Blogs from Western, Honduras, Central America Caribbean

It was a very smooth journey from Antigua Guatemala to Copan Ruinas including a trouble-free border crossing which really surprised us! We stayed at the Garden Hotelwhich, although it looks nice and had a lovely riverside location, disappointed us to the extent that we wished we had stayed in a backpacker hostel for half the price. There were constant problems with water which they were (two times out of three) able to resolve within moments which suggested they had done something in the first place! Anyway, let's not dwell on that. Copan Ruinas was a great place to hang out for a few days. It's a shame we didn't have better weather though. We wandered around as we usually do on our first day and really enjoyed the picturesque cobbled streets and the feel of the ... read more

My original plan was to take a Hedman Alas bus from La Ceiba to spend a night in San Pedro Sula before heading west to Lago de Yojoa. But in the morning the German owners of the hotel informed me that the bus wouldn't be going. I asked if it was too empty to go, and they said no - that the driver had been shot the night before. The news channels in Honduras cover the violence and protests non-stop, and people can't seem to look away. It was pretty surreal to watch press conferences akin to Leslie Nielsen's character in Airplane telling everyone that the situation is under control and to remain calm, and then other interviews with a man wearing a ski mask. I asked my host mom if he was a gang member, ... read more

Copan Ruinas is probably the second most popular destination for visitors in Honduras primarily because it is the base to see the best Mayan ruins in the country. I knew about the “Macaw Mountain” bird park but wasn’t expecting it to be anything special and it turns out to be just as good as the ruins. To have both of these in the same very scenic and visitor friendly (plenty of good hotels and restaurants) town make this a great place to stay for a couple of days. Macaws, the largest members of the parrot family, are native to this part of Central America and were considered sacred by the Mayans, so there is a link between these two quite different attractions, though this might not have been intentional as the move of the bird park ... read more

We woke up to rain this morning which is a first in all the years we have been cruising in the Caribbean. We disembarked the ship & met up with our tour group for the Tabyana Beach and Snorkel Day. We were given the option of getting our money back & returning to the ship or continuing on with the tour even though the tour operator told us it would probably be raining on and ff all day. Of course we decided to carry on as did most of the others. It turned out to be a fun day ½ day on a beautiful beach with 85 degree water. Snorkeling was challenging with the waves and the visibility wasn’t great. Did some shopping back at the pier. Before dinner at a steakhouse we got an appetizer ... read more

Shared taxis – like literally shared with strangers – are the norm here in Honduras and it was in such a cab that I made my way from the hostel to the ferry terminal, realising what a beautiful place Roatan Island is along the way. The place is a Caribbean paradise and it’s no wonder that the place has become over-developed and over-commercialised. There really needs to be a balance in places like this – enough development to give the place decent infrastructure but not so much that any sort of original ambience is completely destroyed by cruise ship passengers and hotel resorts. Thankfully the ferry back to La Ceiba wasn’t anything like the rollercoaster ride over here and I even managed to get some sleep along the way. It was the second leg of a ... read more