Michael Rock (Part 5) Guanaja Honduras Bay Islands

By Thursday 13 Feb we were beginning to run low on fresh food.  We knew that the food supply boat arrives in Bonacca on Thursdays and Fridays and we had planned to take the dinghy from our anchorage, through the cut to Bonacca on the Friday.  But Bill and Chris, who had stayed at the End of the World (EOTW) the previous month, suggested that we ask to accompany Marlie when she did the weekly food-shop for the hotel.  So, when we were at the EOTW the previous day we had done so and Marlie had unhesitatingly agreed.

So, at 0830hrs on the Thursday we were ready for our pick-up and, spot on, the EOTW panga appeared around the headland and we were welcomed on board.  It was a full family day out.  There was Marlie and Armando, plus Ana and her 3 children and Jason.  We had bags for shopping, a propane bottle and a petrol can to fill and a couple of bags of rubbish – we seemed to have brought enough for everyone!  But the panga has plenty of carrying capacity, and a fast hull-form and the powerful outboard made short work of the run to the entrance to the canal.  It was a lot faster than it would have been in our tender.

Going through the canal from northwest to southeast

The canal that runs northwest to southeast across Guanaja looks man-made but Marlie told us that it is a natural gap in mangroves between 2 of the 3 cays that make up ‘mainland’ Guanaja.

The airport taxi-stand dock and terminal building

Guanaja’s airstrip runs parallel to the canal on its north side.  We couldn’t see the runway but we saw the airport taxi-stand (a dock – everything goes by water here) and the terminal building.

Bonacca street view

Once through the canal and on the east side of the island we were extremely grateful that Marlie and Armando had agreed to give us a lift.  The trade winds were blowing strongly from the east and there was a good chop on the water inside the reef.  The panga, with its high bow and powerful engine, bounced across the chop, spray flying, but flying away from us.  Had we been in our tender we’d have been soaked.

Fruit and veg stall – there’s a great selection on the days the supply boat comes in

We landed at the same dock we had used the previous week and headed ashore to see what supplies had arrived.  We were in luck.  Unsurprisingly, the wind hadn’t affected the ferries and the stalls were full of fresh fruit and veg, so we stocked up enthusiastically.  We also bought meat and eggs, for both of which, as in Cuba, you need to remember to bring suitable containers to carry them home.

Views from the north side of Bonacca

Shopping complete, we took a stroll around some of the back streets.  The island is a rabbit warren of lanes and whilst we didn’t get lost we could easily have done so.

Views from the ‘pagoda’ at the root of Bonacca ferry dock

Looking along Bonacca ferry dock – everything has to come in by boat

We met Marlie back at the ferry dock up on the raised ‘pagoda’ at its root, which we assume is a passenger waiting area, whilst Marlie waited for one of her deliveries to be unloaded from the supply ship.  All the loading and unloading is done by hand.  There are no cranes and no mechanised transport and everything is moved from the dock around the island on small handcarts, in wheelbarrows or on one of the myriad small pangas that ply the waters around the cays.  From our seats up in the pagoda we had a bird’s eye view of the dock and everything that was going on.  We sat, eating pasties that we had bought from a street vendor, enthralled by it all.

Looking north from the upper level of the ‘pagoda’ on Bonacca ferry dock

Marlie’s delivery came off the ship and Armando and Jason manhandled the boxes to the panga.  Then we loaded the rest of the shopping aboard and headed back, stopping, very briefly, at ‘Alcatraz island’ to top up our propane bottle and petrol can.

Waving goodbye

The run back was as fast, and as dry, as the run out and before we knew it we were back at BV and waving good-bye to the End of the Worlders.  It had only taken a couple of hours to do in the panga something that would have taken at least twice as long in our tender and, in the process, we had had and really interesting insight into the islanders’ way of life.  What a wonderful day.

Michael Rock, Guanaja, Honduras Bay Islands