Recently we took a Caribbean cruise aboard the Norwegian Escape. We enjoyed much about the cruise, but the best parts were the stops in Roatan (Honduras), Costa Maya (Mexico), and Cozumel (Mexico). The ship also made a stop at Norwegian’s private island in Belize. We found that area pretty, but since my husband has limited mobility and needs a wheelchair to go long distances we found that port limiting—the ferry that took travelers from the island to the mainland wouldn’t allow us to stop his wheelchair while aboard. Nonetheless, we had three great other stops to enjoy. One of my personal favorites was Roatan in Honduras.
The coastline of Roatan at the Coxen Hole port is visually stunning. We voyaged out with Jon’s mobility scooter to see what we could see. In the port authority area, we enjoyed some cocktails and did a little shopping. Jon went back to the ship and I decided to do some exploring because I wanted to visit an animal park with a sloth encounter that I heard was a short walking distance away.
The port authority guards suggested I hire a guide and pointed the way to where I could find one. Lots of locals were standing there waiting for cruise-goers to need help. For a cash tip, a man escorted me the short distance (about 10 minutes) to the animal park. Along the way he told me about Honduran culture and economics, as well as pointed out vegetation. It was a very neat impromptu tour and I was happy to give him a tip for his time, knowledge, and company. He explained to me that the country was very impoverished and tourism was a major source of employment for Hondurans.
When we got to the zoo, it was a humble setup with a rustic booth out front to buy tickets for the animal farm. For $15, I was given a wristband and a guide to take me through the zoo; it was my understanding that you couldn’t independently visit the animals, which was good to protect the animals. Since I was alone, the park matched me with a couple. The three of us set off following our guide who took us on an amazing interactive experience with the animals. We were able to hold Capuchin monkeys, parrots, guinea pigs, macaws, and sloths (more on this in a bit). We saw white-tailed deer and other various animals. Seeing the sloths was a highlight of the visit. I loved “Flash” who was a three-toed sloth giving out hugs that day. I never knew how much I would adore a sloth, but I did—I broke out in the biggest smile and pure glee when our guide put Flash in my arms.
Our guide was very knowledgeable about the animals, which added to the experience. The whole “tour” took about 30 minutes. Although this wasn’t a fancy place, and quite small, the pens were fairly spacious and the animals seemed cared for.
The cruise had offered an excursion to a sloth sanctuary where one could have a sloth encounter and then visit an iguana park, but it was costly and was a half-day adventure. I was able to walk to this little park, see the animals, and get back to the ship in an hour. Jon hadn’t come because he wasn’t sure the mobility scooter could make it down the road; I found out that he would have been able to maneuver it, although it was not smooth pavement at times. When inquiring about tours though, we found that the excursions offered by the cruise and Shore Group Excursions offered accommodations for mobility-challenged travelers.
I greatly enjoyed this little tour and was happy that there was a close, cost-effective option for people like myself who wanted a little taste of the island without a big tour group and that didn’t take a lot of time. I wish I could share the name of it with you, but I never caught it…if there was one.
We are affiliates with Viator and they have a lot of reasonably priced tours for sloth & monkey encounters, as well as ziplining and other adventures. Take a look at their tours so you can visit a petting zoo safely. https://www.viator.com/Roatan/d4132-ttd?pid=P00161535&mcid=42383&medium=link&medium_version=selector
Also, I’ve saved some tours that look great to the Roaming Historian Viator Shop: https://www.viator.com/partner-shop/roaming-historian/?medium=link&medium_version=shop
If you want to go alone without a tour, you can ask the port authority agents about a zoo within walking distance of the port and where to find an escort to take you there.
Happy travels.
Going on a trip? You will love our tour partners at LivTours, Tour Guy, and Viator. Check them out:
LivTours (semi-private/private tours): https://livtours.com?af_code=E1DDN61
TourGuy (small group/private tours): https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1362329&u=4109975&m=89095&urllink=&afftrack=
Viator (small to medium size groups/private): https://www.viator.com/Italy/d57-ttd?sortType=external&pid=P00161535&mcid=42383&medium=link&medium_version=selector
With industry leaders in tours, travel insurance, hotels, vacation rentals, flights, cruises, and trip planning, explore the world with our curated list of affiliate links on our Travel Planning page: https://roaminghistorian.com/travel-planning/
We sell fabulous photographic prints from our travels on our Etsy shop! These are great for home decor or as a gift. If you see a photograph on our website that isn’t in our Etsy shop, let me know and I’ll likely be able to add it to Etsy.
Disclosure: Roaming Historian may derive revenue from affiliate links and other sources, which helps offset the costs of bringing you the information we do. The blogs and reviews posted on this website are of our own opinion though.
Roaming Historian 