Gumbalimba Preserve & Animal Sanctuary
In Roatan, I normally use the free beach when I’m with Carnival. Since we aren’t going to be in the Carnival port this time, I’m using this opportunity to do something different. I booked Gumbalimba Preserve & Animal Sanctuary. That’s an $85 tour that I paid $35 for after Norwegian’s $50 discount.
For those who don’t know there are some new laws in Roatan regarding tours that involve animals. Specifically touching and photographing the animals. The enforcement of this law seems to be changing almost daily so I’m going to get to see first hand how they’re doing it now.
I found the meeting point. I’m zone 7.
I found the sign for my tour by the zone but it’s a bit of a mess instead of an orderly line.
I was on the bus before our meeting time.
We have a 30-minute ride ahead of us. This is our driver and our tour guide.
Gumbalimba is the only animal excursion place on the island where the animals aren’t caged.
Despite the new law, monkeys will jump on your shoulder because they’re used to it.
They can’t stop them so even with the law you’ll probably always still be able to get the monkey on your shoulder picture at Gumbalimba.
And we are on our way.
You can see the ship at Mahogany Bay from here.
And we have arrived at Gumbalimba.
This is a sneak peek at the beach. There will be beach time at the end for those who want it.
We are about to start the tour.
Caribbean almond fruit
Black iguana
This is a museum we’re going to go through.
Christopher Columbus mural
1900 Coxen Hole
The only authentic weapon here is this conquistador cannon found in 1998. The rest are replicas.
This is a model of Gumbalimba.
We are coming up on the exit.
Cashew seed
Suspension Bridge and Chicken Walk for those who don’t want to take the bridge.
Scarlet macaw is the national bird of Honduras. They have cages here for them with one way doors. They put food in there at night and they go in. Then they let them out in the morning. That is to protect them from snakes at night. They have 44 at Gumbalimba.
They have a line if you want your picture with this group of macaws. I skipped it.
We are moving on to Monkey Town.
I did have a monkey on my shoulder for a couple minutes.
More black iguanas
Our last stop on the tour is the insectarium.
We saw hundreds of insects but I’m just going to show you a couple pictures of the colorful butterflies.
Outside we see someone on the zip line.
Cannonball fruit
Mangos
The tour ended at 1:18. We can take the bus back whenever we are ready. They run every 30 minutes. The last bus is 2:30. Back on board is 3:30. At this point you’re free to use the pools and beach if you want. I’m going to get some pictures of the facilities and catch the 1:30 bus.
They have a shuttle schedule.
They have separate bus stops for the different cruise lines.
Royal has a bench.
Here comes the shuttle.
And we are on our way back.
This is a lighthouse.
This is a zip line. You can zip line down to the beach from 400 feet up here.
This is a basketball court.
We’re getting close to the ships.
I enjoyed the Gumbalimba tour. It was nice to get out and see the animals and get that picture of the monkey on your shoulder.
