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Honduras is a country full of tropical rainforests, hidden bays, wonderful beaches, quiet Indian villages and colonial mansions. Although Honduras has a lot to offer the country is not well developed for tourism. It is a poor country, but it has a rich history and lots of great nature.
The towns of the country, like the capitol Tegucigalpa or San Pedro Sula, are not very attractive. One might rather vision them as transit destinations. Starting in San Pedro Sula one might head towards Copán. The tour leads through green hills and fields of corn and tobacco. The village itself is quiet and rather average. But only a few kilometers behind it one finds the ruins of Parque Arqueológico Copán. One should visit them.
In this excavation site one feel taken back into the wonderful and mysterious world of the Mayas. Restaurateurs were able to excavate the ruins from the 5th to 9th century in good conditions. This was only possible because by the time the Spanish conqueror Copán arrived in the area this place was already vacant and grown over by the jungle. It wasn’t before 1839 that Copán was discovered again during a British-American expedition. Today one can visit magnificent temples, pyramids, a square for ball games including tribunes, a sacrificial site and stairs from more than 1200 steps of inscribed stone quarters.
Another nice tour leads to Gracias. The town was founded by Spanish conquerors and is famous for its churches. The Parque Nacional Celaque is located nearby. Honduras’ highest mountain, the Cerro de Celaque (2827m) can be found here. Anyone traveling from Garcias in the direction of Tegucigalpa will arrive at the Yojoa Lake. The 30 m high Pulhapanzak waterfall is situated in its immediate neighborhood.
In the capitol Tegucigalpa one might find fascinating the many churches and cathedrals as well as the uncountable number of street booths. One might get the impression that Tegucigalpa is a gigantic market place.
Along the Caribbean coast Honduras presents its visitors a totally different picture. Here lives the ethnic group of the Garífujnas; they are blacks and are called the Africans of Honduras. Their ancestors were captured by the Brits during the 18th century and were transported here. Until today the Garífunas kept their own language, dances and rites. Typical villages are La Ensenada, Triunfo de la Cruz, San Juan and Tornabé near the coastal town Tela. Along the Caribbean coast one might also find interesting the tropical forests, the beaches and the harbor town Trujillo.
Culinary specialties of Honduras are Curiles (seafood), Tortillas and fruits: avocados, mangos, papayas, pineapple and bananas.
Some geography:
Honduras stretches across an area of 113,000 square kilometers and has 6.7 million inhabitants, most of them mestizos. About 90 percent of the inhabitants are of Catholic belief. Language of the country is Spanish. Citizen of Honduras celebrate their national holiday on September 15th. On that day in 1821 the country became independent.
Black & white:
Crimes rates in Honduras have risen throughout the last years. Muggings of travelers especially take place in large cities, nature parks and along the Caribbean coast. |
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