Arriving on Santa Helena

From London I flew to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, via Miami. From SPS I had to catch 2 small (17-seater) planes before landing at Coxen Hole, Roatan. Roatan is one of the largest Bay Islands, located in the Western Caribbean about 35 miles off the North coast of Honduras. Whilst the predominant language is English, albeit with a strong island accent, the culture is thankfully authentic.

So, I arrived on Roatan one day before I was due to meet up with the Coral Cay lot. I spent the first night in West End - a tourist hotspot on the West Coast of the island. The following afternoon I made my way back to Coxen Hole airport in order to meet with Chris, the Expedition Leader. From Coxen Hole it was an hour's taxi ride over to the port of Oak Ridge, from where we were to catch our boat to The Point, Santa Helena - where the CCC lodge was based. Santa Helena is right on the eastern side of Roatan, separated from the rest of the island by a manmade mangrove creek (which is why it's only accessible by boat).

It was a long, bizarre journey from Oak Ridge to Santa Helena (involving dead cows, drinks of rum & minestrone, lemon marshmallow pie, toilets covered in doilies, listening to one song over & over again, & our boat driver claiming to not see so well in the dark). Miraculously, some hours later, I made it to my new home alive & in one piece!

As it was already dark by then (because the generator wasn't working) whilst we were greeted by those already staying at the lodge, we didn't really get to meet anyone properly until the following day. It was also fairly late when we arrived so it was all I could do to eat a sandwich before jumping into bed. I was to be sharing a room with one of the older volunteers, Katie, who turned out to be a great roommate! We also had the best room of all, for which I was ever grateful :o)

As well as the Expedition Leader, there were 4 other members of staff on site: a Project Scientist (Emily), a Science Officer (Claire), a Medical Officer (Kate) & a Scuba Instructor (Andy x2).