Stopped by POLICE

First Time – Stopped by Police

I knew it would happen sooner or later. I got stopped at 9:30 PM on the dark dirt road leading from Paya Bay to Punta Blanca where I am staying. There were 6 officers and luckily one of them spoke English. They asked for my drivers’ license and registration and I had both. Then they asked for my passport which I didn’t have with me. I told them it was up the road about 1 mile but they didn’t buy that. They said they would confiscate my license and I’d get it back when I showed them my passport. I said I’d take it up with the American Embassy. They kept me standing there while they searched the car and my computer bag. I kept an eye on them to make sure they weren’t stealing anything.

After several minutes the English speaker talked to another guy that said he was his boss. I heard him say American Embassy and then his boss told him to give my license and registration back. At that point the guy got real friendly and started giving me advice to avoid further problems with other local police. He said I should get a Honduran License and keep a copy of my passport. He also said I should get permanent residence. I’ll do the first two but getting residence status is complex, time consuming and expensive.

Our days are very long and hard with 16 guests. We really don’t have the resources for this crowd so it has been a strain. We have to transport the guests, 40 scuba tanks, gas, water and all the gear about 40 minutes to the south side. It takes two trucks and a 13 passenger bus to make it happen.

Today the resort said the bus was a problem because they use it to pick up the owners grandkids and friends from school and we were making them late. I had to hire another bus but it only cost $20.

The lady that owns the dock that we use to get guest on board invited my to her house to discuss fees. Apparently the former manager wasn’t paying her enough so she was angry and wanted to set her own price. I told her I was new and would do whatever she felt was right. She asked for $7.50 a day which includes parking for 2 cars and two boats. I thought it was a bargain and agreed. We then had a nice conversation about her time in Roatan. Nice lady.

My workers are constantly asking for payday loans and its something we’ve always done. It is hard to keep track when they are asking for a few dollars all the time. They all got 100 dollar tips on Sunday and they were asking for money on Tuesday. I have no idea where they spend that much money as the standard of living is way below what they earn in pay and tips.

We had a great fire show tonight. There is a guy and gal that go around to the various resorts and put on this show. They do a great job and everyone loved it. It’s all done on a wood deck and the scatter the fire on it but of course it burns out in seconds. I’ll try to get a picture some time because its pretty cool.