Our first visit to Honduras was on the mainland and we stayed at an all-inclusive resort near Tela. The beach was nice and the Caribbean Sea’s warm water was enjoyable.
Located in Central America Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the Americas with approximately two-thirds of its population living in poverty. This was evident and we witness it everyday. It was so sad to see all these little kids walking the beach in the heat of the day trying to sell trinkets or coco bread to tourists. At one point an exhausted little boy sat on the edge of my chair—he clearly needed a break and his jaundiced eyes spoke for themselves. It was heart wrenching! We bought some coco bread that he was selling.
We were told not to venture too far from the resort as the area around our resort wasn’t safe. So much for taking long walks on the beach…
Various species of bird could be seen on the beach and around the resort.
Garifuna Village
During our week-long visit, we did a few excursions including visiting a Garifuna village, where we learned about the local culture and got to eat fried fresh fish and french-fries made by the villagers. It was good and we were almost surprised that we didn’t get sick considering there wasn’t any electricity or running clean water available!
Before lunch, we enjoyed a leisurely boat ride in the mangroves to see monkeys, birds and crocodiles. We couldn’t spot any without the guide pointing them out.
Some highlights
Snorkeling Excursion
We also went on a snorkeling excursion to a small island also renown for its boas that inhabit it. The surrounding waters where reminiscent of the South Pacific and the snorkeling was great. While we didn’t see any boas during our nature walk the weather turned bad and the ride back on a very small boat through big waves and little to no visibility was scary. Fortunately our skipper knew the waters, but everyone was really quiet and scared, and grateful to make it back alive.
A few sites on the way to the island
Our other visits to Honduras were to Roatan in the Caribbean.