El Aguila Magazine – January 11, 2017

El Aguila Enero/January 11 - Febrero/February 28 2017
Welcome to Honduras!
TRAVEL AND LIVING
11
Gorgeous Honduras has
a bit of a public image
problem thanks to its
oft-reported crime stats, but
any visitor will tell you that
the situation on the ground
couldn’t be more different
from what’s heard in the media,
and most travelers come
back raving about a corner of
Central America that is frequently
overlooked. These,
then, are ten reasons why you
shouldn’t simply rush through
this fantastic destination.
Sure, every overlander has
spent time in the jungles of Costa
Rica or seen the Maya ruins
of Guatemala, but how many
have been to Honduras? This
is Central America’s least visited
country, despite being its
second largest, and you won’t
find yourself the target of touts,
ripped off or otherwise hustled.
Indeed, in most places you’ll
be a pleasant curiosity for the
friendly locals, and even when
you get to a tourist hub such as
the Bay Islands, things remain
low key and laid back.
Since traveler numbers are low,
competition between agencies
and hotels is fierce and
this works to your advantage.
Moreover, Honduras is not an
expensive country in the first
place, so you can easily get by
on US$25 per day for food and
lodging. Buses are cheap and
The white sands and turquoise waters of Tabyana Beach , in Roatan
generally comfortable, and you
can get particularly good prices
for activities and tours, meaning
that many people planning simply
to pass through Honduras
end up staying for weeks.
For decades the Bay Islands, and
Utila in particular, have been the
cheapest place to learn to dive
in the Americas. While recent
taxes levied on the activity now
make this status a little less clear
cut, Utila remains a great place
to qualify, with its dozen diving
schools providing constant
healthy competition. The diving
is excellent to boot: blooming
coral reefs, sea turtles and even
whale sharks are all commonly
spotted, and non-divers can have
fun with outstanding snorkeling
opportunities.
The only thing divers seem to
like more than diving is partying,
and nowhere is this more evident
than on the backpacker island of
Utila. At the diving schools, the
night’s activities often continue
until the dawn light, with parties
on beaches, nearby cays, dive
bars and even in a tree house. Be
warned: you may well miss your
8am dive.
Credit: Konrad Wothe
The country’s most famous historical
site is undoubtedly the
extraordinary Maya ruins at Copán.
This extremely well-preserved
ancient city includes some
of the best Maya stelae in existence,
and its greatest king was
called 13 Rabbit, which is kind
of cool. The Copán siteis located
in gorgeously thick forest that is
home to the spectacular scarlet
macaw (not to mention clouds
of mosquitoes – bring plenty of
repellent), and it’s a short walk
from the charmingly preserved
town of Copán Ruinas, a laid
back and friendly oasis full of
cobble stone streets and colonial-era
houses.
With over a dozen national
parks, several impressive mountain
ranges, thick rainforest and
the biodiverse Lago de Yojoa
to choose from, ecotourism opportunities
come thick and fast
in Honduras. You can volunteer to
work with endangered iguanas in
Utila, do an impressive three waterfall
hike through the foothills of the
Parque Nacional Montaña de Santa
Bárbara, see hundreds of different
trees and plants at the Lancetilla
Jardín Botánico near Tela and make
your way by boat through the jungle
wildernesses of La Mosquitia,.
You have to make a bit of effort to
find Honduras’ best beaches, as the
ones near the bigger towns on the
Caribbean coast tend to be rather
dirty, but they’re worth the hassle.
You’ll find idyllic white coral sands
on the cays around Utila, some truly
dazzling golden stretches of playa
on Roatán, a number of totally
empty beaches backed by soaring
mountains around Trujillo and even
dark volcanic sands on the Pacific
island of El Tigre.
You’ve got some real choice in
Honduras when it comes to extreme
sports. White water rafting down
the sublime Río Cangrejal should
not be missed, and the rapids are
some of the most exciting and
challenging you’ll find in Central
Birds fly over Lago de Yojoa in western Honduras
America. You can also try free-diving
in the Bay Islands, where this
little-known discipline has taken
off in recent years. There’s also two
excellent zip-lining opportunities
available, one in the mountainous
landscapes of La Campa, a small
town near Gracias, and another
over the jungle canopy in the Garifuna
village of Sambo Creeknear
La Ceiba.
With its incredible biodiversity,
Honduras is an extremely rewarding
destination for birdwatchers,
and among the more than 700 recorded
species you’ll find the magnificent
quetzal (best seen on a
climb of Montaña Santa Bárbara)
and the scarlet macaw (easily seen
at Copán, the site of their recent
reintroduction to the wild). Other
creatures you can usually spot with
some ease include magnificent
whale sharks and docile sea turtles
that swim off Utila, monkeys in the
various jungle reserves along the
Caribbean coast and even manatees,
iguanas and tapir elsewhere in
this always surprising destination.
Source: Lonely Planet
Credit: Wilfredo Escobar