Bonacca, Guanaja, Honduras

CzechNMate's dinghy approaches Bonacca

Guanaja and its main settlement  Bonacca is in the east of the Bay Islands and the first place to check in if arriving from the east or south. It was discovered (by Europeans) by Christopher Columbus in 1502 on the fourth and last voyage to the New World. He was met by Paya Indians in giant canoes each holding 25 people. It was covered with dense forests of pine that quite recently were devastated by Hurricane Mitch. There are still many of these stately trees and the island is really beautiful. It is very lightly developed with small guest houses and tiny resorts.

Eight thousand of the ten thousand inhabitants live on the tiny island of Bonacca or The Settlement just off the mainland. The original cay is almost invisible now as homes built over the water stretch out on every side. We anchored in The Bight, a very protected harbor about a mile from the town and an easy dinghy ride away. 

Between Utila and Guanaja we stopped for a week in French Cay Harbor on Roatan but I'll cover that area in another post. During our week at The Bight we enjoyed visits to the town, dinner at the Manatee Restaurant and Hans' Place and a wonderful day trip over to the north side of the island which I'll cover in a separate post. Each day we hiked up into the hills with our two buddy boats; Jerry and Deborah on CzechN Mate and Dave and Ellen on Cordelia. Dave is an excellent musician and played Saturday night over at the Manatee. He wrote a song (on his CD) called Bonacca Town and the locals loved it. Hans' Place is the place to be on Mondays when they make pizzas in the wood fired oven outside.

The easiest place to leave your trash in 11 years cruising
A drive by trash boat - just throw it in.

Looking over to the mainland side of the town

Piles of tiny boats are piled up on the top of the "mother
ship". Fishermen going for conch or lobster spend the day
diving for both and then their nights on the main ship,
sometimes for weeks offshore

Shrimp Boats wait for the start of the season

Canals criss cross the town

Some are quite attractive but others, with little
circulation not so much

This one was particularly lovely

Kids are everywhere in this town and seem to have
free reign - everyone knows everyone for sure!

There are no roads or cars but "sidewalks" of various kinds

This is the "main road" 

One of the side "streets"

We had lunch at the Mango Cafe and it was delicious
BBQ chicken, stew beans, coconut rice, sauteed vegetables
and fried plantains - all for $5

Mutton Peppers are a specialty of this area
and on every table, whole or in a hot sauce

Some of the homes are built on the foundation of the
original cay and have lovely gardens, but not many.

One of our walk took us up the well paved roads of a
want-to-be development that like so many we've seen in
the Caribbean, fizzled out. Only 2 homes were built and
only 1 occupied.

The caretaker's family at that one home

View of the anchorage at The Bight 

Jerry and Scott follow me up the trail

The landmark hotel on Dunbar Rock

Some of our walks took us along the endless beaches

That's Dave on the right and the manager Klause of the
 Manatee Restaurant accompanying him on the left
His wife Annette is so vivacious and welcoming

Scott took this amazing shot of one of the many hummingbird's
feeding near us.