Page 122 - Central America

In late October 1998, most of the buildings and homes on the island
were destroyed by Hurricane Mitch. The islanders have since rebuilt,
and although there are still repercussions to the economy from Mitch,
tourism has been recovering. The majority of the mangrove and pine
forests, which were destroyed as a direct consequence of the passage
of the hurricane sweeping across the island for two days, are slowly
making a comeback.
In 1502 Columbus discovered this island and called it Isla de Los Pinos
(Isle of Pines) although it already had a name, Guanaca, used by the
natives that inhabited it. This name appears as early as 1511 on a map
drawn by Peter Martyr but it later was corrupted by English pirates,
privateers and settlers and was pronounced Bonacca. There has been
other names for the island over the years before the Bay Islands were
turned over to Honduras as the English, the Dutch and the Spaniards
modified the name to their liking. Upon gaining possession of the Bay
Islands the Honduran government made Guanaja the official name of
the island but the residents kept the old name for as long as they could
and older inhabitants throughout the islands still call it Bonacca. The
main settlement is called The Cay, an abbreviation of Lower Cays, the
original name. It was first settled by the Haylocks who had moved to
the two little cays that lay about a half kilometer off the south shore of were roughly 40. While there is only one road, from Mangrove Bight
the main island to get rid of the flies that plagued them during calm
nights. They eventually stayed and later sold the southernmost cay
(Hog Cay) to the Kirkconnells. Many other families, among others
the Bordens, the Phillips and the Woods, came later and by the 1880s
a thriving community had developed.
The Caracol people are an English-speaking people who have been
established in Northern Honduras (specifically, the Bay Islands) since
the early 19th century and are mainly of European British-Caribbean
descent. Caracol is a Spanish term that literally translates as conch,
snail or shell and relates the people of the Bay Islands to their unique
environment and their seafaring culture.
English is the first language of all native islanders regardless of race
and Spanish is spoken second, whereas mainland Honduras is pri-
marily Spanish speaking. This comes as a result of the island’s past
as a British colony. With the steady influx of mainland Hondurans
migrating to the islands an increase in Spanish has arisen but because
of the tourism and cruise ship industry that support the islands, Eng-
lish continues to be the first spoken and dominant language among
native island peoples. Over time the form of English spoken by the
Caracol has changed. The language differs mostly in morphology but
also in pronunciation and accent and, to a lesser extent, in syntax and
vocabulary, from the English of the other British Caribbean colonies.
Evidenced by the usage of the wide variety of old standard English
terms and words that are used throughout the islands. They are simi-
lar enough to be mutually intelligible and understood throughout the
entire Bay Islands. The language can also be learned, although it is
not taught in the general sense, whilst the accent derived from the
wide variety of expatriates living and working on the Islands from
North America and Europe. Transportation is sparse, and as of 2006,
there were only three cars on the island, but by the end of 2011, there
to Savannah Bight, the most common means of transportation are
boats. A channel locally known as “The Canal” allows access from the
south to the north side of the island without having to go all the way
around. Guanaja is served by the Guanaja Airport (GJA). As of 2011,
access to Guanaja is only by air flights from the Honduran mainland
town of La Ceiba and a twice-weekly ferry from Trujillo. Along with
private boats and charter planes, there are now flights from Roatan to
Guanaja daily.