ROATAN

Schu is currently on the island of Roatan. Some quick historical facts, provided by Roatan Gazette. And supposedly those ghosts, who have been assigned to watch gold, will tell you exactly where to find it if they’re bored of their post!

Roatan, the island located in the Caribbean Sea falls under the territory of Honduras. It is at a distance of fifty miles from the Honduran Island. It has a vibrant history that is woven with the legends of pirates, invaders, buried gold, Indians and a mixture of languages and races. Christopher Columbus had discovered Guiana, a neighboring island in the year 1502. The islands were already inhabited and the artifacts left in the caves by the inhabitants can be found today. Columbus was followed by Spanish explorers. They began mining gold in Honduras. The Spaniards enslaved the Indians and the Africans and they set up cattle ranches for providing food and living to the miners.

The English settlers also landed up on this island. William Claiborne was authorized to set up a colony on the Roatan Island in the year 1638. He was from Virginia.

A Dutchman raided the Spanish settlements in the year 1639. The French and the English also terrorized them. The English raiders came in 1642 and occupied Port Royal which was further off from the present day Port Royal. The Spanish however wanted to get hold of all the gold in Port Royal and led attacks against the pirates. The pirates were conquered and the Spaniards along with the Indians later moved on to Guatemala.

1742 saw the settling of the Englishmen in Roatan but Roatan was lost in March 1782 and finally the English had to leave the island in the year 1788. The Black Caribs who are a blend of the African Carib descent and the Arawak Indian descent came to live on this island.

Spanish is the national language in Roatan but English is also spoken on this island. The Roatan Island is a wonderful mixture of cultures, language and people. Tourism is the industry and the primary sports are scuba diving. The legend runs that ghosts or “duppees” inhabit the island.

Roatan has a rich history of the early days of the Indians, the pirates, the attacks to the modern day independence.