Al and Jess have music in their veins. Jess was brought up in London by musician parents. Her father wrote his first album, “One for the Road,” a British Folk music classic, when he was 17 Her step father was a saxophonist at the British Royal Academy. “I was always around music,” said Jess. Al began playing the saxophone at around 18. A practical lad, he also served the London Fire Brigade for 30 years.

The couple met in 2014 when Jess was a chef at Books for Cooks, a cookery bookshop on Portobello Road in London. She was baking bread when Al came in with his two golden retrievers, Bill and Ben.

They immediately hit it off. They played music together, and before long embarked on a dramatic change when they purchased a river boat and departed on what turned out to be a many-year tour of English rivers and canals.

In 2020, as England shut down due to COVID, the couple attempted to continue their business. They rented a farmer’s field near their boat, served take away pizza, and played music. Their little enclave of music and pizza gave their guests “a sense of normality,” recalled Al.

“It was a musical food affair”

The lockdowns added an incentive for the family to leave England and see the world. In April 2021, they departed for Central America “looking for a life.”

It took them almost a year to find that. Al, Jess, and their little daughter first arrived in Costa Rica, but they didn’t quite find what they were looking for there. “It felt like it didn’t know what it was,” Al recalled about Costa Rica. “It felt disjointed.”

The couple also missed the sense of community. After 10 months in Costa Rica, the couple bought an old Toyota 4 Runner and headed for Roatan.

Here, Al found exactly what he was looking for. “Roatan felt more like a community, more of a multicultural place. There were American, Irish, Bulgarians and Poles here. (…) It seemed to me what the Caribbean was in 1970s. It had that vibe,” said Al. “When I think of Caribbean Islands, I think of Barbados. Here, it seemed more gritty.”

In January 2022, the couple began playing music at bars and restaurants in West End, Sandy Bay, and West Bay. While Al and Jess mostly play covers of singers like Shade, Amy Winehouse, and Stevie Wonder, they also write their own songs.

The lyrics to their original songs are about what the couple feels most passionate about: their four-year-old daughter, and living on Roatan.

Jess composes the music and writes the lyrics, and Al arranges the songs on the couple’s recording studio in their home in Sandy Bay.

(Click here to read the full article from Berkshire life magazine “Fresh off the boat”, page 64.)

You can also follow the Londoners on social media: @thelondonerscentralamerica

When Roatan was Part of The Mexican Empire

Two hundred years ago, Roatan was a part of Mexico, and the island’s head of state was Augustin I. The several hundred Garifuna living on the east side of the island enjoyed the freedom to travel as far as California or Tejas if they wished. While the First Mexican Empire lasted only 18 months, it established a precedent for larger geopolitical agreements like NAFTA (The North American Free Trade Agreement) or CAFTA (Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement) on a regional and global scale that continue to have a significant impact to this day. On January 5, 1822, Roatan, along with the rest of Central America, became part of the Mexican Empire as the territory was annexed by Mexico. The period from 1822 to 1823 marked the second of three times when Roatan and the Bay Islands were integrated into a larger geopolitical entity with a king, queen, or emperor serving as its top executive. Prior to this, for 297 years, from 1524 to 1821, the islands were formally a part of the Spanish Empire as part of the Captaincy General of Guatemala. Thirty years after the First Mexican Empire, in 1852, the Bay Islands became a part of another empire, the British Empire, under Queen Victoria. The Bay Islands Colony remained under British rule for a bit longer, lasting nine years until 1861.

Provincial governors appointed by the Spanish still held sway in the region.

Honduras’ Place in the Empire

In the 1820s, the elites of Honduras’ then-capital, Comayagua, along with those in Nicaragua’s León, were among the more supportive groups favoring annexation. Of the five Central American countries, Honduras was perhaps the most enthusiastic about becoming part of the Mexican Empire.
In contrast, other provinces in Central America, aside from Chiapas, were less keen on gaining independence from Spain only to relinquish it to a Mexican Empire. The political elites in El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Granada, Nicaragua, were so opposed to the idea that they even considered military resistance.
The political dilemma primarily concerned the political elite of the Central American countries. For the majority of the region’s population, who lived their lives on a local scale, such matters were of little concern. They were not preoccupied with analyzing the nuances, benefits, or opportunities of living in either a republic or an empire governed by a crowned head of state in Mexico or Spain. Most indigenous peoples remained indifferent to the issue of Honduras’ annexation into Mexico.
On November 28, 1821, Agustín de Iturbide formally requested the annexation of Central America into the Mexican Empire in a letter. He argued that stability and security in Central America could only be achieved through union with Mexico. “My object is only to manifest to you that the present interest of Mexico and Guatemala is so identical or indivisible that they cannot constitute themselves in separate or independent nations without risking the security of each,” he wrote.
Agustín de Iturbide sought a peaceful annexation and took decisive steps to ensure its success. He dispatched troops to Central America to maintain civil order and appointed Brigadier General Vicente Filísola to establish and solidify Mexican control over the region.

Honduras was perhaps the most enthusiastic about becoming part of the Mexican Empire.

In response to Agustín’s letter, all 237 municipalities across Central America published its contents and held open municipal council meetings to allow citizens to weigh in on the government’s decisions. After 30 days, a vote on annexation was conducted. The cabildos voted for complete annexation without conditions. On January 5, 1822, the Consultative Junta voted unanimously in favor of annexing Central America to the Mexican Empire.
As a result of the annexation, this included Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, Mexico reached its greatest territorial extent. The people of Central America, as well as Roatán’s Garifuna population, were automatically granted Mexican citizenship.

Roatan’s Place in the Mexican Empire

In 1823, Roatan was part of an empire that stretched from mission settlements in San Francisco, California, to Costa Rica. Unlike its nearby desert islands of Utila and Guanaja, Roatan was inhabited on its eastern end by several hundred Garifuna people.
Interestingly, it was the British who sowed the seeds of colonization, initially aligning the island with the Spanish Empire, then the Mexican Empire, and eventually Honduras. The Garifuna, brought by the British military, landed on Roatan on the stormy day of February 25, 1797. These Roatan Garifuna were part of a larger group of 5,000 who were forcibly removed by the British from the island of St. Vincent. Known as the Black Caribs, they were transported from St. Vincent via Jamaica to Roatan aboard the HMS Experiment.
By 1822, Roatan was a distant Mexican possession, much like Tejas, California, and New Mexico. However, Roatan was far from a deserted island; it had a vibrant population of a few hundred Garifuna who had experienced two wars with Great Britain. While Roatan and Trujillo were the original points of Garifuna settlement, the Black Caribs were also establishing communities along the Honduran coast, reaching as far as Tela and the Mosquito Coast.
The Garifuna of Roatan received support from the Catholic Church and the Diocese of Trujillo. A common approach for aiding a remote Catholic community like Roatan’s was to periodically send a Catholic priest to the island to celebrate Mass and administer sacraments such as baptisms and marriages.

Roatan’s Garifuna population, were automatically granted Mexican citizenship.

Tragedy of Agustin I

On May 18, 1822, the military in Mexico City proclaimed Iturbide as Emperor Agustín I. A day later, a majority in the Mexican Congress ratified the decision and recommended that the Mexican monarchy be hereditary.
Developments unfolded rapidly, and on July 21, Iturbide was consecrated as Emperor in Mexico City’s cathedral in a grand ceremony. His wife, Ana María Huarte, was crowned
Empress of Mexico. The event bore similarities to the 1804 crowning of Napoleon Bonaparte in Reims Cathedral.
Agustín’s prestige began to wane rapidly, and a rift developed between the army supporting him and the civilian Congress. Just three months after his coronation, on October 31, 1822, Agustín dissolved Congress and began ruling through an appointed 45-member junta. This act served as a pretext for the subsequent revolt against him.
On March 19, 1823, in the wake of a plot against him, Agustín abdicated the Mexican throne and went into exile, bringing an end to the history of the first Mexican Empire. In its stead, three Mexican military officers – Nicolás Bravo, Guadalupe Victoria, and Pedro Negrete – established the Supreme Executive Power.
The abdication of Emperor Agustín marked the end of Central America and Honduras being part of Mexico. On March 29, 1823, after news of Agustín’s abdication reached the region, plans were made to form a Central American congress to determine its future. On April 1, 1823, the Mexican Constituent Congress instructed the Mexican military in Central America to cease hostilities with anti-annexation forces.

Central American Congress

On June 18, 1823, the Mexican congress instructed Filísola to attend the upcoming session of the Central American congress. He received instructions to respect the Central American congress’s decision on whether to remain in union with Mexico or become an independent state.
The final chapter of Bay Islands being part of Mexico unfolded on June 29, 1823. Out of the 41 representatives in Congress, 37 voted to appoint Delgado as the president of the National Constituent Assembly of Central America. On July 1, 1823, this assembly declared independence from Mexico and reaffirmed their independence from Spain. This historic declaration marked the birth of the United Provinces of Central America, with all states except Chiapas choosing to be independent.

I die with honor, not as a traitor.

Why the Empire didn’t last

The short-lived Mexican Empire faced numerous adversaries and conspirators who were opposed to the idea of a powerful, Catholic nation spanning from the Pacific to the Atlantic across such a vast territory. During the reign of Augustin I, U.S. envoys were already engaged in efforts to persuade Mexican officials to sell their northern territory. This precedent had been established two decades earlier, in 1803, with the questionable acquisition of 530 million acres of French Louisiana from Emperor Napoleon.
The French Revolution of 1789 and the American Revolution both had a dominant, albeit not frequently discussed, presence of Freemasonry within the ranks of the revolutionaries. The Freemasonic influences and their agendas, which included anti-monarchism and opposition to the Church, played a prevailing role in these revolutions. Freemasonry was also pivotal in the overthrow of Spanish rule and the Spanish monarchy in the Americas.
Following the departure of the Spanish and a weakened Catholic Church, Mexico turned into a tumultuous battleground marked by the presence of three secret societies: York Rite Masonry, Continental Masonry, and National Mexican Rite Masonry. The situation escalated to such an extent that just five years after the dissolution of the Mexican Empire, in 1827, the Montaño rebellion called for the prohibition of secret societies throughout the country. The scheming York Rite Freemason and U.S. diplomat, Joel Roberts Poinsett, was expelled from Mexico during this turbulent period.

Iturbide’s Death

After his abdication, Iturbide chose to seek refuge first in Italy and later in England. In England, he earned income by writing memoirs. Unbeknownst to him, the Mexican Congress, fearful of his return, had issued a decree condemning him to death as a traitor in case he set foot in Mexico again.
Iturbide arrived in Mexico in July 1824. Just four days later, on July 19, in Padilla, Tamaulipas, Iturbide, often referred to as the Iron Dragon, received his last rites and was executed by firing squad. His final words were: “Mexicans! In the very moment of my death, I implore you to love your homeland and to uphold our religion, for it will lead you to glory. I die having come here to assist you, and I face death with courage, for I die among you. I die with honor, not as a traitor. I leave no stain on my children or my legacy. I am not a traitor. No.”

Consistent Winds and Pristine Beaches Make Roatan a Perfect Destination for Kiteboarders.

For a couple decades, Roatan has been a place for sailors and windsurfers. More recently it has become a place to learn and enjoy kiteboarding.  Located on the path of eastern trade winds Roatán is one of Central America’s top kite boarding locations.

The prevailing eastern winds and the angulated, slightly curved shape of Roatan create great conditions for kitesurfing. Between Punta Gorda and Pigeon Cays, as the island turns completely east west, that is the best place to kiteboard. All-in-all it is Camp Bay Beach that is the ideal overall place for kiters practicing surfboard, twin tip or hydrofoil. Camp Bay’s long, two-kilometer beach has side or side on shore wind conditions and is sheltered by the reef a couple hundred meters to the north. 

Roatan offers many months of solid wind throughout the year. The dry months of May thru August offer great, strong predictable easterly winds. January thru May are not bad wind months either. ‘That’s the big advantage of Roatán. Eight great months to learn and progress.” says Chris Bergler, the owner of Kitesurf Roatan, Kiteboarding School in Camp Bay. The trade winds are an ever present part of the Bay Islands weather and only stop during peak hurricane season in September, and rainy season in October & November.

Pigeon Cay is another great kitesurfing spot for more advanced kiteboarders. While the two cays are slowly disappearing, the left-over and bar is surrounded by turquoise blue water and plenty of wind. 

The kiteboarders also go to Saint Helene harbor for their kite sessions. “The spot needs to be handled sensitively because of its fragile shallow water ecosystem,” says Chris. “This spot is the best in the morning, with super steady winds coming from ESE and butter flat water.”

There are also a few less known kite-spots in the region like Ometepe and Corn Islands in Nicaragua, and San Andres in Colombia. There is also Rio Dulce in Guatemala and various cays along the Belizean coast that offer nice kiteboarding conditions. These are small destinations that haven’t developed yet to accommodate a growing sport like kiteboarding.

While not inexpensive, kiteboarding is less expensive, and more convenient than other sailing sports. It uses the wind energy from a kite at a much larger atmosphere volume than a sail.

Kiteboarding is the least extreme of the extreme sports. “It [kiting] has a steep learning curve, though a few days are required to ride independently,” says Chris, who taught children as young as 10 and clients as old as 75. As the sport rewards riders with finesse and good technique, it is attracting a good share of female athletes.

Roatan offers many months of solid wind.

While athletic abilities are not a prerequisite in learning how to kiteboard, deep pockets often are. “Kite gear, lessons and traveling is expensive, so a solid financial background is needed to afford getting into the sport,” says Chris. The typical kiteboarder is between 30 and 60 years old.

Most kiteboarders will have a quiver of two to three kites allowing them to surf in a variety of wind conditions. While kiteboarders can have fun at anywhere between 12 and 35 knots, the sweet spot for kiteboarders is 20 knots. “Most of the time I ride an 11-meter hybrid kite while Marilou prefers small freestyle kites,” says Chris. Chris’ wife Marilou Lavallée, is still sponsored by Core Kiteboarding so the brand is being used at the Camp Bay school. With many kiteboarding kites being manufactured in Germany, Core is an expensive option as far as kite gear.

While often-urban millennial launch into the sport quickly, many older kiteboarders started their experience on the water with sailing, windsurfing or wakeboarding. As they progress in their skills, for many the sport becomes more like an addiction. For them, kiteboarding is not just a sport, it’s a way of life, living in nature, harnessing nature elements and being in harmony with them. “Very often my students were in some sort of transition in their lives when they decided to learn how to Kitesurf and often it becomes a life changing decision,” says Chris.

Chris and Marilou found Roatan while looking over a Yoga magazine. It was 2012, and someone was advertising a yoga retreat on Rio Cangrejal, outside of La Ceiba. The timing was good as Chris was ending his work at a kite school in Punta Chame, Panama. In order to visit the resort Marilou was flying into Roatan as the island was a convenient entry point. “I’ve never ever heard about Roatan. One of my Panamanian friends had visited it and he said it’s stunningly beautiful,” said Chris.

At first, they couldn’t find any information about kiteboarding conditions on the island. Chris scanned the internet and determined that the trade winds blew on the island most of the year. The couple decided to give it a look. “We were set to discover Roatan’s kite potential. Marilou booked her ticket and I hopped on the TICA bus from Panama to La Ceiba,” remembered Chris. Thus, the couples Roatan adventure began.

Once they set their feet on the island, a Garifuna taxi driver took them straight to the island’s east end. “We booked a room at Marble Hill Farm, as we found out that “Brian, the manager was a kiteboarder,” remembers Chris. “He used to kite but wasn’t anymore as enthusiastic about it.”

Chris and Marilou found Camp Bay and almost instantly jumped in to test the wind. “This kite session, it was just magic. Blue sky, blue water, great wind, beautiful waves on the reef, outside huge ocean rollers which we shared with a pod of jumping pilot whales,” remembers Chris.

The couple took a rest at Wilks Point under an Almond Tree. “How it can be that a beach as beautiful could be still so deserted,” Chris asked Marilou, looking around the deserted two-kilometer Camp Bay beach. The only people they saw were a few passing fishermen in their dories.

“Mike,” the owner of Camp Bay lodge was eager to sell, but Chris was cautious. It was a big decision and something not to be taken lightly, or on a whim. “I bought a Salva Vida that day… that’s about it,” remembers Chris. After a couple more days the couple grew increasingly enchanted with the place, its people and their hospitality.

Chris’ journey to Roatan had many twists and turns. He grew up in a little Bavarian village in the south of Germany and was an amateur sportsman in track and field, and in football. Chris graduated with a physical education degree and had a life lined up for him. ‘I had the choice to work in a school in Munich but I choose to pack my bags.” says Chris. ‘I wasn’t happy with my life back then so it was an easy choice and I quickly booked a one way ticket to the Canary Islands to teach kids swimming.’

The History of Kite Sailing
It all started when George Pocock used kites of increased size to propel carts on land and ships on the water. Pocock used a four-line control system, not much different from what is used in kiteboarding today. His kite powered boats were able to turn and even sail upwind. The kites could be flown for hours on end and the idea was kiting as an alternative source of power.
Another kiteboarding predecessor was Samuel Cody, who in 1903 built “Man lifting kites” and crossed the English Channel on a canvas boat powered by a kite.
In 1977 Durchman Gijsbertus Panhuise, the inventor of kitesurfing, received the first patent for Kitesurfing. The invention described a person standing on a floating board and being pulled by a wind catching contraption like a parachute. The pilot had the kite tied to a harness on a trapeze type belt.
It took the sport another twenty years to hit it big, but when it did, it mesmerized fans and athletes across the world. ‘The real heroes were the pioneers back in the 90s where most of it happened on Maui: Lou Wainman, Pete Cabrinha.” says Chris. ‘The Maui crew already had experimented and pushed the limits.’ Today the kiteboarding equipment is safer, more durable and accidents are infrequent.

He had experience running swimming schools in different hotels and befriended an owner of a kite school in Fuerteventura. Chris soon learned how to kite, and began working at the kite school. ‘I was standing in a big lagoon and starting my best life.” says Chris. For several years Chris was a journeyman kiteboarder. He worked in Egypt, Panama, South Africa, Dominican Republic and Brazil.

He was always looking for a place to make his own mark, to put down roots. That place turned out to be Roatan. ‘You can’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, leave everything behind especially if you are not happy.” says Chris. ‘There is a journey ahead and why not flying through instead.’

The transition was a bit trickier for Marilou who was still competing as a kiteboarder all over the world. ‘Marilou is my absolute hero and I chased her around the world for many years as a diehard fan. She finally fell in love with me.” says Chris. Before suffering injuries Marilou, originally from Gatineau, Quebec, was one of the top freestyle riders in the world. ‘Marilou could combine hardcore tricks with a beautiful smile and great looks.’

The couple went back to Camp Bay in January 2013 and began teaching kiteboarding there. “Everything just fell in place and step by step we were able to live our dream,” says Chris.

Their first local kiter was Olwen, a local youth who was always there, determined to learn how to stand on the board, go upwind and jump. His lack of swimming skills didn’t hold Olwen back. “His curiosity and will to learn something new made him overcome the fear,” remembers Chris.
The path to the kiteboarding career Chris envisioned for the local youth was the following: start them off as a beach boy, progress to rescue driver, learn how to kite, be a kite assistant, then a kite instructor, hopefully head instructor and maybe one day become a sponsored international pro-rider. “We started to hire kids as much as we could, always with the goal to get them hooked,” says Chris.

Kiteboarding is not just a sport.

In 2015 Elloncito was the first to climb the tricky Camp Bay kiteboarding ladder. From Elloncito he became Ellon and earned his respect with hard work and athletic abilities. Four years into his life as a kiteboarder, Ellon, 21, is the head instructor at the school and Chris’s right hand man “I can fully rely and trust” says Chris.

While many of the school’s instructors hail from Europe and the Americas, the heavy lifting: the day -to-day teaching is done by a team of Roatanians. ‘Local crew has been always our backbone and has become our island family: Ellon from (Camp Bay), Junior & Jordan (Helene), and Jardale (Camp Bay).” says Chris

Ellon has not only become Chris’ right hand, but the head instructor and ‘chief rocker.’ To be closer to work and do more kiteboarding Ellon moved back from Pandy Town to Camp Bay in 2015. ‘I knew he could be very good at it. He had the perfect frame and athletic to become an elite kiteboarder.” remembers Chris, who stopped by Ellon’s grandmother to ask if he was up for the task. ‘It was a pretty short and typical island conversation. Chilling… Sure… Ok cool.” said Chris.

‘Leave everything behind especially if you are not happy.’

Ellon first started as a beach boy tasked with driving the rescue boat, packing kites, helping guests landing and launching. Ellon picked up kiting quickly and by the end of the year he did his first jumps. “First jump was a perfect. Powerful takes off… Boom. You could finally see he got special talents,” said Chris.
Ellon wasn’t just a natural athlete; he was also a good teacher. “He’s been teaching most of the lessons and adding new tricks. Currently he is in training to become the school manager.” says Chris. “I hope he inspires a few other fellow islanders especially the next generation.”

Chris has seen a lot of raw kiteboarding talent among the island’s youth. “They speak two languages, but what most impressed me was their problem-solving capabilities and creativity,” says Chris. His secret of how to develop skills among the locals is giving them opportunity to constantly progress in their skills, responsibility and helps them to grow. “I give them full access to our kite gear, I’ve passed on all my tips and tricks whenever possible, since they are keen observers, they learned most of it simply by watching us doing our thing,” says Chris. ‘One day we will see them riding on international competitions and represent Honduras at the Olympic Games.” predicts Chris.

Kiteboarding in Camp Bay doesn’t just bring a few hundred kiteboarders to the East of the Island. Chris and Marilou also wanted to start up a local kite community. They looked for island kids keen to learn kite boarding and even ready to make it their living. “It took a little longer than I expected to light the fire but finally we have a bunch of vivid kiters with unlimited potential.”

Over the last several years the couple has taught a group of kiters from Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula. “Often they would send me pictures when they were exploring spots on the coast between Tela and Trujillo or in the Gulf of Fonseca,” says Chris. The kiting community is growing in Honduras.

There are also several other good kiters in the Bay Islands. There is a French kiter who lives and kites often in Utila. Guanaja was a place where an Italian had a kiteboarding school, but several years ago the Italian relocated back home. “He had done a great job over there, but left a few years ago to live with his young family back home,” says Chris.

After six years with Chris, the kiteboarding community has slowly developed on the island. A few people from West End and several retired expats took kiteboarding classes. “It’s a slowly growing tribe but we are getting there,” says Chris. Awareness of how precious Camp Bay, Roatan’s arguably most beautiful beach really is, has grown with it as well.

As the island’s center of gravity moves further east, Camp Bay will most likely become more and more visited. The paving of the main road is being planned and cruise ships are scheduled to begin visiting the nearby Port Royal in October 2019.

No doubt, development will bring the quickening of the pace of life on Roatan’s east end. Several eco resort owners near Camp Bay, like it just the way it is: unspoiled not easy to get to and quiet.

‘We were set to discovered Roatan’s kite potential.’

Also Chris is concerned that the quiet, and not so easy to access Far East end of Roatan will turn into a nightmare, just like many other surfing and kiteboarding destinations in third worlds did before. “Surfers discovered little fishing villages which turn into tourist hubs, leave the local community’s behind and create a split society with crime, prostitution and drugs” says Chris. Meantime however, the flying kites off Camp Bay signal that the east of the island is still all about nature, wind and harmony.