Clyde Lobaugh

Foreign Destination Research Project

HTT/200

June 20, 2014

Israel Johnson, Instructor

When ask about the foreign destination that I would want to be visit again, I had no doubt that it would be Roatan, Honduras. Roatan is a small island located off the mainland of Honduras. I have only had the pleasure of visiting this island via cruise ship about seven times but keep checking for land vacations. I have even done research of spending at least a week if not several months on the island. When I am on the island, I have a relaxed feeling that I wished to feel for a longer period of time. “Once part of Spain's vast empire in the New World, Honduras became an independent nation in 1821. After two and a half decades of mostly military rule, a freely elected civilian government came to power in 1982.” (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ho.html) Honduras is located in Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Nicaragua and bordering the Gulf of Fonseca (North Pacific Ocean), between El Salvador and Nicaragua. Roatan is a small island off the mainland of Honduras. It is known as part of the Bay Island chain that is off the mainland. “Roatan remained quietly under the dominion of the Spaniards until the year 1642, when they were attacked by an English pirate. No resistance being made by the Indians, Roatan and Guanaja were taken possession of.” (http://www.honduras.com/roatan-history/) “According to Roatan history, the island was deserted from 1650 until 1742, when the English took possession of it again, and fortified it with materials which they had carried off from the city of Truxillo. They maintained themselves in it until 1780, when they were dislodged by the governor of Guatemala. In 1796, they once more made themselves masters of it, and stationed 2000 negroes for its protection.” (http://www.honduras.com/roatan-history/) Though the official language of Honduras is Spanish, the most common language spoken on Roatan is Caribbean English. The climate of Roatan is tropical. “The Department of State continues to warn U.S. citizens that the level of crime and violence in Honduras remains critically