Travel
Rest — and unrest — on vacation in Honduras
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-11-19 11:52
After about six days, we wanted off Roatan and started grumbling about our plight.
We booked a room at a bed and breakfast in the mountains near La Ceiba, a port city a short ferry ride away. With buses not running through the country and large protests in many places, it was one of the few cities we knew we could get safely.
That B&B, Casa Cangrejal, was the change of scenery we needed. Nestled in the mountains that overlook the Crab River, we relaxed in the natural swimming holes outside of our room and woke up to the soothing sounds of cooing birds. We walked a mile down the road to Pico Bonito National Park, where we hiked to the top of a picturesque waterfall. The hike was exhausting: more than 4 hours up and down the side of a steep mountain (not to mention across a rickety bridge over the river). Take lots of drinking water with you and enjoy the scenery, which includes stunning vegetation and bright blue butterflies.
On our last full day, we took a guided kayaking tour through Cacao Lagoon, near an old coffee plantation town. The lagoon includes a "monkey channel," where howler monkeys can startle visitors (and each other) with roars that sound like tigers.
We paddled to a deserted island in the Caribbean Sea, where we snacked on fresh mango before kayaking back through the lagoon with a nice wind at our backs.
Our trip out of the country was equally as smooth, somehow. The major bus company, Hedman Alas, which had suspended service for days because of the unrest, started running again the day before we left.
We took an uneventful three-hour bus ride to San Pedro Sula's airport and flew back to normalcy — two days before all flights were suspended when Zelaya tried to fly back home against the military's wishes. Emily and I have promised to finish our original itinerary some day, hopefully when things calm down a bit more.
If You Go...
HONDURAS: A good source for details on trip-planning is Lonely Planet's "Honduras & the Bay Islands" or http://www.lonelyplanet.com/honduras.
GETTING THERE: The price for our round-trip plane tickets from Chicago to San Pedro Sula was $550 each. Some airlines offer service directly to Roatan.
GETTING AROUND: Hedman Alas offers bus service to most major cities. A ticket costs $17 from San Pedro Sula to La Ceiba one-way.
ACCOMMODATIONS: Casa Calico, http://www.casacalico.com/, was about $55 per night and that includes the best breakfast and freshest coffee on the island. Casa Congrejal, http://www.casacangrejal.com, cost $90 a night and was well worth it.
DIVERSIONS: Pico Bonito National Park cost $7 per person to hike the waterfall. Guided tours through Omega Jungle Lodge, Guided eco-tours through Omega Jungle Lodge, http://tinyurl.com/yaon7g3, ranges from $50-$100 or more per person, depending on the tour. A day at Gumbalimba Park, including the zipline and monkey and bird sanctuary, cost about $40 apiece, http://www.gumbalimbapark.com/.
