And then there was the Roatan Island,Honduras.

Again the tender was used to ferry the passengers to the mainland."Join us on facebook" a sign outside the first seafront restaurant one comes to ashore,said.Good to know,I thought,but had other things to take care of first - change some £ for $,then walk for a good hour as the island seemed green and luscious from a distance,perfect for a long stretch of the legs.So off in search of the HSBC bank that was supposed to be in the main street,I went.An armed guard ushered me in.No-one there spoke a word of English, but they understood what I wanted and indicated that I was not going to get it.Outside an ATM machine was out of order.I turned back and stopped at a very nice, modern,clean,air-conditioned store to pick up fruit juice and yogurt just so that I could pay with the debit card I had used the previous day, as I had this uncomfortable feeling about it since.The card was blocked.Thank you,Santander,for being overcautious,you came up trumps.Happily I continued walking,but it was becoming uncomfortably hot and the narrow uneven,broken pavements unpleasant to walk on and too crowded,as there were two other cruise ships in the port,both much bigger than Columbus. The streets of Roatan could not cope with the deluge of people,but the shops had an early Christmas.I bought myself a brown beaded bracelet with golden thread through the beads with a dark wooden clasp,all for 13 $,utterly lovely.No-one offered free wi-fi,minutes had to be purchased.I am never going to us a card in Latin America again,ever,so off to the restaurant offering free facebook connection, I went.And suddenly I was ravenous,so ordered the most expensive item on the menu - a lobster with a baked potato for 25 $.And local beer.Yes,me,a beer.It was brought instantly and was cold and oh so good on that steaming hot morning when the temperature was approaching 30 and it was not finished yet.The waiter seemed to have forgotten about the lobster and I had to remind him.He was charming and apologetic.The lobster was superb,the baked potato turned out to be chips that had seen a better day and the fresh looking lettuce and tomatoes I did not touch,as I do not eat cold vegetables on holiday in hot countries.I was sitting in the shade at the massive oblong table in the middle of the restaurant,the small side tables were too hot with the sun beaming upon them.

Three boys,late teens, came to sit next to me, smiled broadly and one turned towards me asking if I would mind him smoking.Not at all, I replied. Would you like a cigarette,he said.No,thank you,I do not smoke.I thought you probably did not smoke, you look very beautiful.I burst out laughing.There was a couple from the ship at one of the tables and later,

 when the boys left,the woman said to me  - that boy was flirting with you,  well,I never!   Yes, he was!

 I left the table with a spring in my step.And yes, I could only get connected to the facebook,but I was grateful for small mercy.The several hours spent on the Roatan Island were wonderful.