Honduras is so beautiful. On my several bus rides, all I have seen is green nature, mountains and volcanoes (and of course lots of rubbish on the streets as in all Central American countries). Honduras has so many natural reserves and untouched nature.
In Costa Rica and Nicaragua, I met many backpackers coming down from Honduras and they all told me, that Honduras is so dangerous and that I should not go there. Luckily, I also met two women travelling alone, and they told me the opposite and I am now more or less following their recommendations on what to do in Honduras. What is different, you and your luggage will be checked by security before entering a terminal. If you go with bus companies like Vianna or Cristina, you will also be checked before entering the bus, even after a short break at a rest stop. Vianna (more expensive) and Cristina are great companies if you want to travel between the cities of Tegucigalpa, San Pedro de Sula and La Ceiba. These buses are usually modern with A/C and very secure.
Shuttle services are in general a good way to move around in Honduras if you are not comfortable taking public buses. There are shuttles from La Ceiba (ferry terminal) to Peña Blanca, Copan as well as to Leon in Nicaragua and much more.
Like in all big cities, there are poorer areas, which you should avoid as a tourist and as always be cautious. In La Ceiba, you can grab one of the white taxies in the streets without any problems – at least as far as I can see. In La Ceiba, it is common to share the taxis. So, when I arrived at Cristina`s terminal, the taxi got fully packed with 4 passengers. The good thing is you just pay 50 Lempira (less than 2 EUR) for all destinations within La Ceiba.
Utila – The Caribbean dream of Honduras
Background Information
When I arrived from Tegus (Tegucigalpa) I directly went to the ferry. Two ferries are leaving next to each other – the ferry to Roatan and the ferry to Utila (Utila Dream Ferry). On both islands, you will find plenty of offers for scuba diving and snorkelling as well as diving schools. I was told that Utila is more for budget travellers, so I decided to visit Utila. Utila is though not a cheap island. The Ferry (one way) already costs 600 Lempira (ca. 25EUR). There are plenty of hostels on the island, but most are not listed on booking.com or hostelworld.com. I stayed in “La Mansion Utila”, which is an awesome hostel – it is calm, close to the main road and the owners are super lovely. Utila has a very interesting history. It is a small island with today approx. 5.000 inhabitants. The island was once discovered by Christopher Columbus, but only under an American, Henry Morgan, the island became more interesting from a commercial viewpoint. Henry established a trade route between Utila and Belize and I was told, that later also Chiquita Bananas were shipped from Utila to the US. Given that this caused so much trade with the USA, the USA opened an embassy on the little island. I could however not find any reference for the embassy story on the internet. Henry Morgan was not the only American settling down in Utila, there was also another man who originally fled to Cayman island and a man named Cooper. These were the three “original American” families in Utila bringing also culture from Cayman to Utila. Nowadays you have many of their descendants, many more expats and of course Hondurans living on the island. This also leads to the fact, that both Spanish and English is spoken on the island, however, it is often a rather “Garifuna-English/Caribbean-English”, I find difficult to understand when they speak with each other.
Another interesting thing about Utila is the politics and the election to the mayor. It seems that in Honduras you can easily influence such elections by either – temporarily moving people from the mainland to Utila (they will, of course, be paid for it) and then they vote in your favour – or you give them land in Utila at very low prices so they move there for good. This was done by one mayor, he sold land for just 50USD or at instalments of 5USD/month and many poor, uneducated families came to Utila. This created a whole new residential area, with lots of issues involved in it. The crime rate on the island increased. If something is stolen on the island, you will very likely find it somewhere in this area. Drugs became a huge issue; many cook crack. However, they are also an important workforce for the island. Almost all taxi drivers, waiters, chefs, gardeners, workers and so on are coming from this area, while the “original Utilians” do “higher” jobs.
I have read a lot on the internet, that people fell in love with the island and get stuck there. It is a nice island but getting stuck there is something I could not really understand, so I asked the hostel owner what it is that makes the tourist extend their stays. The answer – drugs… It seems that you can get everything on the island from Marihuana, Crack, Cocaine, Ecstasy etc. He told me that almost every taxi driver is a drug dealer and that I should not be surprised if they offer me something. Nothing was offered to me, but I was also not using any taxi. He told me some stories about young adults, who had to be “rescued” by their parents as they became addicted on the island. For example, he told me the story of a beautiful young woman from Denmark, called Katia. The island is very small, so everyone knows everyone here and it seems that Katia started to enjoy her new freedom – travelling alone – so much, that she fell into the trap with the drugs. She became addicted and once she ran out of money to fund her drugs, she started selling her body. After a while, her parents finally came to Utila to drag her back home to Denmark.
What to do in Utila
If you don’t want to spend much money on snorkelling etc. you can go to “Coral View” and lend the equipment for just 6USD. Here you can directly splash into the water and explore the coral riffs. You can of course also book an excursion with one of the agencies to more remote areas or even go diving. If you like dogs and/or cats, you must pass by “Jasper´s Animal Shelter”, which is just around the corner from BICA (tourist centre). The team is super nice and always looking for volunteers who help walking the dogs or playing with the cats. I enjoyed this a lot. Every morning I was walking three dogs, Randy, Pinky and Bingo and then I relaxed in the cat house playing and cuddling with the cats.
At night, Tranquila is a nice bar with good prices. In the happy hour (4-8 pm) you get beer for 1EUR. The cocktails cost around 2,30EUR (try the Pina Colada!) and every day is another motto party, e.g. Tequila Tuesday with free Tequila from 9-10 pm. Unfortunately, not everyone can drink and keep their manners. It was only 8 pm and I already struggled with two drunk Americans (both 50+), who seemed to live on the island. One of them sat next to me on the bar – completely wasted, stomach issues… and accusing the (very nice) waitress of serving him Methanol. I also had Rum and I was doing well – so I guess it was just the mixture of too much alcohol and drugs which made him sick…. I left the bar as I was not in the mood for more of this shit and in front of the bar was another American (creepy old guy) who started flirting with me. I ignored it and continued walking. He was on his motorbike (don`t drink and drive) and unfortunately, he was faster with his bike than I was, and I meet him again in the next street where he kind of become aggressive calling me whatever as I wasn´t interested. I am not sure, whether it is a midlife crisis, which makes these guys act so stupid or whether they have been like this all their life. Stupid old white men.
National Park Pico Bonito
When you are already in the area of La Ceiba you should consider exploring the National Park Pico Bonito. There are a few tour agencies offering day tours to the Park, where you can enjoy beautiful nature and a spectacular view reaching over green rain forest to the sea. The agencies however only run the tours with a minimum of 4 people, if you are less than that it gets expensive. Another – probably nicer solution is – to stay in a hotel in the park and do the tours from there instead of starting from La Ceiba. I am not sure, whether it is true, but I was told that the first bus from La Ceiba to the park is at 10:30 am, which is quite late. Some of the hostels offer shuttle services. The park is beautiful. If you take a hike, ensure beforehand that you are aware of what this hike includes. Though I asked for information, I was hit by surprise. The way my tour guide chose did not go over the beautiful bridge, which is often described in other travel blogs, but no – we just walked through the water and the last few meters of the hike I even had to swim as I refused to climb along a very steep wall. So, I was completely wet – have you ever been swimming with hiking boots? I have and can delete this from my bucket list now. Another surprise to me, the path was on the way up full of stones and areas where we had to climb (of course only 2meters or so, not that high). At one occasion, the stone is so high and does not have any indentation, so that the guide gives you a leg up. The way down is much easier – a usual hiking path with the one exception of the last 20meters, we had again to wade in the water and while the guide was climbing and saving my camera from the water – I swam a little bit upward the river to the stairs to avoid climbing this part. So hiking is always an adventure here.
Peña Blanca / Los Naranjos / Lago de Yojoa
In Honduras I only did the tourist hot spots, Peña Blanca or rather Los Naranjos is one of them. Pena Blanca is a quite busy town close to the Lake “Lago de Yojoa”. Los Naranjos is the calmer touristic hot spot closer to the lake. From Los Naranjos, you can visit the national park and the archaeological site, which is however not comparable to restored sites like Copan. The area is famous for the birds. They can best be seen in the early morning. Instead of walking in the park searching for birds by your self you can also get a guide and a rowboat to do bird watching. In the surrounding area, you can also do some more hikes or visit caves and waterfalls. The D&D Brewery and Lodge offers several tours and the shuttle service from La Ceiba or even from Nicaragua or Guatemala will bring you directly to its front door.
How to go to Peña Blanca with public buses.
1) From La Ceiba or San Pedro De Sula (SPS)
I took the public bus from La Ceiba to Peña Blanca. It is quite easy.. So, I took again Cristina to get from La Ceiba to SPS and there I changed the bus. SPS has a huge bus terminal serving almost all destinations in Honduras. If you arrive at SPS terminal, you will have to turn right in the hall and follow the signs to “Interurbano” (i.e. turn right after the food court and go 1 level down). Walk for another maybe 50meters and you will find on the right site several counter windows. The destinations are written on the windows. If you cannot find your destination, just ask, often there is more than 1 company going to the same place. If you like to go to Peña Blanca or Los Naranjos you must take the bus (or minibus) to El Mochito. This bus will pass through both towns. At the counter, you can either buy the ticket or if the bus is about to leave, they will just direct to the bus and you will pay on the bus. Before getting into the bus, you will again be screened by security like in an airport – with a luggage scanner and a metal detector . Compared to the locals I was just waved through, seems tourist aren`t considered to pose any danger.
2) Coming from Tegus / Siguatepeque
You have to take a bus to La Guama and from there a bus to Pena Blanca. If you like to go to Los Naranjos you can stop a minibus in Pena Blanca to El Mochito or take a motor-taxi.
Gracias
I also went to Gracias after Los Naranjos (again via SPS as I did not want to change buses several times; you could also go from Los Naranjos to Pena Blanca, change the bus to La Guama, change the bus to La Esperanza (or if needed to Siguatepeque first and then to La Esperanza) and from there a minibus to Gracias) In Gracias you can visit another national park, thermal pools. Or you just skip this one.
Copan
Copan has many things to explore – the main archaeological site (Maya ruins) is amazing. If you want to hire a tour guide, you can do so at the entrance. Besides the archaeological site, you will also find lots of birds in this area. I have seen so many parrots and some other birds.
If you are totally into archaeology there are some tiny sites all around Copan, you can explore. In the bird park, you can see the birds, in case you had no luck with bird watching. If you want to relax a little bit, I have heard that the Luna Jaguar Spa with hot springs is nice. Unfortunately, I got food poisoning on my first day in Copan and was, therefore, spending two days only in my hostel room and could not do all the things I wanted to do.
How to get to Copan
There are several shuttle services from Nicaragua, Guatemala or other touristic destinations in Honduras to Copan (and vice versa). Going to Antigua, for example, costs 30USD for a shuttle with A/C. Minibuses are going frequently from Copan to the border with Guatemala and back. (Bus stop next to Hotel Yaxkin) and from the terminal to destinations like SPS.
From Gracias to Copan: You have to take the minibus to Santa Rosa and in the terminal area leaves another minibus directly to Copan, but only a few times a day (e.g. 11:30 am) (alternatively take the minibus from Gracias to La Entrada, ask the driver where best to get off to take a minibus to Copan – the buses to Copan e.g. stop right after the crossroads in La Entrada).
I was quite confused when everyone told me the buses only go to the entrance of Copan Ruinas, so I thought it will stop at the archaeological site and I will need to walk or take a taxi the 2kms to the town/my hostel. But no, Copan – the town – is called Copan Ruinas, so if someone says the bus stops at the entry of Copan Ruinas, she/he just says it goes to the terminal which is directly in front of the town, given that the streets are so tiny and with cobblestones, that it is best when the public buses stay out.
How to go to Honduras from Nicaragua.
There are mainly 3 borders and I have used all three of them. What is true for all of them – it is best to change some money to Lempira (Honduran currency) before going to the immigration counter of Honduras. You will have to pay an immigration fee of around 3,50USD and they only accept Lempira. Men are standing around both on the Nicaraguan site and the Honduran site with lots of money in their hands. With them you can change the money, the rates are of course not that great. I read in other travel blogs, that they had to do lots of paperwork, fill out a form etc. I haven´t filled out anything. I am not sure, whether this paperwork was only related to the car or animal the bloggers were travelling with, but if you don´t have a car or animal with you, the process is very simple.
1) “El Espino” on the Panamerican Highway. One of the closest cities in Nicaragua is Somoto. I went through this border with Ticabus. We had to get out in Nicaragua with all our luggage, an officer came with his dog and they did some very superficial search of the luggage, while our passports were reviewed by another guy. Once this was done, we got into the bus again and drove to Honduras. It is not that far (a few hundred meters), but it is slightly going up a hill, so if you have lots of luggage you might not want to do this. Once you are up, there is another building on the right side, where you can do the immigration. If you want to do this with a public bus, there is a bus from Somoto to the border (El Espino) and on the Honduran Site, there is a bus to Chuloteca. The buses leave about every hour between 5-17.
2) Los Manos – this is the border between Ocotal and El Paraiso. I did this by public bus. You can take either a bus from the bus station in Ocotal or wait at any bus stop between the terminal and the border for the bus to Los Manos. The bus will stop close to the border. Or you can take a taxi; it is only 10USD. On the right side, you will find the Immigration Office and you just need to walk another 50meters and you are in Honduras. The office here is also on the right side. No one checked my luggage, emigration/immigration just took around 30minutes. There is a direct shuttle from the border to Tegucigalpa at 9:30 am every day. I planned to take this bus, but I was so early, that I decided to take the local bus to El Paraiso instead. The buses leave 10meters next to the immigration office, you can´t miss it. In the terminal in El Paraiso, I switched to a minibus to Tegucigalpa which stopped amongst others in the terminal in the residential area “Vista Hermosa – close to the La Colonia Supermarket.
3) This border was under construction when I went through and hence very confusing. I was glad I was not doing this one by myself. I was in a shuttle from El Tunco, El Salvador to Léon, Nicaragua and the two drivers handled everything for us, I did not even need to face an immigration officer, therefore I cannot give you good advice about this border.
Wanderlust 