Gorgeous Gumbalimba Park in Roatan, Honduras

On our recent voyage on The Getaway we had the opportunity to visit a gorgeous, lush island in Honduras- Roatan Bay. This island, which is roughly 30 miles from the mainland of Honduras is a quaint, natural oasis in a picturesque rainforest setting. Our visit to Gumbalimba Park was an excursion through NCL. I was actually unable to find a reputable vendor outside of NCL for the excursion and truth be told I did not want to take a chance of not getting back to the port in time. Roatan is a new port for Norwegian and while their roads and transportation seems reliable they are still new for the tourism industry. We met at the port with our guide for the trip- "Prince Ronnie"- who escorted us to an air conditioned bus for the ride to Gumbalimba. The trip was about 40 minutes, and Prince Ronnie shared a lot of information with us about the island and the animals at Gumbalimba. I will say the heat was intense- over 90 degrees with humidity in the 90's was rough! We sweated more than we ever have before and we live in Florida! We did bring along a can of DEET bug spray to apply at the park to reduce our risk of Zika virus and other mosquito borne illnesses. Our guide told us mosquito season was in the late summer- August and September and we honestly did not encounter many. Prince Ronnie led us to view different areas of the park and he explained about the foliage and rainforest insects and creatures that make this area their home. We made a short trip to an insectarium to view butterflies (not living) native to Roatan, as well as other bugs. This attraction seemed the most out of place for the park but it was cooler than outdoors! We walked through a faux cave and pirate exhibit while Prince Ronnie shared the pirate and explorer history of Roatan. After walking further and encountering tons of large and colorful iguanas (careful not to step on them as they get next to you quick) we walked a rope bridge to view the tropical birds and Capuchin monkeys. There was another option if you did not wish to cross the long rope bridge too- so no fear of you are unable to do that physically. The birds were flying free and content to pose for photos. A guide from the park was there to assist visitors if they wanted to get their photo taken with one of the trained Macaws as well. My husband and son did get photos with the Macaw- and the bird actually hung out on my son's shoulder for 10 minutes! I chose not to as the guide said the birds would use their beak to remove any buttons on a hat or hair adornments- and I needed my scrunchy to keep my hair up in the heat! We then walked further to where all of the Capuchin monkeys frolicked freely and they are so cute! We all got chances to hold them and get photos with them too. The trainer lured them over with the promise of sunflower seeds and after they got comfortable they came to play and hang on your shoulders on their own. This was an amazing experience that I recommend to all people young and old! There was also lots of island rabbits- or Agoutis hopping around. They look a bit like big rats but they are really sweet creatures. Lots of water and a bus ride in air conditioning was the final leg of our trip back to the port- all told about four hours time. The port had shops and places to grab a bite, as well as local school girls doing traditional Honduran songs and dances for donations. The people were very friendly and I felt extremely safe in Roatan. We all agreed we would do this trip again to hang out with those darling Capuchins! Here are some photos that capture just a bit of this amazing environment.

The port-

Gumbalimba-