Honduras Travel

Santa Rosa de Copan is located in western Honduras, hours away from the bustling sounds of San Pedro Sula and the capital city Tegucigalpa. It is tucked in between, above, and below rolling mountains. Seemingly untouched by man, these lush mountains offer a glimpse of what this entire region once looked like, and their beauty conjures up hope for its future. These mountains, their highs and their lows, define this city and those that call it home.

As we disembarked for this morning’s tour of the small island of Roatan, Honduras, we were singing off-key (but merrily) “O, ho, ho and a bottle of (Captain Morgan) rum.” On the dock we ran into Johnny Depp, or at least a svelte-looking character dressed in a tattered bandanna, high black boots and a ruffled blouse.

Here we were to take a tour via a small motor boat into the mangroves and where several old shipwrecks were photographed and tales of the pirates told.

Once we were on the pristine beach, we walked over the small pebbles with our shoes off, and we felt like we were being treated to a foot massage.

For somewhere offering superb value, still relatively undiscovered, laid back and off the beaten track. Honduras provides a warm welcome from the local people and dramatic, natural scenery.

Three hours from the capital Tegucigalpa, La Esperanza is populated mainly by the indigenous Lenca people, and the town is best known for its traditional Sunday market. The local area is blessed with magnificent scenery and is fantastic for hiking/cycling. There are natural hot springs nearby where you can bathe and will make a change from the cold showers you will have at the home-stays.

Las Marias, Honduras – The strip of grass in the centre of Belen village is used for grazing livestock, playing football and for landing small propeller airplanes.

One of the latter is due just now which is a sign for the local kids and assorted cows to get out of the way and let the man behind the controls of the Cessna do his job.

The pilot sets his machine down deftly between the hummocks and cowpats, bringing five passengers back to earth after a 60-minute flight from La Ceiba. The journey has taken them past a dreamy landscape of lagoons, jungle and green-clad peaks leading to the edge of the remote Moskitia region of Honduras.

“What is the most unique place to visit on Roatan?”

Without hesitation I have to say, “Hole in the Wall!” (The Restaurant–not to be confused with the dive site.)

I admit that during my first year on Roatan, the tiny Island nestled in the Caribbean Sea, off the coast of Honduras–I heard about Hole in the Wall, but I didn’t get a chance to experience it for myself. After all, to get there, you first had to drive to Jonesville Bight, farther east than I had ever been. For those of you who have spent any time on Roatan, you’re having a good chuckle–the entire Island is only 37 miles long.

Now that it is officially winter season here I have a little more time to do some in-country traveling finally. Recently, a friend and I got the roadtrip itch so we went to the North Coast of Honduras, somewhere I hadn’t been yet. It is truly an amazing part of this country and is vastly different from the farmtown where I live.