TRAVEL & TOURISM

Monday, March 30, 1998 Online Edition 99

Brus Laguna: gateway to the Western Mosquitia

Dwight Wood of Brus Laguna is one of several motorized canoe operators who can provide tours of the lagoon. Photo by Martin Gibbans

By WENDY GRIFFIN

The town of Brus Laguna has been important to the Miskito Indian culture since its founding. According to one legend, the first chief of the Miskito people, Miskut, arrived at Brus Laguna with his tribe, and upon seeing such a beautiful place with a wealth of game and fish, he decided to stay.

There is a mystery about Brus Lagoon, says native Jairo Wood. For six months during the rainy season it has fresh water as the Sigre, Twas, and Patuca Rivers flow into it. However, during the dry season, it becomes a salt water lagoon.

Startled by the change when the Lagoon converted to salt water, Miskut thought the Gods were angry with his people. So, he led the majority of his tribe to Raya, then further east along the coast to Sandy Bay. But some people remained behind, thus the beginning of the Miskito presence at Brus.

The name of Brus Laguna comes not from the Miskitos, but from the pirate "Bloody Brewer" who made the inlet his hideaway, explains Derek Parent, a Canadian tour guide. Reports of buried treasure still surface around the lagoon.

Supposedly the first black African who mixed with the Miskitos came ashore near Brus. This man reportedly jumped overboard and swam to freedom on the Mosquito Coast from a ship on its way to sell slaves in the Spanish-speaking part of Honduras, says Scott Wood, another native of Brus.

A museum at the tarpon fishing camp on Cannon Island offers more history about Brus Laguna. This island was occupied and fortified by the English in the 18th century, who left the cannons that give the island its name. When Scottish adventurer MacGregor tried to start the Country of Poyois with British colonists on the Rio Negro in the 1820s, most colonists stayed on Cannon Island refusing to descend through the then virgin rain forest to the heart of unconquered Pech territory. Eventually they were evacuated to Belize.

Brus' population increased greatly at the beginning of the century when two men, by the last name Wood, immigrated from Chicago and married women from the Bay Islands. The following year, a member of the Goff family of Guanaja also moved to Brus. Parent explained that most residents have one or the other last name.

The Jackson family of Brus has other origins, being part of the descendants of the mostly disappeared Rah tribe who used to live around Raititara on the Patuca River and around Auka further east, said Erasmo Ordonez of Ahuas, whose family also descends from the Rah.

Although there is a saying, "Enter Brus when you want, leave when you can", transportation in and out has greatly improved. Islena Airline flies directly into the town. It is also possible to fly to Palacios and travel by canoe through canals to Brus. Sometimes there are boats from Puerto Castilla, opposite Trujillo to Brus. Within the Mosquitia, SAMI airline connects Brus to the communities of Belén, Puerto Lempira, and most other spots of interest.

The big advantage of Brus, which is located on the eastern edge of the Rio Platano Biosphere, is that instead of suffering in tents with inconvenient foods and bathing in rivers with alligators, you can stay in comfortable housing and see the Mosquitia through day trips.

One possibility is to explore local rivers by canoe, the Rio Sigre being particularly rich in wildlife in its upper reaches. It was here that Trujillo resident and frequent visitor to Brus, Martin Gibbons, saw white-faced monkeys, exotic birds, crocodiles, and green iguanas while traveling on the river.

Motorized canoes are available for trips across the lagoon to visit Miskito camps, where salted and dried fish is prepared and sold during Semana Santa (Holy Week). Along the rivers you will see people working on their rice crops, bringing back plantains from their trabajaderos of crop lands, and catching river turtles for soup.

To the east of Brus, there are great savannas where Brus Miskitos have thousands of cattle. Rural Miskitos are constantly in and out of Brus as it is the shopping center, government center and religious center, as well as the only place with a full senior high school, which was approved last year.

Nearby wildlife management programs include the sea turtle project at Plaplaya, a butterfly farm, and an iguana raising project at the high school. The salt water fly fishing camp on Cannon Island, owned by American Dick Thomas, also welcomes visitors.

For those who need assistance in contacting guides, the Goff family at Cabana Bishop are very helpful. Local guides speak Miskito, Spanish, and some English. At Cabana Bishop you can also rent rooms with a toilet, a shower, and a generator that runs for a few hours in the evening. Home-cooked meals are available, or you can chose to eat at the pulperia and comedores (stores and restaurants) in town.

Traditional Miskito food such as tapado (stew with root crops, bananas, and salted meats like tepescuintle) or wabul (mashed plantains or bananas with coconut cream) is seldom available in comedores, which tend to serve traditional Ladino food like beans and rice. If you ask ahead of time, Miskito food can be arranged.

So, if you have been thinking about seeing the Mosquitia, but adventure trips seem too strenuous, Brus may be a nice alternative. The lagoon is lovely, the people are friendly, and for the three months before Christmas, the tambaku dances are hot. Most people speak a good level of Spanish.

Although the tranquility and dry laws will lead you to believe that the only danger comes from amorous mermaids and mermen who may try to pull you into the lagoon, remember: the Mosquito coast of Gracias a Dios and Colon forms a triangle with the Bay Islands that is a serious drug-running corridor. Keep your eyes open in order to stay safe.

By HOWARD ROSENZWEIG

This week: our first installment of 'you know you are travelling in Honduras when...'

* Your neighbor on a 6-hour chicken bus ride turns out to be a real chicken, held in the lap of his sombrero-clad owner!

* You pack a bullet-proof flak jacket instead of life-preserver when preparing for your visit to Tela!

* You take a launch out to Walter Cay, just off Utila, and spend the entire day snorkeling, sipping fresh coconut milk and dreaming about never returning to your 9 to 5 job in New Jersey!

* You ask a policeman for directions to a location only blocks away and he gives you that quizzical, slightly blank stare that indicates he has not a clue as to what you are talking about. (Don't ever bother to show him a map -- he won't know what to make of it nor be able to read it!)

* You arrive at the Great Plaza at Copan at 8 a.m. with the morning mist beginning to burn off and the smell of fresh cut grass, as you gaze on some of the most spectacular Mayan architecture in existence today. A true life experience!

* Your 3-hour bus ride turns into a 7-hour ordeal after repeated breakdowns, flat tires, coffee breaks, shmooze breaks and other assorted, non-scheduled delays!

* You can travel halfway across the country by bus for under US$15!

* The corpulent dona at the local comedor serves you up a steaming plate of typical, hearty, country fare, beans, rice, beef, salad, beverage, home-made, soup -- all for less than the price of a Tom Hanks flick!

* The lights go off, without notice, without reason, or without warning on a continual basis!

* A crosstown taxi-ride, complete with an in-taxi merengue concert will set you back a whooping $1.50. The taxi ride will also double as a carnival amusement ride: just close your eyes in mid-journey and you'll swear you're on an old fashioned Coney Island rollercoaster or the bumpercars. Remember to fasten your seat belt (if one is available) and hold on for dear life!

* When all the beers are uniformly cheap, taste the same and are made by the same brewery (the one and only brewery in the country), hopefully they are all uniformly ice-cold as well, which in the campo is often not a sure thing!

* When your breakfast consists of a cup of third-class, poor-quality Honduran "domestic" coffee, a few slices of the Central American version of Wonderbread (called "Bimbo" of all things!), a couple of greasy, runny, overly salted eggs with a hunk of fried animal flesh (of dubious origin), all smothered in a watery, spicy Honduran hot sauce with a name like, "The Devil's own juice!"

* You come down here for a 2-week visit and stay for two years!

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Honduras This Week Online

Monday, March 23, 1998 Online Edition 98

By HOWARD ROSENZWEIG

Fourteen suggestions on how to jump start Honduras' up and coming tourism sector (in no special order):

• Provide the Honduran Institute of Tourism (IHT) with sufficient funding to get the job done. Taking out full page, full color advertisements in major U.S. magazines is a tried and true means to attract more visitors, but it costs big bucks. Remember the old saying, "You must spend money to make money."

• Create a tourism police force in tourism centers such as Roatan, Trujillo, Tela, Copan and Utila. Tourism police should be educated, well trained, well paid and well equipped.

• Begin to market Honduras as a destination in the all important European market, especially Germany, the number one source of incoming European tourists to Honduras.

• Get moving on the long awaited and constantly postponed, Tela Bay Project and insure that the project maintains its important elements of sustainability, ecological protection and sensitivity to local indigenous residents.

• Declare the Patuca National Park, which will create one of Honduras finest national parks.

• Provide Honduras' national parks with sufficient resources to keep out squatters, ranchers and farmers, and to construct visitors centers, trails and other amenities.

• Encourage the arrival of more international airlines, which will tend to lower air fares, as more competition becomes the rule.

• Protect Honduras' colonial villages and towns with strictly enforced zoning architectural and sign and billboard regulations.

• Create additional archaeological parks in important areas, such as Lake Yojoa, Talgua Caves, and Rio Amarillo.

• Urge close contact and coordination among all government agencies whose work affects tourism, such as the Honduran Institute of Tourism, Institute of Anthropology and History, national police, public works ministry, etc.

• Declare certain towns and protected sites as historic sites with strict controls over development, construction, lighting, signs, height limits and architecture. Copan Ruins, for example, would be a prime candidate for such a pilot project since its colonial charm is threatened by the lack of zoning and oversight.

• Provide tourists and potential visitors with information and more information: brochures, maps, and magazines all help to encourage people to visit.

• The chief executive of the nation must take an active sustained and constant stand in promoting Honduras as a tourism destination and more importantly creating the climate in Honduras whereby the private sector feels confident in investing in the tourism sector.

• The Honduran Government should approve tourism projects that are sustainable and appropriate. We do not need another Cancun on the North Coast; what we do need are small, rustic lodges with excellent food and superb service. Let's learn from our neighbors' (Costa Rica, Mexico, Belize) mistakes, not repeat them here.

Howard Rosenzweig, a U.S. expatriate living in the Village of Copan Ruinas, is the owner of the Casa de Cafe Bed and Breakfast.

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Honduras This Week Online

Monday, March 16, 1998 Online Edition 97

By HOWARD ROSENZWEIG

Tourism in recent years has become an important part of the Honduran economy. Let's take a brief look at the nation's principal exports for 1997. Figures are in millions of U.S. dollars. Coffee is in first place with $330 million, bananas at $239 million, cultivated shrimp at $143 million, wood $10 million, refrigerated meat $ 11 million, silver $5 million, lead $4 million, zinc $51 million, sugar $12 million, sea shrimp $20 million, lobster $26 million, tobacco $8 million, melons $35 million, pineapples $23 million and soaps and detergents $36 million.

Now where, you may ask, does tourism fit into this picture? Well, it is estimated that in 1997 tourism brought in some $150 million to the nation's economy. This would place tourism in the number three position, behind coffee and bananas. It is estimated (and hoped for) that in a few short years, tourism will be the number one source of foreign currency in the country.

Looking to neighboring Guatemala for comparison, tourism is now the second largest source of foreign currency after coffee. From January to November 1997, some 520,000 tourists visited Guatemala. These visitors left behind $295 million, according the INGUAT (The Guatemalan Institute of Tourism).

There is no reason why Honduras cannot do as well or better than Guatemala in terms of attracting international tourism. Guatemala has spectacular sites like Tikal -- Honduras has Copan. Guatemala has the Pacific beaches of Monterrico and Champerico -- Honduras has the Pacific Island of Amapala (Tiger Island) and the beaches of Cedeno. Guatemala has the Caribbean-Garifuna town of Livingston -- Honduras has dozens of Garifuna villages, which stretch from Omoa to Plaplaya and where some of Honduras' most spectacular Caribbean beaches and national parks can be found. Guatemala has the Peten -- Honduras has La Mosquitia, the last great stretch of undisturbed tropical forest in Central America. Guatemala has no Caribbean islands, no snorkeling, no reef diving -- Honduras has: Roatan, Guanaja, Utila and the Hog Cays that together sport some of the best, most pristine diving place in the world.

Guatemala can be a dangerous place for the tourist, robberies are not uncommon -- Honduras on the other hand is the most peaceful and laid-back country in Central America, crimes against tourists are still a rare occurrence. Honduras has a better road system than Guatemala, prices are cheaper in Honduras, there are more beaches, and for the most part Honduras is still an undiscovered travel destination ripe for the development of its tourism infrastructure.

It's time to roll up our sleeves, get the lead out, and get to work. The development of Honduras' tourism industry can play a significant role in helping the country pull itself up by its own bootstraps. Next week, 14 suggestions to the new administration on now to jump start the Honduran tourism sector.

Howard Rosenzweig, a U.S. expatriate living in the Village of Copan Ruinas, is the owner of the Casa de Cafe Bed and Breakfast.

Monday, March 9, 1998 Online Edition 96

New butterfly farm offers variety of attractions

A colorful butterfly rests on a plant at the Tropical Butterfly Farm and Gardens located near Pico Bonito National Park outside La Ceiba. Honduras' newest and most diverse ecotourism center will be open to the public on March 15.

The soon to open Tropical Butterfly Farm & Gardens in La Ceiba is located on 50 acres that are surrounded by the lush rain forest of Pico Bonito National Park. A unique and affordable nature experience, TBF&G offers each visitor a choice of activities to chose from including a tour of butterfly production facilities and trails into the rain forest to observe birds, exotic plants, and cascades. The farm is a family oriented attraction with games, a playground, gift shop, eatery, and gardens.

During a tour led by knowledgeable guides you will observe the feeding of larvae (caterpillars), their foodplant nursery and the "Butterfly House", the premier attraction. Inside you can view tropical butterflies as they feed, mate and lay eggs in a natural setting adorned with flowers, orchids, a cobblestone walkway, and a refreshing waterfall.

TBF&G is a birdwatcher's paradise. To date over 170 species have been identified in the vicinity including ornate hawk eagles, toucans, and parrots.

Available to visitors for nature observation are well maintained self-guided trails into the rain forest accompanied by pamphlets with maps and interpretive material. Howler, White-Faced Capuchin and Spider monkeys have all been sighted along the trails as well as Tayras and other mammals.

Other relaxing activities include bathing in cool clean creeks, playing horseshoes and wandering through the tropical gardens. In the near future, cabins and a camping area will allow guests to stay longer on the Farm and enjoy what nature has to offer.

TBF&G is open seven days a week from 8 to 4:30 with tours starting every half hour. Admission is Lps. 30 for Honduran nationals and $6 for international visitors.

Potential tourist sites threatened by environmental destruction

SANTA ROSA DE AGUAN, Colon -- All over Honduras people are working to save natural resources including plants and animals unique to certain areas. And just as often as one person stands up to say that some mahogany tree or other plant should be protected, there are at least 10 others noting the economic necessity of turning it into a door or cutting it down for cattle pasture or farm land.

One response from ecologists is that an area could be economically productive without destroying its ecosystem, for example, through ecotourism and adequate resource management. Some scholars and environmental NGOs also point out that in areas populated by minority groups, it may be necessary to protect the natural resources just to conserve the cultures of these native peoples.

Santa Rosa de Aguan is an example of a potential tourist destination. Located only 22 km off the road between La Ceiba and Trujillo, it has daily bus service to both towns that are already major tourist attractions. This small community offers an up close, first-hand experience to learn about the Garifuna people and their customs. With no cars and long stretches of safe sandy beaches, it also offers a chance to relax for travellers with frazzled nerves.

Yet Santa Rosa has seen its potential as a tourism destination diminished significantly by decisions that have resulted in the loss of natural resources.

One popular form of ecotourism is hiking and bird and animal watching. Former mayor of Aguan Juana Irene de Arrriola said that when she was younger, maybe 20 years ago, she often saw the white collared peccary (quequeo), the peccary (jaguilla), deer, tepescuintle, guatusa, and tapir or danto. There were also manatees in the Rio Aguan and even in a creek. Now, young people of Aguan only know these animals through pictures.

There are numerous reasons for these animals' demise. Spanish-speaking Ladinos came and overhunted them. There have been many fires to clear forest in order to open the area to Ladino cattle ranching, destroying the animals' habitats. The National Agrarian Institute (INA) has granted Ladinos title to land the Garifunas previously used to collect firewood and for agriculture. Dos Bocas, for example, has increased in population from three families and a lot of forest to 1,500 persons and no forest.

Another enjoyable tourist pastime is watching artisans work and buying handicrafts and souvenirs. Although Paulin Avila sells a few handicrafts in her home near City Hall, few handicrafts are made here any more. According to Arriola, the government gave concessions to lumber companies in the 1950s and they cut down most of the hardwoods. Thus there are no large trees of the size needed to make canoes. People have to go to areas like Batalla in the Rio Platano Biosphere to bring back mahogany canoes they sometimes finish down on the beach.

Artisan Matías Arriola said that most good woods to make handicrafts such as paddles and hana (the Garifuna mortar and pestle used to mash plantains in making machuca) are no longer available in the area. Santa Rosa has one drum maker, but he has no wood, says Garifuna Benito Guity. This is one reason why no young artisans are being trained.

Most traditional Garifuna handicrafts are made of bayal, called gomerei in Garifuna. A thorny vine that can grow as tall as a coconut tree, this plant is used to make ruguma (the strainer for processing poisonous bitter yuca), hibise (sifter for grated yuca), fanine (the traditional basket for carrying yuca that dates to pre-Columbian times), gadauri (a packback to carry fruits and roots, also used by South American Indians) and the Garifuna waterproof suitcase (yamadi).

Tomas Guity is the only artisan in Santa Rosa trained to make these handicrafts, essential for making cassava bread. However, he can seldom produce these items because there is no gomerei around Santa Rosa. The areas where the plant grew have been invaded by Ladino cattle ranchers, who cut it down and burn it due to its thorns.

Without the raw materials, Guity cannot teach a new generation of artisans to supply handicrafts to stores such as the gift shop started at the San Pedro Sula Museum.

Since it was on a sand bar, it was not possible to build clay houses in Santa Rosa de Aguan like those around Trujillo. Since many former inhabitants were professional hardwood lumberjacks, there are many picturesque houses of yagual. This tree only grows in the shade of taller trees, such as mahogany. With so much of the forest cut down for cattle pasture, most new houses are built of cement blocks while poor Garifunas can find no better building material than manaca or cohune palm leaves, which are used for the walls as well as the roof.

The Garifunas have a wide knowledge of medicinal plants, with almost 300 being documented in a study conducted by the biology department of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH). Matías Arriola said the other side of the river used to be thick with guapinol, a tree whose bark is used to treat kidney infections. Now there are almost none.

The mayor of Aguan recommended that tourists try eating fish while in Aguan. Few fish are available, however, due to the lack of wood to make canoes and commercial fishing and shrimping vessels that clean out the area with their large nets. The Catholic Church of Iriona has protested the annual destruction of 17 tons of fish that are killed in the process of catching shrimp, known as shrimp by-product. Many land animals and river creatures used in Garifuna cuisine are now either locally extinct or becoming scarce.

To protect their resources, Garifuna communities asked for land titles in a march held in October 1996. The administration of President Reina promised to give them title to their lands by August 1997. However, by the end of 1997 not one land surveyor had appeared in Santa Rosa. "Brillan por su ausencia (They are conspicuous by their absence)," said the former mayor who hopes the new administration will give land titles to Garifuna communities.

Down and dirty in Tela, according to the latest reports from travellers heading from there. The rash (epidemic) assaults and muggings directed against tourists continues unabated.

Apparently young thugs operate throughout central Tela with impunity and their targets of choice seem to center on international tourists, mainly backpackers.

The word is now out on the Central American gringo trail to 'watch out' when travelling in Tela.

Unfortunately for Tela's tourism sector, hotels, restaurants, tour operators, coconut salesmen, and others, this crime wave has probably translated into a big drop in the number of international tourists visiting the coastal city. As a result, backpackers will pass up Tela for calmer, more tranquil beach spots in Omoa, Trujillo, Utila, Guanaja, Roatan or the Cayos Cochinos, and who can blame them?

Tela's private sector must get their act together and initiate and implement a tourist-police program specifically designed to insure security for visitors to Tela. If the private sector waits for the police to take action, they will be waiting a long, long, (very long) time! And by then, the security situation will have deteriorated ever further.

Petty crime has a way of spreading like a disease. If Tela cannot get a handle on its crime problem soon, it is probable that it will begin to spread like a cancer to other tourist areas of Honduras.

For international visitors, security is always a top concern. Visitors want to sip a coconut on a secluded, hidden while sand beach, dance till dawn at a sweaty punta dance hall, stroll down the beach at sunset, get up-close and personal with local villagers -- all of which will be made infinitely more difficult if, in the back of a travellers' mind, one must repeat the mantra, "Is this safe?" A relaxing Caribbean holiday and a tense security situation do not go hand-in-hand.

It's up to us, both public and private sectors, to belly up to the bar and make some hard choices and spend some bucks to provide a secure environment for travellers.

Dining out can be an ecotourism adventure in Colon

By WENDY GRIFFIN

SANTA ROSA DE AGUAN, Colon -- There is little difference between eating at Burger King in Tegucigalpa's Parque Central and eating at a BK anywhere else. Franchise restaurants are designed that way. However, eating in Honduras' rural areas is part of the eco-tourism experience.

Golosinas Dejame Vivir (Let me Live Snack Shop) in Santa Rosa de Aguan, department of Colon, is an example of this kind of adventure. Just getting there is a feat. From the bus terminal, you have to ride in a long, wide dugout canoe paddled by Garifunas with mahogany paddles across the Aguan River.

From the dock or landing, as the Garifunas call any area on rivers (but not beaches) where canoes come ashore, it is an easy 10-15 minute walk down a broad sandy path. The restaurant is located on a sand "road" between the main road (also sand) and the beach. The only taxi service available is provided by a horse drawn cart since there are no cars anywhere in Santa Rosa de Aguan, a Garifuna town of approximately 5,000 inhabitants and the seat of the county or municipio government.

Unlike other rural restaurants, Golosinas Dejame Vivir actually had a painted sign above its walls made of viscoyol, a very hard termite resistant plant that grows in wet areas. The roof is made of zinc sheets. This offers a big advantage over cohune palm leaf roofs (manaca) that, while traditional and cool, attract rats, cockroaches and other bugs that visitors would rather not share the dining area with.

Stepping into the restaurant, you meet your cook, hostess, and cashier, Celia Clother, a Garifuna woman. She bends low over a clay fireplace (fogon), stirring tajadas -- strips of plantains frying in hot oil. Another woman cuts them as she sits in the doorway on a wooden stool.

Take a second look -- the rustic tables, chairs and stools are mostly made of mahogany, much of which has now split since it was nailed down still green. Santa Rosa probably began its existence in the 1800s as the rainy season home of Garifunas and English-speaking blacks who cut down mahogany tress along the Aguan River for English lumber exporters.

While the serene, smiling cook tries to deal with serving fried chicken, cabbage salad, and tajadas covered with chismol (cut up onions, tomatoes and green peppers) that simmer in front of the fire, the restaurant located near the center of town bubbles over with noise and action.

Women argue in Garifuna in front while men drink and not infrequently argue in the back. Chickens roost behind the door of the room where soft drinks and beer are stored and where we were served. Children play in groups outside the window, singing anything including Protestant church school songs in Spanish.

Neighbors who do not feel like cooking drop by to order and pick up a dinner priced at Lps. 25 (Lps. 14 for the vegetarian plate of tajadas and salad). The tape recorder, set for the owner's taste, alternated between reggae and Spanish-language love songs.

Host Rolando Martínez, also a Garifuna, is happy to talk to clients. The night we went, the talk fluctuated between when Rolando accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior and the problems of guaro, Honduras' cheap sugarcane liquor that is ruining his health.

Alcoholism is a major problem in Garifuna communities where treatment programs are unknown, and Alcoholics Anonymous groups rare. Guaro, good cheap chicken, and filling tajadas made from plantains are the main draw of this restaurant.

The other restaurant in town, El Cayuco, attracts mostly customers who want to gamble, playing conquen, a card game that combines elements of rummy and poker. It is unusual in a community where work opportunities are scarce to see people ante up Lps. 100 at the beginning of a game.

Despite the fact that Garifunas are traditionally a fishing people, the only item on the restaurant's menu is fried chicken. The owners of Golosinas Dejame Vivir said they would prepare traditional foods like albondiga -- banana dumpling cooked in coconut soup -- only if they are ordered either the day before or early in the morning.

The reason villagers gave for the lack of fish was that commercial fishing boats in the area have taken so many fish with their nets that it was useless to drop a line and hook a fish.

During the day Dejame Vivir serves only cold soft drinks. (Santa Rosa has electricity, just no phone service or television.) Food service begins after 4 p.m. Part of the reason is that the cook needs the morning to collect driftwood on the beach or to bring firewood back from the small forest about 40 minutes from Santa Rosa.

Minister of Culture and Arts Herman Allan Padgett recently met with Mayor Jaime Talavera of the island of Amapala to discuss plans for cleaning up the area from Coyolito to the Port of Amapala.

According to a press release from the Secretary of Culture, Art, and Sports, Padgett also confirmed that there are plans for the installation of an artisan center, a marine museum, the reconstruction of historical buildings and repair of the city's park.

Through the functioning of the House of Culture, Padgett said that there are plans to raise community esteem and participation by offering instruction in the area of theater, dance, song, and sports.

In addition, he informed that construction of the first multi-sport complex featuring a soccer field and basketball and volleyball courts would begin in May.

These projects are important to the promotion of tourism and thus to the generation of resources and elevation of the standard of living of local residents.

The Port of Amapala on the island of el Tigre, founded Oct. 17, 1833, offers tourists a beautiful landscape and past rich in history. Although neglected by the government for many years, the current administration is promising to make new progress.

By HOWARD ROSENZWEIG

A new airline now serves Roatan with flights from Miami. Honduras Air initiated operations in December with a once a week Miami-Roatan flight. The airline is running with a leased Boeing 727 with a capacity of 200 persons. The owners of Honduras Air include several major hotel-resort owners on Roatan.

Fares will be quite a bit cheaper than flying with the major carriers.

According to Alan Hyde, vice-president of Honduras Air, the main objective is to increase the number os U.S. tourists travelling to Roatan and the other Bay Islands.

Roatan boasts a brand-new international airport, built with funds and technical assistance from Spain. The airport, opened in 1995, was inaugurated by Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez.

Along with San Pedro Sula's newly remodeled international airport, these are the two best, modern airport facilities in Honduras. (Now if they could just get that darn air-conditioning system to work at the new San Pedro International Airport!)

Off-road motorcycle enthusiasts take note: Caminos Locos, a La Ceiba-based moto-cross tour operator, offers guided excursions throughout Honduras.

Caminos provides bikes (350 or 650 cc) and support vehicles, just bring your helmet and leathers. Run by two Germans, Jurgen and Claus, be prepared for some serious, heavy-duty, off road, in the dirt, down and dirty motor biking.

Trips take you to North Coast Garifuna villages, the Cangrejal River, Cuero y Salado Manatee Reserve, Copan Ruinas, the Sierra Jalunero mountains, Gracias, La Esperanza, Lake Yojoa, La Mosquitia, La Muralla National Park, and Trujillo. Prices run US$95 per person/per day, with a minimum of 4 persons. For information, call tel/fax 504 41-1874. Website: http://www.vena.com/locos