I was in Roatan in Feb. '08

We experinced the villages the article mentioned.

Here is an exerpt from my blog

The "Collectivo" made me stunningly aware of the fact that we were in a 3rd world country and not just a diver resort town. Steve and I were the only white tourists in a van filled with over a dozen of the locals who were conscientiously being picked up and dropped off on our journey. When the van seats were full, people stood bracing themselves against the ceiling and windows. We left the main road briefly and drove into the real Honduras where families lived in small, colorful yet drab shacks not much bigger then my living room. The power was out again on the island, something that happed several hours each day randomly, so most people were relaxing outside to escape the stale, fanless air of their houses on that Sunday afternoon. No lush gardens of hibiscus here like where we were staying; rather clothing lined fences separating the view from one's neighbor. Garbage littered the muddy runoff ditches and I wondered if it was randomly tossed there or washed there from one of the storms over the last day or so. These people were poor and I wondered where they worked and how they lived since many of the people who worked in West Bay were clearly Expats. I felt kinda sad.

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