significant agriculture, according to her.

I have to wonder about the tourism. During the entire 4 to 5 hours of our tour we saw no hotels, no restaurants for tourists, and very little evidence of tourism infrastructure other than the port at Mahogany Bay. The only exception was the mediocre beach resort we went to at the end of our tour. 

We saw a good chunk of the western part of the island, including Coxen Hole, the capital. I looked at a map and saw that there were, in fact, a number of hotels and resorts in the central and eastern (and western) portions of the island. Maybe what we saw wasn’t representative, but I certainly expected a lot more than I saw.

And I have one thing to say that makes me uncomfortable. I did not bring it up with Sherika-Gail because I didn’t want her to think that I was judging the people and place she clearly loves. But here it is: If tourism is so important, why is there so much trash everywhere? Why are there so many junk cars everywhere?

Honduras is a poor country, and Roatan seems like it struggles with a higher cost of living than the mainland. This colors what you see (and what you don’t see) as you drive around.

We stopped at an “eco-park.” That is one of the reasons I selected this tour. I guess I didn’t really know what an “eco-park” was. I didn’t think it would be quite as “Mom & Pop” as this one. Good for Mom & Pop for being entrepreneurs in a place with so few opportunities. A lot of care and effort went into it. It didn’t happen overnight. I hope they keep it going and keep improving it. It has potential.

I think they were trying too hard to show us what could grow on Roatan rather than what has traditionally grown there. I don’t think I expected the fake Mayan statutes, which were supposed to remind us that Mayan culture once dominated on the mainland, but not necssarily here.

Sherika-Gail talks about this lion (lions never lived here) and Marcus Garvey, a controversial Jamaican political activist who visited Roatan once

As far as animals in the eco-park, we saw some birds (Guinea hens), lizards, iguanas, and one agouti. An agouti is related to a guinea pig, but not as cute.

Can you spot the lizard?

A different type of lizard

Agouti (photo from Wikipedia)

A cashew tree

Is this what happens if you don’t pick bananas soon enough?

Fake Mayan atifacts

These guinea hens were large and very noisy

Our final stop was at a resort called Las Palmas. We were welcomed with rum punch and we were provided with beach chairs under a palm tree. Food was extra, but we were hungry so we ordered chicken quesadillas from the limited bar menu. They were filled with loads of mozzarella and they were pretty terrible.

The beach was nice enough. It was clean, the water was gentle, there were not many rocks or pieces of coral. But the resort was pretty basic, and I would not choose to go there for a vacation.

I will just say that I, as a potential tourist, did not see anything on our tour that would make me want to come back to Roatan.

Back on the ship, we had a very nice dinner with some pleasant people - in a different dining room. Such a relief. We listened to Matt Baxter and then saw a comedian named Wayne Cotter. I liked his bit about the inane directions that some things come with.

Today’s color is Seafoam Green, the color of the lovely, clear water at the beach today.