The grounds of our resort, Coco View, were landscaped with a variety of tropical flora, starting with this coconut-bearing palm tree next to our room.

Nearby, a banana tree.

I couldn't resist shooting them. Unfortunately, since I don't have a clue as to many of their names, here they have to pass as things like "yellow leaves plant."

There were several parrots in cages both outdoors and in the dining room.

This one's a "red parrot."

"Green one."

These things were growing on the palm trees near our room. I was told "orchids." Apparently, they subsist on "air-roots."

On another tree I found actual flowers attached to a set of roots.

Hibiscus. It's "red."

"Less red."

If I were in a flower shop in Mass. I would guess this was a spathiphyllum, or peace lilly. But I was in Honduras.

Same comment. By flower-shop standards, it looks like a white poinsettia. However, I was still in Honduras.

Artistic palm frond shot.

These look like air roots - plant unknown.

"Tropical plant."

On Friday afternoon, after we had finished the week's diving, some of us took a tour of Roatan Island. It started with a visit to a scenic spot on the north side of the island, where a fancy drive led to somewhere fancy. It was nice to know, after the fact, that were was a med-evac helicopter available.

This wasn't part of the tour, but I thought I should put this shrimp boat in somewhere. Trivia fact: At one point Roatan was the source for all the lobsters used by the Red Lobster restaurant chain.

After the senic view stop we went to Arch's Iguana Park, or some such. Arch is concerned with safeguarding iguanas because the island's iguanas - often called the "Caribbean chicken" - were being eaten out of existence.

This shot fulfilled my need to be around them.

As a point of information, they smell.

Arch's other big deal is tarpons. He raises tarpons, also in short supply in the area, and releases them into the ocean. He had several dozen in pens along the shore.

The really interesting part of the afternoon was our visit to the Carambola Botanical Gardens, run by Bill Brady, North Carolina native and Red Sox fan. Bill came to Roatan as a Peace Corps volunteer, married a Honduran, and never left.

He became a Red Sox fan at age nine when he saw Ted Williams hit a home run against the Washington Senators. He's president of Red Sox Nation for Central America, or Honduras, or perhaps Roatan. Truth to tell, he, his wife and kids are the entire population of Red Sox Nation for Central America, or Honduras, or perhaps Roatan.

He was recruiting.

Oh, yeah. The photos: Those are chocolate trees in the previous shot. The chocolate is found inside these pods, grown as fruit on the trees. Bill cut one open and gave samples.

The garden covers some 50 acres or so, with hiking trails. It would be wonderful to be able to spend a day wandering through it.

I'm pretty sure this is a pineapple.

I suspect this is a vanilla plant.

Actually, I remember that this is a very tall version of a traveler's palm, because you can cut it open at the base of the fan and extract drinkable water. Mostly, you would do this on shorter trees.

Green bamboo.

Orchid roots, on the trunk of a Honduran mahogany tree.

The canopy. Remember the vine.

These flowers grew high up in the canopy on the vine and fell to the ground. In this case, onto a bench.

"Yellow flower."

"Red Flower."

Finally, we went to the town at the west end of the island.

Actually, it wasn't as nice as the resort.

The gift shops ranged in nature from crass to actual quality.

We resisted the urge to buy Indian masks.

Especially these.

Back at the resort I had noticed this hummingbird feeder in a garden.

On the last night, I discovered that it's for bats.

Bats are our friends. Repulsive, perhaps, but our friends.