On April 10th, James and I left lovely Roatan and sadly parted ways. We took an early flight (a scary propeller flight again) to San Pedro Sula, a grubby hole of a town on mainland Honduras (nice airport though). I had a bus to catch in the city centre and James decided to tag along as he had time before his next flights to Costa Rica.
By Charis Atlas Heelan
Honduras remains a bit of a Central American secret when it comes to tourism. The result is a destination less than three hours flight from Miami, that boast fewer tourists than its neighbors, pristine beaches and world class diving. It’s also culturally diverse with numerous indigenous and mixed origin language groups, a rich heritage of art and music and a friendly welcoming population. English is widely spoken in cities and in resort areas. Eco-tourism is on the rise here with local companies trying to maintain the country’s lush jungles and pure environment. This relative secrecy won’t last too much longer as Honduras is experiencing a tourism growth period with a 78% increase in visitors over the past three years.
COPAN RUINAS, Honduras
Men in jeans and straw hats walked along the highway that snaked through the mountains from San Pedro Sula to Copan Ruinas; fruit stands and shantytowns speckled the route.
A small landslide caused by some heavy rains made part of our drive difficult, but my local guide, Eli, told me this was nothing - there had been times when he was unable to bring tourists to Copan because labor strikes blockaded this road.
In my mid-20s, this was my first solo trip. And to a country where I didn’t speak the language, no less.
DURHAM — Getting to Honduras was a quick two- or three-hour plane flight.
But for Emily Metzloff, getting back took two and a half months.
It’s just not as fast on a bike.
Metzloff was in Honduras with the Peace Corps, teaching kids about life skills, health and computers. While she was there, she biked everywhere and realized she liked it.
“I had a really good friend who also liked to bike ride, so one day I said, ‘Hey, we should ride home,’ ” she said. “So we did.”
To get to the Honduras, we had to first take a launch along the coast to Puerto Barrios, another once-important port for the United Fruit company. Omoa lies on the Caribbean coast about 2 hours east of Puerto Barrios. Barrios is a rather squalid seaside town with few still-important commerce connections. The last working train in the Honduras is here, which is evident by the sprawl of tracks that indiscriminately cut across the main street where the buses and collectivos gather.
Copan Ruinas is a small town 2 kilometers west of the the site itself. Rugged mountainous terrain, ranches, and a rustic atmosphere. Highland location with cool nights and warm days: just the way I like it. The town is situated on a hillside with steep cobblestone streets that crisscross back and forth.
As is tradition in most Latin American towns, people gather in the town square in the early evening when the heat of the day is subsiding. Women prepare and sell snacks, children play games on the boardwalk, men sit and discuss affairs, while teens hope for romantic encounters.
by Richard Stern
I visited the port city of La Ceiba (population around 150,000) on the Caribbean coast of Honduras for a week in February with a team of non-birders to do some medical work at a clinic in the village of El Cacao, about 45 minutes by van along the coast to the west. I live in Nova Scotia, eastern Canada, and have birded elsewhere in N. America, Europe, and 2 previous visits to Central America. The area was devastated by Hurricane “Mitch” in 1998, but has made a remarkable recovery.
It’s no longer possible to get a cheap rate to fly to Honduras.
The upcoming holiday season has Honduran residents abroad looking for cheap tickets to return home. Unfortunately, the experts in booking, explain that the best way to obtain a good rate is buying ahead of time, and planning. A representative from Continental Airlines, Carolina Heyer, stated that three months ago, the cheaper seats were sold out, and 90 percent of the seats already occupied.
Recommendations
The Honduran president of the Association of Airlines of Honduras, Armando Fúnez, recommends purchasing tickets online for the best rate.
Hola Amigos
I have finally started to make my way south and am currently in Copan Ruinas, Honduras. So I have finally left Guatemala for good. I ended up spending a lot more time there than I had originally planned. I guess that means that I enjoyed my time there more than I was expecting to.
It has actually been a little bit of a slower couple of days since I last wrote. I spent 2 nights at a farm that I had heard really good things about in a town called Poptun. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t that good and I just didn’t a good feeling from the other travelers there. So I just sort of hung out, got a lot of reading went for a sort hike, and then got out of dodge.
Right now writing you from an internet cafe from the island of Utila on the Bay Islands group in the carribean ocean! Hurricane Gamma was right over us last night and it has been very windy and rainy for 3 days now. Tonight will however be the last night of stormy weather, and tomorrow it’s supposed to calm down alot. Maybe we might even see the sun (my tan from Puerto Escondido is now completely gone).
The ride here took 14 hours, starting in Antigua in Guatemala at 4 o’clock in the morning, and having two stops on the way (Copan and San Pedro Sula in Honduras). Managed to sleep most of the way.