Author’s note: This post is part of my series on my recent trip to Honduras. To read more, click here.

“Sunsets are so beautiful that they almost seem as if we were looking through the gates of Heaven”. -John Lubbock 

My first afternoon in Roatan was rather rushed and not really relaxing. I tend to get overly excited when I arrive at a new place and run a hundred miles an hour trying to cram in as much as possible. Unfortunately that tends to be my personality. But there was one thing that I wasn’t going to miss: The famous sunsets along West Bay. I had read that West Bay is the best place on the island to catch sunset over an icy cold beer and Diane at West Bay B&B even told me the perfect place: The Bananarama Bar and Grill. “Make sure you snap a shot of the sun setting through the palm trees” Diane said with a brilliant smile. “It can’t be missed“.

Those words, Cerveza fria! were calling my name!

I arrived well before sunset to ensure appropriate time to fully unwind and relax. They were just setting up the reggae band at the Thirsty Turtle at the Bananarama Resort. I grabbed a drink menu and read “Local Beer” $3. The price was right and I ordered one up immediately.

One of the best local beers “Salva Vida” which means lifeguard.

The scene at the outdoor beach front bar. Who cares if I was alone? I was surely going to enjoy myself!

Staring up at the coconuts.

I found it interesting that Roatan, just an hour and a half ferry ride from mainland Honduras, widely accepted dollars. It was the first sign that things in the Bay Islands were quite different than the mainland.

As I sipped my delicious savory cerveza, the sun began to set and cast her spell over me. Wow, it was indeed spectacular and simply beautiful. I sat drinking my beer, listening to reggae and snapped away. Hopefully I caught the must-have picture that Diane told me I couldn’t leave Roatan without.

And this one’s for you, Diane!

“I remember a hundred lovely lakes, and recall the fragrant breath of pine and fir and cedar and poplar trees. The trail has strung upon it, as upon a thread of silk, opalescent dawns and saffron sunsets.” -Hamlin Garland

Stay tuned….