TRAVEL & TOURISM |
TRAVEL & TOURISM |
Monday, May 29, 2000 Online Edition 22 |
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For real fresh seafood, try Sambo Creek
By WENDY GRIFFIN If there is something a North Coast resident needs, it is probably for sale in La Ceiba. However, the traffic and bustle of La Ceiba is quite a change from sleepy towns on Roatan or around Trujillo. After a morning of running errands, some shoppers prefer to retreat to the Sambo Creek restaurant for lunch. In the United States, seafood restaurants try to create an ambience of the beach with fishing nets and starfish hung on the wall. The Sambo Creek restaurant, on the beach in the Garifuna community of Sambo Creek near La Ceiba, did not need to buy fishing nets. The Garifunas have them drying on posts next to the restaurant after a morning spent "chinchorreando" (fishing with a seine net). As we waited for our conch soup and hot dog, four Garifuna canoes appeared on the horizon. While Garifuna towns around Trujillo and Tela are mostly on protected bays, Sambo Creek is out on the open ocean. This means great breezes, crashing waves, and fast canoes sailing in with two or three sails. Garifunas and people from the restaurant crowded around the canoe to help bring down the sails, haul the canoe on the beach, set it on a roller, and finally get down to the business of selling fish. You can watch this from the beach level or a second floor porch. Or you can get up close and the waiter will come and tell you when lunch is ready. Seafood is fresh when you can say "hello" to the fishermen who brought it in. A friend said of a previous trip to Sambo Creek that as they were waiting for lunch, the men were butchering a shark down on the beach. He had wondered if he could ask, "Could we get a piece of that shark steak and cook it up to go?" The answer would probably have been, "Yes." The staff tries to be fast and attentive here. Prices are reasonable. For king fish with either "tajadas" (fried plantains cut in strips) or french fries, it was Lps. 70. They have shrimp for Lps. 70 - Lps. 100. Conch is available in several forms -- breaded with garlic butter (Lps. 70) or as "ceviche" at Lps. 60. The specialty on Sunday is "sopa marinera" or seafood soup, which includes conch, lobster, fish and shrimp for Lps. 100. English is spoken. If you are in the mood to mellow out with your friends, the bar offers wine, rum, scotch, tequila, kahlua, as well as beer. The cold soft drinks and ice cream seemed like a good idea after a walk on the sunny, breezy beach, and standing outside listening to the Garifuna drummers at Club "Yura." "We always have a good time here," said a foreign resident from La Ceiba. "The food is always good, like the conch soup we had today." So if you are in La Ceiba, you could try a seafood restaurant that has the ambience of the beach and sea critters. Or you could take a Lps. 5 bus ride and eat seafood so fresh you can watch the fishermen bring it in. The heat can be oppressive in La Ceiba, during "verano," so you might want to consider practicing a favorite Garifuna past time of "buscando brisas" (looking for a breeze) down on the beach at Restaurante Sambo Creek.
By HOWARD ROSENZWEIG Well, it's that time of the year again! June 1st marks the start of the annual Hurricane season in the Caribbean and U.S. forecasters are forecasting another year of above normal hurricane activity. For this coming season experts are predicting 11 tropical storms, seven of which will convert into hurricanes and three of which will be major ones. According to Bill Gray of the University of Colorado, the increasing number of hurricanes in recent years will probably continue for the next 20 years! * * * It's also that time of the year when the annual rainy season begins. After months of months of hot, bone dry weather, the spring rains have come as a welcome respite to parched Honduras. As the rains begin, forest fires that have raged sporadically for the last few months are doused, farmers plant their small plots of corn, and the formerly grey hills turn a verdant green. The daily evening rain shower brings with it fresh cool temperatures that are a delight to those of us here used to sweating 24/7. * * * And last but not least, it's also that time of the year when tourism bottoms out, entering its annual slow/low season. Easter Week typically marks the end of the tourism high season, which typically runs from November to April. However, as Easter visitors head home from a week of rest and partying, Honduran tourism quickly tumbles. The months of May and June are typically the slowest months of the year for tourism. Why? Well, the high season that corresponds to the winter months in the United States, Canada and Europe is when most visors come to Honduras and the rest of Central America. What red blooded American doesn't dream of jetting off for a week or two of fun in the Caribbean sun just as ones' home town gets socked in by a mid-winter blizzard? Come July and August, tourism to Central America regains its momentum as millions of Americans, Canadians and Europeans thoughts turn to where to spend the customary summer vacation. And for an ever increasing number of been-there-done-that travellers, Honduras is emerging as a new, virgin, up-and-coming, unexplored and untouristed destination. * * * The Costa Rican Institute of Tourism will invest $1.5 million in tourism promotion worldwide this year, the lion's share in Europe because, in the words of its president, Europeans travel to Costa Rica during the low season, May to November. Currently some 70 percent of visitors to Costa Rica come from the United States and Canada. Last year, Costa Rica hosted 1 million visitors who spent $821 million, an increase of 15 percent over the previous year. How much does Honduras spend on international promotion, you may be wondering? Well, I don't have the exact figure in front of me, but I would be very surprised if it topped US$100,000. Just imagine the effect on incoming tourism to Honduras if we increased the promotion budget five fold? * * * According to the Honduran Institute of Tourism and the Honduran Central Bank, in 1999 Honduras hosted 370,000 tourists and 55,209 day trip cruise ship passengers. Depending on which source you place more faith in, tourism brought somewhere between $165 million and $185 million into the country. When compared to other sources of economic activity in Honduras, tourism weighs in as the number three generator of foreign currency. * * * Cuba on the other hand, home to lovely white sand beaches, funky Havana nightlife, an aging Marxist dictator and a booming tourism sector will see tourism revenue increase dramatically. Tourism in recent years has become the salvation of a country whose economy was shattered and left in tatters at the close of the Cold War. Cuba is experiencing an annual rate of increase in its tourism sector of 16.5 percent, and the numbers of tourists projected to visit the island will reach 12 million by the end of the decade. Yes, you read correctly, this is not a misprint...12 million! Last year Cuba hosted 1.6 million tourists and by the end of 2000 should reach 2 million visitors -- again not a misprint, thus converting tourism into the number one source of hard currency for the cash strapped island. I gotta' tell ya', you just gotta' love it when the last holdout of the communist era, practically knocked out when its benefactor, the Soviet Union, closed up shop and called it quits, fights back from the brink of self-induced economic meltdown not by reforming its economic system nor by opening up its closed give-me-socialism-or-give-me-death political structure, but rather by developing and nurturing tourism. Howard Rosenzweig, a U.S. expatriate living in the Village of Copan Ruinas, is the owner of the Casa de Cafe Bed and Breakfast. He can be contacted at e-mail <casadecafe@mayanet.hn>. |
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Monday, May 22, 2000 Online Edition 21 |
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Sambo Creek offers Garifuna culture conveniently to tourists
By WENDY GRIFFIN
SAMBO
CREEK -- The North Coast attracts many foreign residents to towns like La Ceiba.
However, in La Ceiba itself the beaches are not so great, so residents go
to nearby towns to enjoy the surf and sand.
A popular weekend destination is Sambo Creek, a Garifuna community of
several thousand residents about 20 minutes by truck or 45 minutes by bus from
La Ceiba. Catch
the bus at the La Ceiba at the La Ceiba terminal, if you don't mind dozens of
vendors coming by to sell you drinks, food, watches, cassettes and other wares. Or you can take a taxi to the stop for Colon buses opposite
the Shell Gas Station on the highway and wait for the bus with cool breezes and
a nice view of the mountains. Before
reaching Sambo Creek, the bus passes through the Garifuna village of Corozal. This town is famous for its fair during two weeks in
mid-January. The bus stops at
Restaurant "Esquina de Ethel," which offers the Garifuna food machuca
(smashed plantains in coconut soup with fish) on Sunday as well as grilled meats
like barbecue chicken on the weekends. Until
recently, it was possible to travel by train from La Ceiba to Sambo Creek on a
line that used to carry bananas to the docks of La Ceiba.
The Standard Fruit Co., Dole Food's subsidiary in Honduras, turned the
railroad over to the Honduran National Railroad.
However, with all the rains and Hurricane Mitch, the government closed
down this section of railroad. Hurricane
Mitch affected Sambo Creek. About
50 houses were destroyed, others had their mud walls seriously washed away, and
the bridge over the Cuyamel River was carried away.
A project to rebuild houses has begun; however, they are using Panelit
for the walls. Panelit is made of a
cement mixture. Unfortunately,
cement corrodes in salt, and the "salitre" or high salt content in the
winds and rains directly on the coast seems to corrode the Panelit.
Two of the houses broke apart before they had a roof.
(Every other Hurricane Mitch reconstruction project I have seen on the
Coast has used wood or usually cement blocks for the houses.) What
most people do when they visit Sambo Creek is walk on the beach and have lunch. Several restaurants are available. The fanciest is called "La Campa."
Get off the bus as soon as it turns by the church and walk to the beach. Near
here is also the Sambo Creek Restaurant owned by Gregory Patterson.
Stopping here for the seafood lunch is popular among those people driving
to Trujillo from La Ceiba. Hotel
Restaurant Hermanos Avila next to the river is another possibility.
It is owned by local Garifunas. They
have rooms for rent with air conditioning or a fan from Lps. 80 (with shared
bath) to Lps. 150 (private bath). From
here there is a nice view of the river and the coconuts on the other side, which
are dying of lethal yellowing disease. If
you are discouraged by crime on the North Coast, try Sambo Creek.
This is almost the first beach I have been to in two years where people
said "Oh, don't worry. You can
walk that way, no problem. And you
can walk down the other way, no problem."
Everyone -- women, visitors and out-of-town workers all said the same
thing -- this is a place of little crime. Located
close to La Ceiba, the Garifunas here either commute to jobs in La Ceiba or they
fish. Dozens of fishing boats line the beach. Because of adequate job opportunities, immigration seems to
have affected this village less than other communities. Ricardo Guity, a local Garifuna, estimated that about 10
percent of the people had immigrated to the United States, especially New
Orleans, as compared to 50 percent immigration in Limon and 85 percent in San
Juan, Tela. The
beach was wide and breezy with sandpipers, sea gulls, vultures, and pelicans to
keep you company. The walk through
town was also interesting. A social
club was giving drumming lessons to young men.
Women washed clothes by the river. The
children swan, played in canoes, swung in hammocks and ran up to us.
"Take our picture," said some. Medicinal
plants like ajenjo and malva grew on almost every patio.
Sometimes you can see the women sitting outside making cassava bread. The
men worked repairing their nets, fixing the edges of their canoes and cleaning
fish. When the afternoon sun got hot, they retreated to a champa
to play dominos. Because of the hot
tropical sun, the Garifuna men prefer to go fishing in the pre-dawn hours, while
between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. they are back with fish for lunch.
The women go out to their fields around 4 a.m. or 5 a.m., so they too are
on their way back by 1 p.m. The
fact that much of the work takes place out of the village and very early is part
of what leads outsiders to think that they do not work. Sunday
is busy with people form La Ceiba. Easter
Week and the fair for the Sacred Heart of Jesus in June are also busy times. Otherwise, it is a quiet place to spend the afternoon. The last direct bus to La Ceiba leaves at 4 p.m. and on the highway you can catch buses to La Ceiba or Trujillo as late as 6 p.m. This last bus will still get you back in La Ceiba in time to have dinner and try Garifuna music at Africa Dance in La Ceiba's Zone Viva. For a combination of authenticity plus convenience, Sambo Creek is hard to beat.
Advertisement  The Bay Islands Hottest Investment Deals!!
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* * According
to a recent report in La Prensa, in early May a serious wild fire on the
island of Utila broke out threatening some three miles of mangrove
forest on the west side of the island.
Municipal officials said some 70 percent of the island is covered
by mangrove. It is estimated by officials that mangrove affected by the
fire could take some 20 years to recuperate. The
problem of dry season forest fires has been a constant cause of alarm
not just on the Bay Islands but throughout mainland Honduras.
Near Copan Ruinas, for example, the nightly spectacle of the
nearby burning hills that surround the village becomes so commonplace
that locals don't even give the fires a second glance, although tourists
often inquire as to "what's up with all these forest fires"?
Brush and forest fires are simply left unattended and are allowed
to run their course, providing Copan Ruins with the yearly spectacle of
charred hillsides and fewer and fewer trees left standing each year.
The only thing alleviating the problem is the onslaught of the
rainy season, which luckily started last week, dousing fires and helping
to prevent the start of new ones. It is important (and all the more serious) to note that this
is a nationwide problem. Every
year like clockwork during the annual dry season, the skies over
Honduras turn grey and ash laden * * * According
to the Vice Minister of Agriculture, North Coast coconut trees have only
three years to live given the rapid spread of lethal yellowing disease,
which is killing trees all along the Honduran Caribbean coast.
There is no way to protect trees from being infected, and once
infected there is no remedy that can be applied to trees.
The only solution is the large scale planting of resistant
seedlings that have been imported from Jamaica and Costa Rica.
Currently, government agencies and non-governmental organizations
are setting up seedling plantations in order to repopulate the North
Coast with disease-resistant varieties such as the Maipan and Malacina,
varieties from Jamaica. Lethal
yellowing disease was first detected on the island of Roatan in 1995 and
from there spread to the mainland.
It is estimated that 90 percent of the Honduran Atlantic coast is
now affected. *
* * The
Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, located in La Mosquitia, received a much
needed boost of support last week from government and NGOs.
The plan, called the Action Plan for the Protection of the Rio
Platano, is an attempt to stem the tide of illegal logging, hunting and
the uncontrolled arrival of new immigrants to the protected area.
In recent years, the Rio Platano Reserve has become Honduras'
premier ecotourism/adventure tourism destination.
The reserve offers serpentine rivers that wind their way through
virgin rain forest, miles of unspoiled and undeveloped beaches and
lagoons, a look at the fascinating Miskito Indian culture that makes up
the majority of the reserves' residents, as well as an impressive array
of flora and fauna. *
* * For
further information on ecotourism in Honduras log on to the following
web sites: Planeta.com http://www2.planeta.com/mader/ecotravel/center/honduras/honduras1.html
The Ecotourism Society About.com
Guide to Ecotourism Howard
Rosenzweig, a U.S. expatriate living in the Village of Copan Ruinas, is
the owner of the Casa de Cafe Bed and Breakfast.
He can be contacted at e-mail <casadecafe@mayanet.hn>. |
Hotel
Maya joins Double Tree and Hilton corporations By SUYAPA
CARIAS TEGUCIGALPA
-- Hotel Honduras Maya and
Convention Center Director Gilberto Goldstein this week signed an
affiliation agreement with Nelson Diaz, representative of the North American
Double Tree Hotels company, which is a member of the Hilton Hotels
Corporation. The
new partnership was announced Tuesday (May 16) during a press conference
attended by Tourism Vice Minister Victor Hugo Molina; Ronald Barahona,
president of the Honduran Tourism Chamber; Hotel Maya directors Cesar Batres,
Roberto and Ricardo Vinelli, as well as executive staff. "We
are flattered to be chosen to represent the Hilton chain in Honduras, since
it is probably the most important in the industry," said Goldstein,
prior to sign the agreement. He
added that negotiations have been going on for years, and that in order for
the hotel to meet all the conditions demanded in terms of infrastructure,
security, services and quality, the hotel will have to invest $1 million
over the following seven months, and another $2 million in the second phase. Meanwhile, Diaz said he was proud to bring this hotel, which he called "the great lady of Tegucigalpa," to the position where it truly belongs. The Hotel Honduras Maya will be the first Double Tree-Hilton Hotel to be operated in Central America, adding to a list of more than 2,000 first class hotels worldwide.
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Monday, May 15, 2000 Online Edition 20 |
By HOWARD ROSENZWEIG Easter Week 2000 or Semana Santa, as it is known throughout Latin America, has come and gone. In Honduras, the week long vacation or feriado has become more a national week-long beach party than a religious celebration, whereby hundreds of thousands of Honduran tourists invade the beaches in search of sun, surf and a family get together. This year's celebration came off with little in the way of the customary problems such as driving accidents, drownings, etc. The beaches near Puerto Cortes, which are very popular with residents of nearby San Pedro Sula, the nation's second largest city, saw some 100,000 visitors, according to official estimates. Tela, a popular Easter week beach spot, saw more than 123,000 visitors, according to police statistics. It is interesting to note that during the entire week in both Tela and Puerto Cortes there were but a handful of crimes reported to the police. According to the Puerto Cortes Chamber of Commerce, approximately Lps. 40 million were spent by tourists on the North Coast during Easter Week. An average middle-class Honduran Easter week tourist spent between Lps. 700 and Lps. 800 per day, and upwards of Lps. 1,500 per day for wealthy vacationers. These figures do not include accommodations. * * * According to press reports, tourism in Nicaragua is plagued by a number of problems. For one, it lacks an adequate tourism infrastructure. For example, there are only 104 tourist class hotels in the entire country, and potable water, electricity and communications infrastructure are severely lacking in many areas. In the Pacific Coast resort village of San Juan del Sur, located 109 km. south of Managua, there are only 12 hotels and nine hospedajes. Can you imagine what Holy Week was like there when an estimated 200,000 vacationers descended on the town? * * * Following the lead of Miami, Florida, the Honduran National Police have founded its first bicycle patrol unit. After having received a course taught by four Miami police officers, bicycle patrols were initiated in the North Coast city of La Ceiba during the Easter week holiday. The bike unit will patrol beach and tourist areas, as well as the center of the city. Bicycles were donated by the Honduran Banking Association. According to police officials, it is hoped that bike patrol units will be added to other cities and towns around the country. * * * The colonial town of Antigua in Guatemala has long been a traditional center of Holy Week celebrations. There the festivities emphasize the religious aspects of Easter with elaborate street processions and the famous intricate "carpets" of multi-colored sawdust that decorate the cobblestone streets. According to municipal authorities, an estimated 75,000 tourists descended on the colonial town to witness the processions and other activities. * * * Although Honduras has four international airports, a new "open skies" law that has been approved by Congress and a foreign consortium waiting in the wings to begin to manage and operate the four airports, there is no movement whatsoever in terms of attracting new airlines into Honduran airspace. One of the biggest obstacles to new airlines "taking the plunge" and entering the Honduran market is the relatively small number of passengers who pass in and out: approximately 1 million per year between local and international passengers. According to airport authorities, airlines would like to see some 4 million passengers in order to consider entering the market. At this time only three international airlines serve Honduras: Taca, Continental and American. The market is dominated by the Salvadoran carrier Taca. In March 2000 for example, Taca registered 299 arrivals and departures. Continental and American, both with only one daily flight to Honduras, had 31 arrivals and departures each. Partly due to the lack of competition and partly due to low passenger traffic, airfares are outrageously high. A couple of days ago I priced a one year r/t ticket, San Pedro Sula-Boston for my son, who is a student. The ticket topped out at a whopping and utterly wallet shattering $ 1,118 (a 30-day ticket came out to a slightly better, but still budget busting $ 851!) It is little wonder why Honduran tourism has not taken off as many have predicted (and would like to see) when airfares such as the above are the norm and bargain basement airfares can be had at the click of a mouse to hundreds of exotic vacation destinations around the world. Howard Rosenzweig, a U.S. expatriate living in the Village of Copan Ruinas, is the owner of the Casa de Cafe Bed and Breakfast. He can be contacted at e-mail <casadecafe@mayanet.hn>. Advertisement The Bay Islands Hottest Investment Deals!! |
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Monday, May 8, 2000 Online Edition 19 |
By HOWARD ROSENZWEIG SAP (for those out of the loop, this is the abbreviation for San Pedro Sula) Food News: The brand spanking new Holiday Inn Centre San Pedro Sula is offering up some great eatin' specials for guests as well as non-guests. The Rio Piedras Coffee Shop, which fronts 1 calle, is offering up a buffet breakfast special for Lps. 89 plus tax. The a.m. feast is offered from 6-11 each and every day. They also will set up the famished with a Sunday brunch from 11:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. for Lps. 120 plus tax. Also on site is Antonio's Restaurant, which offers an executive buffet from Monday to Friday from 11:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. For Lps. 99 plus tax, one can munch their lunch hour away with such delectables as: salad bar, soup, two main plates, and two side orders. For more info on how you can belly up to the (salad) bar, call 550-8080. * * * The word is out in Costa Rica: sex tourists, stay clear! The Costa Rican government, in conjunction with UNICEF, have embarked on an ambitious campaign to curtail the flourishing sex tourism trade in Costa Rica. The Costa Rican Institute of Tourism will help to get the message out both outside as well as within the country Rica. Among the measures to be used will be billboards at entry points to the country, as well as in tourist poles getting the message out to travelers that sex tourism is a crime and explaining the consequences and penalties that one could incur if caught. Although Costa Rica has strict anti-sex tourism laws on the books, with penalties of up to 15 years, they are seldom enforced, giving Costa Rica renown as one of the destinations of choice for sex tourism. In addition, the Costa Rican tourist police force will be strengthened through training provided by the governments of Colombia, Argentina and the U.S. state of Florida. * * * Although San Pedro Sula's airport aspires to great things, the actual numbers of passengers tells a different story. According to the director of the Ramon Villeda Morales Airport, only 500 to 600 passengers, both incoming and outgoing, pass through the airport on an average day. * * * How 'bout some more bad news from San Pedro Sula's up and coming international airport. The new San Pedro Airport, now some five years old, is still lacking its air cargo terminal. This was part of the original construction plan for the airport, but for one reason or another was never executed. The new cargo terminal will cost Lps. 42 million and will take some six months to construct. As of yet, the project still hangs in bureaucratic limbo with no word on when the bidding for the contract will take place. I'm sure all this doesn't sit too well with the new U.S./Honduran consortium that won the concession to manage and operate Honduras' international airports. * * * In other tourism infrastructure news, we have the Roatan pier being spiffied up just in time for the coming high season (winter 2000-2001) for cruise ship passengers. The pier is being fixed up, painted, electricity has been put in, signs erected, and concrete work done. The Lps. 359,500 project is being implemented by the National Port Authority. In recent years, Roatan has seen a marked increase in cruise ship arrivals. According to Honduran Tourism Ministry, 55,209 cruise ship passengers disembarked in Honduras during 1999. * * * How many Hondurans would you "guesstimate" leave the country each year to try their luck in other countries such as the United States or Canada? Well, according to United Nations Programme for Development, each year some 14,000 Hondurans leave the country in search of opportunities elsewhere. According to UN figures, it is estimated that the 14,000 emigrants per year figure will remain constant through the year 2005. * * * In another related press report, Gallup reports that in a recent survey conducted in the Dominican Republic, 60 percent of Dominicans stated they would leave the country if they had the opportunity. Of the 60 percent who would leave, 69 percent indicated the USA as their first choice, followed by Puerto Rico with 8 percent, Spain 6 percent and Italy 2 percent. Twelve percent said they would head to any country. The survey indicated that the main reason for leaving was to improve their and their families standard of living. Interestingly enough, 78 percent of those who would leave said that they would like to return to the Dominican Republic as soon as their standard of living permitted it. Only 9 percent indicated that they would leave their country forever. With respect for how these future immigrants perceived they would be treated in their new homeland, 49 percent said they believe they would be treated badly. Howard Rosenzweig, a U.S. expatriate living in the Village of Copan Ruinas, is the owner of the Casa de Cafe Bed and Breakfast. He can be contacted at e-mail <casadecafe@mayanet.hn>. Advertisement The Bay Islands Hottest Investment Deals!! |
Monday, May 1, 2000 Online Edition 18 |
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Different styles of lodging available on
Guanaja
By WENDY GRIFFIN "Guanaja's fame as a place to go is based on two large resorts -- Bayman Bay Club and La Posada del Sol," says Julius Rensch, former president of the Guanaja Hotel Association. However, Mrs. Miller, owner of Hotel Miller in Bonacca, points out that people do not have to stay at expensive places to see Guanaja, the least visited of the Bay Islands. Cheaper hotels exist and are still open after Hurricane Mitch. The two large resorts on the island have a very different feel to them. At Bayman Bay Club, located on the north side of the island, the decor is individual wooden cabins set in a natural jungle setting on the side of a hill. Sea breezes enter the almost floor to ceiling windows, plus each cabin has a hammock where one can rest overlooking the sea. The location is so safe, the management says, that "we don't use the keys. The guests just lose them." Meals are served in a central restaurant/bar overlooking the white sand beach where once a week beach parties are organized. The rest of the waterfront is rocky, indicating one of the island's better snorkeling areas. Guests rated the food as excellent. To get anywhere, it is necessary to go by boat. In the morning, a boatman takes interested people to the main town of Bonacca. Others depart for scuba diving. "The people here are professional and emphasize safety. That is important to me," says one Canadian guest. The friendly bar/restaurant staff also act as guides on hikes to a waterfall. Half-day and full-day fishing excursions can also be arranged. This isolated location with no pulperias (little neighborhood stores) nearby is quite different from most Honduran vacation areas. On Roatan, people are out in bars, restaurants and discos as taxis go up West End roads until quite late. Guanaja is a much quieter vacation spot. Most guests say they were looking for that -- no telephones, but you could still get there from New York in a day. It is so quiet that the phone and fax numbers listed in Honduras Tips do not work. The hotel is connected to the rest of the world by satellite phone with e-mail capabilities. The best way to contact them is by e-mail at <reservations@baymanbayclub.com>. La Posada del Sol (The Inn of the Sun, in Spanish) is on the other side of the island. It was built in Spanish-style with stucco walls and a red tile roof. The rooms are altogether like a hotel, arranged facing the swimming pool. Here the dining room is formal, including a carved wooden screen. La Posada del Sol has four dive boats and can arrange deep sea fishing or home fishing for up to eight fishermen. Tennis courts and weight rooms are available for those not exhausted by other activities. Some guests choose to tour Bonacca or the archaeological site at Marble Hill near Savannah Bight. The manager at La Posada del Sol says they have completed their Hurricane Mitch reconstruction. At Bayman Bay all the damaged cabins have been repaired, but some cabins were completely carried away by Mitch and are slowly being replaced. Both resorts meet their guests at the airport if they know they are coming. Those with back problems be warned: the ride to La Posada la Sol is quite rough. The most popular of the island's inexpensive hotels is Hotel Miller. When you get off the airplane, the water taxi will take you to the municipal pier in Bonacca town. Walk straight to the first corner, where Hotel Miller is located. Room rates run from $15 a day (Lps. 272) for a single room with shared bath to $20 (Lps. 336) for a room with private bath or $30 for a room with private bath. This hotel has the advantage that you can get a feel from Guanaja's main town. Mrs. Miller now lives at the hotel since Mitch carried away her home and business next to the water. In town, food can be had at local restaurants, including cheap baleadas (flour tortillas with beans and cheese) or you can arrange for meals at Hotel Miller. More expensive (Lps. 495) is the Hotel Rosario, whose staff lacked the friendliness characteristic of most Guanaja hotels. Honduras Tips also lists smaller dive resorts like End of the World on the north side of the island, another wooden-cabin-in-the-forest hotel. The list in Honduras Tips has already been changed to delete those resorts like Casa Sobre el Mar, which did not reopen after Mitch. Since phones only work in Bonacca and not always there, writing might seem to be an option. It took five weeks for my letter to get from Tegucigalpa to Guanaja, so do not be surprised if it takes a while to get an answer. Guanaja retains its lure as a place few people have visited or even heard of. Its natural beauty, clear blue waters, lack of roads and a regrowing forest are part of what makes Guanaja appealing for investors in the Iguana Bay project, a resort for the rich and famous that is not yet under construction.
By HOWARD ROSENZWEIG When is the best time to visit Honduras? Well, now that you mention it: now! As the end of April draws near and the Easter Week crowds return home from their week of debauchery at the beach, May and June are two of the best months in which to visit Honduras. There are no crowds of tourists, air fares are discounted and great rates can be found for accommodations. In fact, with just the slightest haggling one can get some great room rates with an additional 20-30 percent off the regular rate, just by asking. The weather during these two months is just beautiful, warm days and spring-like evenings. The winter crowds of sun worshippers have long high tailed it back north and the summer tourists are still just two months away, so the spring season is one of the best times of the year for a trip to Honduran shores. This spring there are a couple of must see spots that are new on the
scene. In La Ceiba, The Lodge at Pico Bonito will be opening its doors
this spring. It is Honduras' first and only true world class eco-lodge.
Nestled at the base of Pico Bonito National Park, the lodge is a virtual
paradise for birders, hikers and nature enthusiasts, all only a short
hop from the spectacular Bay Islands and a bit longer hop to the
wonderful ruins at Copan. Also slated to open this spring season is the
new butterfly farm in Copan Ruinas, where visitors will be able to get
up close and personal with an amazing variety of tropical butterflies
indigenous to the region. For the latest in up to date travel
information, log on to: <http://www.hondurastips. * * * Ready for some startling car news? According to the Ford Motor Company, Americans spend half a billion hours each week driving their cars. What does that mean for us here in the tourism sector in Honduras, you may be scratching your head and pondering? Well, let me tell ya' that after spending all those countless hours behind the wheel, eating cold Big Macs and sipping coffee out of oversized thermal mugs, most Americans are ready to give up the steering wheel while on vacation. The percentage of tourists who rent cars to travel the San Pedro Sula-Copan Ruinas route is a mere fraction of the tourists who travel via public bus, for example. Why? Well, most tourists are simply tired of the daily 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. commute and they want to get away from their cars during their once a year two-week vacation. Even those few tourists who do travel to Copan Ruinas by car, more often than not drive to Copan, then simply park the car and leave it parked during their two- to three-day average stay, preferring to walk to the ruins and stroll the countryside of the Copan Valley. The last thing they want to do is spend more hours strapped into their seatbelts. In addition, for many tourists travelling the public bus route affords them the unique opportunity to really get to see the countryside, its people, its sights and smells first hand. There's nothing like hopping the local yellow school bus crammed with local farmers, frolicking kids, the occasional chicken or two and other assorted colorful characters that look as if they jumped out of an Isabelle Allende novel. Try that in your Toyota Corolla rental next time you travel. Buses are cheap, frequent and fun. On the down side, they can be outrageously slow, excruciatingly hot and incredibly boring. In addition, car rental in Honduras is not for the budget traveller looking to save a few centavos. The average rental will set you back about $60 per day and then you have the potential for flat tires, leaky radiators and other assorted mechanical mishaps that you may have to deal with along the way. One fairly recent development in the big wonderful world of transport in Honduras is the proliferation of first class/direct buses that have popped up on most major routes: San Pedro Sula - Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula - Copan Ruinas, San Pedro Sula - La Ceiba, San Pedro Sula - El Salvador. All these routes sport clean, new, comfortable, inexpensive buses that will get ya' where ya' wanna go in style. Some even sport on board movies, on board stewardesses, as well as beverage and food service. The days of the chicken bus being the only bus has long faded into the dark days of Central American folklore. * * * Next time you hear someone say "tourism big deal" hit 'em with this stat. If you add the sum of the following Honduran exports -- wood, silver, lead, cultivated shrimp, lobster and tobacco -- you will come up with some $200 million worth of exports in 1999, virtually the same amount generated by tourism during the same period. As I have said a multitude of times, tourism can be a major player in the reactivation of the Honduran economy --if we play our cards right. Howard Rosenzweig, a U.S. expatriate living in the Village of Copán Ruinas, is the owner of the Casa de Café Bed and Breakfast. He can be contacted at e-mail <casadecafe@mayanet.hn>.
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Tela struggles to uphold its good name
By W. E. GUTMAN TELA -- If sunsets ignite Tela Bay in glorious bursts of red and gold, nightfall drapes this North Coast city of about 60,000 in a merciful mantle of darkness. Receding light and spreading shadows help soften the lifelines of an aging and tired tropical locale now imperiled by shrinking tourist revenues -- a phenomenon anxious hotel and restaurant operators blame on "bad press." Widely held and reflecting common misconceptions about the role of the media, this assessment is not altogether without merit. Eroded by the elements, fatigued by sporadic crime and tarnished by citizen apathy, Tela has indeed come under heavy fire. Irate foreign visitors (some were mugged and raped), foreign diplomats, concerned environmentalists and outraged Telenos spoke out, and the press obliged and delivered the truth. Such scrutiny, Tela businessmen insist, has given the city an undeserved "black eye." Sherwood Bonilla, owner of the airy, exquisitely decorated beach-front Hotel Sherwood, can handle the truth. It is "lopsided reporting" he cannot abide. "Tela is a beautiful city, a paradise," Bonilla exclaims, oscillating between hyperbole and wishful thinking. "People come from all over the world to enjoy our beaches, our national parks, our great restaurants, our folk festivals. Why does the press always focus on the negative? Granted, Tela is not Cancun," Bonilla concedes, now resorting to understatement. "Tela is unpretentious, laid back and friendly. What more can anyone want?" Next door, at the Cesar Mariscos Hotel and Restaurant, Geovani Bardales agrees. "Average tourists know they will find neither ostentation nor opulence in Tela. What they seek is tranquility and a leisurely pace in an idyllic setting. We have all that and more." Anastasios S. Anastassiou, general manager of the sprawling seaside resort, Telamar, chain-smokes and laments the effects of "yellow journalism" on the city's economy. "Papers love to spread bad news. A thousand people come to Tela and have a great time, and no one remembers; one person is held up in a bad part of town and no one forgets." Visibly upset by what he considers to be a "groundless assault against Tela by the media," Anastassiou, a veteran hotelier from Cyprus who has been living in Honduras for the past 20 years, is, however, as careful as Bonilla not to challenge some truths. "Yes, we have two problem areas in Tela, each at opposite ends of our fine stretch of beaches. We've gone to great lengths to caution the public but we can't hold everybody by the hand. People who disregard the warnings and deliberately venture into unsafe districts, particularly at night, must share some of the blame." Pierre and Suzanne Couture, the French Canadian owners of the Maya Vista Hotel and Restaurant, a charming eagle's nest with a commanding view of the bay, agree that the only lingering impediment to a sustainable tourist trade in Tela is delinquency, though they admit that "incidents are few and declining." Like their fellow hotel operators, they strongly favor upgrading Tela's airport facilities. "The runway needs to be lengthened by only half a kilometer," Bonilla argues, "and Tela could be served by daily jet service from Miami and Houston." TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES Tela is an engaging, "simpatico" little city, lively and spirited on weekends, lethargic, almost comatose from Monday to Friday. It boasts excellent hotels. Its restaurants, some of the best in the country, serve succulent fare at remarkably affordable prices. People are amiable, cheerful and eager to please. But Tela has its seamy underside. According to authorities, child prostitution is on the rise. The "problem areas" Anastassiou alludes to keep Tela's atrophied police corps hopping. Instead of striving for revitalization and restoration, Tela persists on building over the ruins of the past. It is worn and wearied. Many of its buildings are tattered, cracked. Large strips of peeling paint flutter from their walls. Graffiti is omnipresent. Despite the municipality's best efforts, its beautiful beaches are habitually surrendered to garbage, compliments of thoughtless out-of-town visitors and slovenly Telenos alike. Adding to one's consternation is the surreal spectacle of roaming bands of feral dogs and hungry vultures scuffling for the choicest scraps -- all this against a dazzling backdrop of azure sky and shimmering sea.
An open secret and a source of embarrassment and discord, industrial wastes and household "aguas negras" are regularly purged into a small stream that flows not far from the seaside hotels. United Nations volunteer, Christian Dame, a Belgian botanist working for Tela's Department of Community Development, confirms that "soiled diapers and other filth frequently course through the inlet and into the ocean." THE BUCK STOPS HERE While Tela businessmen blame the media, the national government, the Ministry of Tourism, the Chamber of Commerce, the municipality and -- often -- each other for their woes, newly elected Tela Mayor Milton Castillo Suazo, a former schoolteacher, looks at his city with refreshing candor and scholarly insight. "The truth is that we've lost credibility with both foreign investors and tourists. Tela's problems are, in large part, self-inflicted. Our beaches are dirty. Sporadic delinquency is a fact of life. Our police force -- 15 officers in all, three assigned to transit duty -- is perilously understaffed and overburdened. Notwithstanding claims to the contrary, sewage and other wastes are routinely discharged into the sea. Tela is not only at the mercy of an obsolete infrastructure, it is also, deplorably, the casualty of a national culture of procrastination and indifference. Take taxis, for instance. You can't find a taxi in Tela at night if your life depends on it." "Why," I ask. "Fear of crime or not enough business?" "Neither," the mayor exclaims. "Crime has been steadily declining. It's laziness, sloth, inertia! Taxistas would rather be home watching TV than working. Tela has a huge tourist potential. It also faces daunting social and economic challenges reflective of the nation as a whole. The media may be unkind at times; but it does not lie. Solving our problems and reaching the potential we so richly deserve will involve a colossal effort and span several generations." Second in command at Tela's police station, Lt. Carlos Jose Zavala, a neatly attired, quick-witted and perceptive officer, agrees with Mayor Castillo. "Tela is a nice city facing typical urban issues, among them crime. About 85 percent of all felonies involve juveniles. Most arrests are drug-related. We are shorthanded and overworked. We will be busy for a long time to come." ABSURD STATUTES? Bad press has alarmed and angered Tela's entrepreneurs. Anger has transmuted into resentment and hostility. Businessmen are quick to condemn human rights organizations "and their absurd statutes" for the city's "inability to prosecute and punish the guilty." It has become fashionable to advocate lowering to 16 the age at which minors can be tried as adults for crimes involving violence. Predictable, this reaction is rooted in a palpable antipathy for the city's embittered Garifuna community. Though never mentioned by name, the Garifunas, now cleaved by inter-tribal discord, are often blamed for many of Tela's problems. Industrial development around Tela Bay is encouraged by some Garifunas because it generates jobs. Others are opposed because it threatens their lands. Sanctioned by the International Labor Organization's Convention 169, a proposal to grant the Garifunas larger land titles has infuriated land speculators. Conflicts have also arisen between the Garifunas and the Foundation for the Protection of Lancetilla, Punta Sal and Texiguat (PROLANSATE) with regard to Garifuna access to natural resources in the parks around the city. The annexation (and illegal sale) of Garifuna real estate has also raised tensions and sent a former mayor to jail -- four times. Strapped for cash, some Garifunas are selling their beach-front properties to foreigners, in contravention of Article 107 of the Honduran Constitution. Although none of these events has had any specific impact on tourism, they have slowly leached into Tela's collective consciousness, often with regrettable consequences. "If tourism is to thrive -- it can and ultimately will -- we Telenos, in concert with local and national government, must roll up our sleeves, defend, protect and enhance the bountiful gifts that nature has bestowed upon us," Mayor Castillo insists. "We must also create the infrastructures and economic underpinnings that generate employment, help reduce crime and restore hope and dignity among the poor." "Do you like living in Tela," I ask Mercedes Mejia, owner of Luces del Norte, a great little restaurant in the center of town. "Like? No. Love! To me this is heaven. I will never leave." "Are you a Teleno," I later ask a dark-skinned beauty peddling fruit on the beach. "Yes, and proudly so," she replies, her eyes smiling, her body language both suggestive and defiant. Pure Honduras, I reflect, utterly seduced. The next morning the taxista who had sworn to pick me up "at seven sharp," in time to make the Tegucigalpa-bound bus, never showed up. That too, is Honduras, I concluded with forbearance. Ah, yes, the cartoons must be on. Who'd give up Tom and Jerry for a measly 8 lempira fare? |
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