Category:Honduras
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Honduras [1] is the second biggest country in Central America. It has colonial villages (Gracias, Comayagua), ancient Maya ruins (Copan), natural parks (Moskitia), and Pacific and Caribbean Sea coastline, and the Bay Islands, with great beaches and coral reefs where snorkeling and diving is a must. The country is neighbored by Guatemala to the northwest, El Salvador to the west and Nicaragua to the southeast.
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[edit] Regions
[edit] Cities
- Tegucigalpa - The capital and largest city of Honduras (1.5 million). It has international airport and offers connections by plane to San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba, the door to the Bay Islands and the Caribbean Coast.
- La Ceiba - The door to the Caribbean Coast and the Bay Island. Great beaches, and daily ferries to either Utila and Roatan, where snorkeling and diving is a must.
- Comayagua - The former capital of the country is today a quiet colonial town with a beautiful cathedral and historical town center.
- Gracias - This nice colonial mountain town hosts Parque Celaque in which the highest mountain of Honduras and a wonderful cloud forest can be found.
- Omoa- A small beachfront town with Spanish colonial fortress to the west of Puerto Cortés.
- Puerto Cortes - The main harbour of Honduras in the Caribbean Coast
- Puerto Lempira- Departamental capital of Gracias a Dios.
- San Lorenzo - The main harbour of the whole Central America in the Pacific Coast. Close to Amapala, the historical port based in the Isla del Tigre.
- Tela - Turistic city about 1 hour from San Pedro Sula has beautiful coastline.
- Trujillo - This is where Columbus first set foot on mainland America, founded in 1525, overlooking a beautiful bay with nice beaches against mountainous backdrop with nature reserve.
- San Pedro Sula - Second city and industrial center in the north of the country. It has international airport and is close by car to Tela and La Ceiba, the door to the Bay Islands and the Caribbean Coast.
- Santa Rosa de Copán - This city is in the western part of the country, not to be confused with Copán Ruinas (the town, one of the most toursity in Honduras) nor with the actual ruins of Copán.
[edit] Other destinations
- Bay Islands - Utila, Roatán, Guanaja, and the Hog Islands. A natural paradise in the Caribbean Sea where snorkeling and diving is a must.
- Copán - One of the most impressive ruins of the Maya civilization, known for the quality of its sculpture.
- Lake Yojoa - The biggest lake in Honduras. It used to be a great spot for fishing but today is too contaminated.
- Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve - The largest tropical rainforrest in Central America.
[edit] Understand
Honduras is a poor country where tourism is still underdeveloped. Good amenities can be found in cities like Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, and La Ceiba but elsewhere conditions can be primitive, especially in the rural areas. You can find good hotels even in small towns if you are willing to pay a bit more (Honduras is not really an expensive country). Nevertheless a visit is worthwhile, especially to the ancient Maya ruins in Copán, the colonial towns of Gracias and Comayagua and the fantastic Caribbean Coast.
[edit] Climate
Subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains. Natural hazards: extremely susceptible to damaging hurricanes and floods along the Caribbean coast. However, the last damaging hurricane was in 1998. The small Pacific coast region is susceptible to j
[edit] Terrain
Mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains. Has only a short Pacific coast but a long Caribbean shoreline, including the virtually uninhabited eastern Mosquito Coast. Experiences frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes. Highest point: Cerro Las Minas 2,870 meters.
[edit] History
Part of Spain's vast empire in the New World, Honduras became an independent nation on 15 September 1821.
After two and one-half decades of mostly military rule, a freely elected civilian government came to power in 1982. During the 1980s, Honduras was a haven for the Reagan-sponsored anti-Sandinista contras fighting the Sandinista government of Nicaragua and an ally to Salvadoran government forces fighting against leftist guerrillas.
The country was devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which killed about 5,600 people and caused almost $1 billion in damage, affecting seriously the development of the country and its main infrastructures.
[edit] Get in
[edit] By plane
Major international airports with daily flights to Miami and New York are in San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa (Toncontin) and Roatan. The main international airlines serving the region are TACA, Copa Air, Delta Airlines, Continental Airlines, and American Airlines. Iberia, Spain operates daily flights from Madrid to San Pedro Sula via Guatemala City (connecting with Taca). For interior flights check Isleña, Atlantic and Aerolinas Sosa. Note that the interior domestic airlines frequently have flight cancellations, do not guarantee service, and are under no obligation to issue refunds if a flight does not occur. However, American carriers and their international code share partners listed above guarantee travel per U.S. industry standards. Hence, it is advisable not to rely on a domestic carrier to connect to an outbound international flight without having an alternative means to get to the departure point of the foreign bound aircraft in a timely fashion. For instance, if a flight cancellation occurs in La Cieba headed to San Pedro Sula due to insufficient ticket sales (a common occurrence), a taxi can be hired for a $50-$100 spot price to run the distance in under two and a half hours.
[edit] By car
Possible from Guatemala, El Salvador, or Nicaragua. Cars are a good selection, but you must always be careful since the roads are not as well developed but good enough to have a pleasant ride. Traffic enforcement outside of stops to curtail the drug trade is minimal to non-existant, and drivers should be cautious of speeding vehicles as well as agressive driving tactics (e.g. passing on uphill, curved terrain).Maya Island Air also has a direct lfight from Belize to San Pedro Sula (phone number 011-501-223-1140 or info@mayaisland.com)
[edit] By bus
From Guatemala - Tica Bus and Hedmann Alas From Nicaragua - Tica Bus and King Quality From El Salvador - Tica Bus and King Quality
[edit] By boat
Boats from Belize come in to the Caribbean ports like Puerto Cortes, but schedules are not regular and cannot be checked through the internet. Cruise ships commonly stop at the Bay Islands, however.
There is regular boat service from La Ceiba to the bay islands of Roatan and Utila.
Service to Roatan is on the Galaxy Wave II. The ferry trip costs less than flying, and leaves (mostly) on time. A round-trip prima class ticket costs $53; round-trip general class, $43. Both prima and general seating areas are comfortable and offer air conditioning and flat-screen TVs for your entertainment. The crossing takes about 80 minutes each way.
Service to Utila is on the Utila Princess. Tickets cost about $30 round trip and the crossing takes about 60 minutes.
Both ferries leave from the same dock. You should arrive at the dock in La Ceiba about an hour early to buy tickets and check luggage. **If traveling to the bay islands during Semana Santa (Easter week) it is highly recommended to fly, as the wait for a ferry can be up to 8 hours. If you are a Senior citizen you will find the rate very attractive. If you are prone to sea sickness, the trip North to Roatan can be very uncomfortable, as the Galaxy is fighting the currents. Windy days, re-consider. Otherwise it is a delightful trip, Utila to the West and the Cayos to the East. Last trip of the day to Roatan is awesome with a fanastic sunset.
FERRY SCHEDULES THE GALAXY II DEPARTUE TIMES: Roatan - La Ceiba 7:00 A.M.; La Ceiba - Roatan 10 A.M.; Roatan - La Ceiba 1:00 P.M.; La Ceiba - Roatan 4:00 P.M.
THE NEW PRINCESS DEPARTURE TIMES:
Utila - La Ceiba 6:20 A.M.;
La Ceiba - Utila 9:30 A.M.;
Utila - La Ceiba 2:00 P.M.;
La Ceiba - Utila 4:00 P.M.
[edit] By thumb
Hitchhiking is possible in Honduras, although it might be tricky to leave larger cities because its hard to find the right local bus without good area knowledge.
In rural areas the driver sometimes might expect you to pay him. This should rarely be more than 2 USD (40 L).
Hitchhiking is common in rural areas, even for single women, when there is no proper bus connection.
[edit] Talk
Spanish is the primary language spoken. English is hardly spoken outside of the biggest towns or Bay Islands. In some areas such as Utila, Spanish and English have hybridized in the context of low educational attainment to produce a pidgin tongue that can at times be indecipherable even to native speakers of both languages. Native languages (Lenca, Miskitu, Garifuna, among others) are spoken in various parts of the country.
[edit] Buy
Handicrafts - Honduras is famous for its Lenca ceramics and cotton sock manufacturing.
If visiting San Pedro Sula, be sure to visit El Mercado Guamilito. You will find many wonderful and cheap handicrafts like hand carved wooden boxes, Lencan pottery, hammocks, paintings, leather products from Nicaragua, and beautiful hand-woven fabrics from Guatemala.
[edit] Eat
The Honduran "Plato tipico" is the most famous lunch. It consists of rice, beef, fried beans (frijolitos), and fried bananas (tajaditas). If you are lucky, it will also come with chimol, a fresh, non-spicy salsa made of tomatoes, green peppers, onions, cilantro and lime juice.
Baleadas are a Honduran original. A baleada sencilla (simple) consists of a thick flour tortilla filled with refried beans, cheese (queso), and a type of cream similar to sour cream but not sour (crema or mantequilla). A baleada especial usually also comes with eggs in it and you can sometimes get avacado or even meat.
Other choices are tacos and enchiladas, though don't expect them to be like those in Mexico. The tacos are meat rolled in a corn tortilla and deep fried. The enchiladas are a flat fried corn tortilla topped with ground beef, cheese and a red sauce.
In the big cities, there are also plenty of chains from the U.S. like Pizza Hut, Applebees, TGI Fridays, and all the burger and fried chicken joints you can think of.
[edit] Drink
National beers: Salvavida, Port Royal, Imperial and the newest Barena. To add, Barena is to be said: The Miller Lite of Central America.
Coffee is great, and the brands from Copan are usually the best. Welches is considered to be the best by many locals.
Taste Central American rum Flor de Caña (from Nicaragua)
Great "licuados" -fruit juices and milk shakes- (mango, piña, watermelon, banana, etc.)
[edit] Sleep
Very strange, sleeping that is. The clock is almost divided in half, so up at 6 down at 6 is the rule. When it gets dark, your biological clock is ticking. Dark means sleep. Light means awake. This is almost year around. The party goers do not count, they set their hours to whatever.
[edit] Stay safe
Take special care at night. It is common from time to time for a foreigner to be robbed on the streets of Tegucigalpa at night. Thieves will stake out areas in front of tourist hotels, especially the Hotel Maya in Tegucigalpa. Crime is getting higher, especially in tourist areas. The best tip is not to risk yourself by walking through the poor parts of any towns or taking public transportion. You should cooperate with burglars if one is being robbed. This problem is mainly in big cities. In small towns, robbery is not a great issue. On main cities be sure to never be walking alone (especially at night), but it is definitely better to avoid walking in large cities. The best solution is to travel by car. It is also very important to know that there are parts of the city especially dangerous, and parts which are relatively safe (always ask people).Note, that the situation is completely different in smaller towns. This is type of issues are mainly common on Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and a bit less in La Ceiba. Ask local people about which places are safe and which are not, and follow their advice.
The murder rate in Honduras is 53.0 per 100,000 population. In comparison, the murder rate in the U.S.A. is 5.6 per 100,000.
[edit] Stay healthy
Purified water is used in big-city hotels and restaurants, but bottled water is definitely recommended for outlying areas.
Malaria occurs in rural areas, Roatán and other Bay Islands.
Dengue fever is endemic in both urban and rural areas.
It is not recommended to buy much food in the streets (people who are selling food just by the sidewalk). Remember Honduran food can be spicy too, so be careful if you are not used to it.
Many travel agencies and different places will tell you that Honduras is a dangerous country concerning illnesses, this is not true. People are just as ill all over Latin America (nothing out of what is normal), just take the necessary precautions. HIV is a problem in Honduras so be careful as you would in your own country.
Carry a first aid kit and have contact phone numbers with you.
If hiking or spending significant time in the great outdoors, be prepared for a wide range of natural threats and nuisances including snakes, spiders, scorpions, and mosquitoes. On the upswing, however, you can actually pick fruit off the trees.
[edit] Respect
Despite the poverty and poor education, the Hondurans are very friendly. Demonstrate grace and respect.
[edit] Cope
Electricity is 110V/60Hz, as in the United States and Canada, however three-prong grounded plugs are not as common, so two-prong adapters come in handy.