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Honduras : "Arizona Travel
People" ( USA 2002 )
" Riding On " ( Australia 1997 )
Travel People
Remote Honduras harbors adventure
The author, who recently moved to Phoenix, has circumnavigated the
globe by ship and visited more than 25 countries. This was his
first trip to Central America in September 2002
Even though Honduras is one of the
poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, it has been attracting
adventure seekers since the buccaneer days of the 1600s.
Slightly larger than Tennessee, the Central
American nation is home to 300-foot waterfalls, Mayan ruins and endangered
species, such as the white-faced monkey and manatee.
Although Hurricane Mitch devastated the
country’s infrastructure in October 1998, the nation has rebounded, and
its remote Caribbean beaches, rain forests and mountains are only a short
flight away.
In late September, three of us joined for a
one-week, 435- mile trip along Honduras’ northern coast from San Pedro
Sula to Trujillo. Shortly after landing, owner and guide Matthias arranged
transport to Tela and introduced us to our motorcycles. With more than 80
percent of the roads unpaved, travelers seeking to optimize their Honduran
experience are encouraged to travel on two wheels. Not only does the bike
allow access to remote regions nearly impossible to reach by automobile,
it immerses you in the experience, whether that be rocketing through
backwoods trails of banana plantations or creeping past herds of cows on
the street.
On our first morning, we rode down a long
spit of sand to the Garifuna village of Miami. The Garifuna are
descendants of slaves whose lifestyle has remained virtually unchanged for
centuries. Local elder Gernardo gave us a walking tour of the
community’s palmfrond huts.
From there, we left the sanctuary of the
dirt road and hit the highway for La Ceiba. For Hondurans living in the
capital, Tegucigalpa, La Ceiba is a coastal paradise of night life and
romance. For us, it was a gateway to the mountains. We slipped up a dirt
path along Pico Bonito National Park to the town of Uracca. Along the way,
we passed mule lines carrying supplies, and children who pointed at us and
shouted, “Mira, blanco!” (“Look, white!”). On the way back, we
sought shelter in the cool waters of the Cangrejal River and sampled
mangoes from a local fruit stand.
From there, we went to Trujillo, another
coastal paradise of coconuts and conch shells. After barreling down a
muddy path to the Betulia River, several boys guided us to a waterfall
hidden in the rain forest. A $10 lobster dinner at Comedor Caballero in
Santa Fe left us stuffed and smiling.
On our final day, Matthias took us east to
Limon, where our glimpse of the Mosquito Coast meant the end of our
journey but the beginning of our plans to return
Honduras - a ride along Idyllic
Caribbean Beaches, across Mountain Ranges to Spectacular Mayan Ruins
by John Bennett e-mail : jbennet@nor.com.au
Honduras is in Central America and has
common borders with Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala, and is between
the Atlantic (Caribbean ) and Pacific Oceans.
When the Spanish arrived in 1502 the area
was inhabited by indigenous tribes and in the 1600s the British pirates,
including Captain Morgan, settled in the Bay Islands and raided Spanish
ports as far away as Panama.
Honduras is a land of contrasts, with cool
mountainous interior and a long warm Caribbean coastline - ideal for trial
bike riding.
In early April seven of us flew through New
Orleans on to La Ceiba, a small town on the north coast of Honduras. Our
first night was right on the beach at an old but comfortable hotel, where
we sampled the local beers. That night the Garifunas- a mixture of the
descendants of African slaves and Caribbean Indians - where celebrating
the anniverary of the arrival in 1997, when they were transported by the
British from St. Vincente in the Caribbean.
The next day Paul, our tour leader and his
assistant Daniel, who looked after the mechanics, handed over the DR350s
and XT350s. Mine was a '96 model with only 6000ks on the clock. As we had
a back up vehicle we only needed a small backpack to carry cameras, water
bottle and light jackets. As this was now our 17th annual bike trip, we
had learned to wear body armour. We headed up the Pico Bonito Mountains
into an amazingly green canon surrounded by tropical jungle. We were soon
on a dirt track winding along the Rio Cangrejal with spectacular views of
the valley below, a waterfall plunging more than 300 feet, and rapids
sliding around sculptured granite boulders.
The next day we headed east along the
Caribbean coast. At 3pm we arrived at the town of Trujillo, where in 1502
Christopher Columbus first set foot on the American mainland, and the
pirate William Walker was captured, executed and buried.
Home for the next two nights was
"Villa Brinkley", an enormous 1930s style resort with 3 swimming
pools, many entertaining areas and only 16 rooms. It was owned by an
eccentric 83 year old woman who was always making new additions.
Next day we rode out past the Garifuna huts
and villages of San Antonio and Guadelupe, crossing the Rio Grande and
several other rivers and streams. The road the turned into a donkey track
through lush jungle, emerging onto a beautiful beach enclosed by a reef.
Here we found the remains of an enormous three story hacienda, long
abandoned. It's lush lawns running down to the beach were now grazed by
stray cattle. We stopped for lunch in Santa Fe at the Comedor Caballero, a
basic hut on the beach. The food was fantastic and the Senor Peter
Caballero is thought by many to be the best cook in Honduras.
We left the coast to climb the towering
Sierra de Agalta mountains ( 2400m) up a twisting dirt road through pine
forest to reach the valley of Olancho - Honduras largest cattle farming
area.
One aspect of the trip really appreciated
by the less mechanical types like myself was the efficient mechanical
service provided by Daniel. At the end of each day he checked the bikes,
adjusting and oiling the chains, checking oil and tire pressure, brakes
etc. Paul on the other hand was a mine of information about the local
culture, the history and other items of interest.
La Esperanza, a quiet colonial town with a
Lenca Indian market, was our next stop and the temperature was now
decidedlycool. Back on the dirt we passed Hopnduras' highest mountains,
Montanas de Celac ( 2800m) with fantastic views over the ranges.After
visiting one of the many coffe and tobacco plantations we visited the hot
springs near Macala. The springs were a perfect 38 degrees centigrade and
did a good job of washing off the dust and easing aching limbs.
After lunch in Gracias, an attractive
mountain town, we headed off to Santa Rosa de Copan, a beautiful little
town with cobblestone streets and buildings with red roof tiles, and
visited a factory making hand rolled cigars.
Next day took us to Copan Ruinas, the home
of the best preserved Mayan ruins in the Americas, with its ballcourt,
hieroglyphic stairways, the acropolis and newly built museum. We visited
the ruins beeing most impressed by the ballgame where the leader of the
winning team was decapitated and thus allowed to go to a greater life.
Another highlight was Lago de Yohoa,
a large freshwater lake, where we stayed at a quaint resort on its shores
and feasted on fish, washed down by many cervezas. An early morning
excursion took us to Pulhapanzak Falls with it's magnificent 40m cascadeon
the Rio Lindo.
Another destination was along a sand track
to the caribbean coastal village of Tournabe, an isolated Garifuna village
surrounded by a lagoon and framed by palmtrees. Our beach front hotel was
appropriately called the "Last Resort" . The ridinmg highlight
of the whole trip was the scenic ride along a sand track, with the
beautiful Caribbean beaches on one side framed by palmtrees and a
beautiful lagoon on the other, the "Laguna de los Micos". This
was the entrance to the "Punta Sal" National Park, created to
protect rare and endangered animals like the white faced monkey, ocelot
and manatee. We all then raced back to the hotel, feeling really relaxed.
There were numerous "offs" in the soft sand, particulary by
Wayne who came off at least three times. At the Last Resort Hotel we were
served freshly cut, whole coconuts with the top lopped off and filled with
rum. I drank so many of these that I don't even remember giving the "thank
you and goodbye" speech at the dinner that followed. An early morning
swim cleared the head before we headed to La Ceiba aiport and said our
farewells to Paul and Daniel.
After a short flight we reached the Bay
Islands, a very laid back paradise with the second largest barrier reef in
the world. The next three days were idyllic, spent walking along the
numerous beaches, snorkeling, scuba diving and generally relaxing. In
short, if you want an adventure but don't have the time to spend month
planning and organizing your itinerary and bikes, you will find "Maya
Moto Tours" will take away all the hassles and supply a great
adventure with a group of like minded people.
home
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| Tom Hudson overlooks Pico Bonito National Park from a trail
that leads to Uracca.
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Matt Hudson with brother Tom , outside Comedor "Caballero"
in Santa Fe.
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| above
Photos
courtesy of Matt Hudson |
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the road to Santa Fe |
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| iguana for sale |
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