The Pleasures of Traveling
Which are your Favorite Pleasures of Traveling?
There are many different reasons for travel: learn, educate yourself, meet different people, try different foods and flavors and just generally widen your horizons. Many are the pleasures of traveling!
You can travel to places afar, or discover hidden places nearby that few people know. I for example, was born in Mexico City, and although I moved out of the city many, many years ago, (34 years ago if you must ask) I still yearn to go back and explore the historic sites, as well as those with silent, untold stories about the rich history of this magnificent city.
For now, I live in Honduras, in the heart of Central America, and I love to explore this magnificent and diverse country. I assure you few locals know it like I do, and boy, are they missing out on a lot when they prefer to travel abroad to places like Miami in Florida, USA. Instead of enjoying the many different attractions that Honduras has to offer!
Last Saturday I detoured off the main CA13 highway, between Tela and La Ceiba in Atlantida, Honduras. I have been researching about a small business that offers hot springs, and thought it was only 2 miles off the main road, but as soon as I saw the sign at the detour, I realized I was wrong, it was 6 miles! I was low on fuel, but what the heck, there is never a better time to go out exploring someplace as the present. That is certainly one of the pleasures of traveling, enjoying the experience whenever it becomes available.
Although the road was not great, it was extremely scenic. For one, I realized that this road provides the perfect access to the Texiguat Wildlife Refuge, one of the protected areas and National Parks within Atlantida. The hilly setting, with pristine crystal clear water creeks filled with boulders and rocks tempted me to stop and try getting across the creeks by jumping from stone to stone, hoping to keep dry.
The area is totally rural, with different cattle farms as well as a variety of fruit plantations, including rambutan, African palm, and even some hardwood plantations, such as the famous Honduran Mahogany. I drove through several small villages, and I could not resist getting off and asking a gentleman on a horse if I could take a picture of him with his young daughter on the horse as they rode to the nearby village to attend church service.
I soon arrived at my destination, not without asking along the route to insure I was on the right track. There I, I was pleasantly surprised to find some limited, but very good infrastructure for tourism. Two very nice cabins, each with a private bath; a pool with natural hot water, a jacuzzy with the hot springs and even a small waterfall with hot water from the nearby springs.
They also have a 5 station zip line canopy tour, and offer the possibility of camping within the premises. You can bring your own tent or rent a tent within the facilities. An elevated platform up on a tree allows you to get up to the canopy to have a “bird’s eye” view and see the abundant local birds. There is a trail that will get you close to the actual forest of the Texiguat Wildlife Refuge. The site is called “Termas Jilamito” and it is a great destination for a day tour from Tela, and if you prefer to relax longer in the hot springs, plan on spending the night in one of the cabins.
In short, the scouting trip left me with the desire to go back and do some more profound exploring. I have learned that their actually is access and services in the area of the Texiguat Wildlife Refuge; that Tela does indeed have a Zip Line Canopy Tour nearby, and that there are some nice hot springs with more that the basic infrastructure to fully enjoy them. This is one of the pleasures of traveling, finding something unique and wanting to go back for more.
You can bet I will be back!
