Page 38 - Central America

The Caracol people are an English-speaking people who have been private boats and charter planes, there are now flights from Roatan to
established in Northern Honduras (specifically, the Bay Islands) since Guanaja daily.
the early 19th century and are mainly of European British-Caribbean The island of Roatan is located 30 miles off the north coast of Hon-
descent. Caracol is a Spanish term that literally translates as conch, duras and is part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. The reef attracts
snail or shell and relates the people of the Bay Islands to their unique many fish, and is world known for scuba diving. It is approximately 77
environment and their seafaring culture. kilometres (48 mi) long, and less than 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) across at
English is the first language of all native islanders regardless of race its widest point. Roatan is the largest of the Bay Islands at about 77 kil-
and Spanish is spoken second, whereas mainland Honduras is pri- ometres (48 mi) long, and less than 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) at its widest.
marily Spanish speaking. This comes as a result of the island’s past The island has a number of beaches, all of which are public. Originally
as a British colony. With the steady influx of mainland Hondurans an English colony, and later ceded to Honduras, Roatan has a mixture
migrating to the islands an increase in Spanish has arisen but because of english and spanish speaking natives. With two cruise ship ports,
of the tourism and cruise ship industry that support the islands, Eng- Roatan has become a cruise destination, and roads and beaches can be
lish continues to be the first spoken and dominant language among busy when ships are in port. Prices for services may be higher when
native island peoples. Over time the form of English spoken by the a ship is in. In recent years the island has experienced a lot of devel-
Caracol has changed. The language differs mostly in morphology but opment and has a number of resorts along with more rustic accom-
also in pronunciation and accent and, to a lesser extent, in syntax and modation as well. The western side of the island is the most populated
vocabulary, from the English of the other British Caribbean colonies. and where most tourists stay, and the eastern side is more remote and
Evidenced by the usage of the wide variety of old standard English isolated. Roatan has a warm climate with daytime temperatures be-
terms and words that are used throughout the islands. They are simi- tween 80-90 year round.
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
were roughly 40. While there is only one road, from Mangrove Bight
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