Best of Honduras, Part X 

Best Airport

The San Pedro Sula airport is clean modern and convenient.  Definitely a step up from the old terminal that looked like something out of that old Bogart classic Casablanca.  The new airport sports a sleek new terminal, a banking center with all your favorite banks and a small food court with a Wendy's outlet.  And this just in: As of a week or so ago, the airport is now being managed by a private sector company, giving us the hope that things will get even better in the future.

Funkiest Border Crossing

The El Florido border is located just 12 km from Copan Ruinas.  It's the point of entry for most Copan Ruinas bound tourists and the point of departure for travellers heading north to Guatemala.  The checkpoint pretty much sits out in the middle of nowhere.  There's no real town, just an odd assortment of police, migration and other structures.  The road on both sides of the border is finally getting a well-deserved makeover and is being paved on both sides of the international line.  Once completed there will be easy access from Guatemala - Honduras and visa versa.

However don't jump in your Range Rover just yet.  Although work on the Guatemalan side is well advanced, the Honduran side is another story.  They've got a long ways to go until the president can chopper in for the corresponding ribbon cutting ceremony.  A daily shuttle now braves the twisting dirt roads from Copan Ruinas - Guatemala City - Antigua.  The trip takes six hours.  Info: Monarcas Travel at e-mail <monarcas@conexion.com.gt>.

Best Hope For An Increase in Tourism to Honduras

Well, I hate to tell ya this folks but our salvation lies in neighboring Guatemala.  Tourism there is booming, they pulled in over a half billion dollars last year, compared to a chronically anemic $165 million here.  A dynamic private tourism sector and somewhat competent public sector Ministry of Tourism do what needs to be done to market and promote the country.  Here in Honduras we can grab a piece of the Guatemala action due to the fact that we have a bunch of "stuff" that Guatemala does not: islands, diving, white sand beaches in abundance and Copan, which in many respects is the number one Central American Mundo Maya site.

So, until Honduras really gets on the international promotion bandwagon and markets our tourism products, the best we can hope for is an itsy bitsy piece of the Guatemala pie.

Best Massage Therapist: Copan Ruinas

Doña Tona has been soothing sore muscles and alleviating aches and pains in Copan Ruinas for as long as anyone can remember.  A full hour, full body massage will set you back Lps. 100.  And it's well worth the investment.  With her strong muscular arms and years of experience, she can get at what ails you.  Her studio evens sports a professional massage table, imported from the United States -- a gift from a true fan.  Info: Sala de Masajes de Doña Tona, located in front of Restaurante Pizza Rica.  If she is not in her studio, she can be found at her "day job" at the downtown archeological museum in front of the Central Park.

Best Place to View that Strange Creature: The Cruise Ship Tourist

Check out the island of Roatán during the winter.  Be alert for flocks of strangely and often poorly attired caucasians.  Prime cruise ship tourist viewing spots include (but are not limited to) the far end of West Bay Beach and any so-called tourist attraction, such as the dolphin show, glass bottomed boat and the new cruise ship souvenir mall -- yes, it's true, they actually built a Caribbean-style shopping mall just for the cruisers in our midst.

On the plus side, it must be said that cruise ship tourists have become a very important niche for the Honduran tourism sector.  Approximately one in seven of all incoming tourists last year were cruisers, with Roatán getting the lion's share of the business.  Cruisers come, see, spend a few bucks, and leave.  Although Honduras would be better served by attracting more upper-income and longer staying tourists, I guess at this point in the game we have to just take what we can get.

Best Retirement Spots, In no Special Order

Roatán: Plenty of island splendor, but be prepared to shell out a pretty penny for that beachfront lot and custom tropical home.

Tela: Some of the best mainland beach and spectacular marine parks, moderate prices, funky banana port ambience.

La Ceiba: By far the nicest city in Honduras, good nightlife, tons of ecotourism possibilities, hub for transport to the Bay Islands, ethnically diverse populace.

Copan Ruinas: Honduras' premier small mountain village, all the amenities that one would expect in the nation's number one tourist destination combined with a relatively unspoiled mountain town and only three hours as the crow flies from San Pedro Sula.

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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Best of Honduras, Part XI 

Best Spots To View Butterflies

There are currently three butterfly farms where visitors can get up close and personal with a spectacular variety of butterflies indigenous to Honduras.  In Copan Ruinas, the Enchanted Wings Live Butterfly Exhibition House is now open, info at 651-4133.  In La Ceiba, the newly opened butterfly breeding and exhibition facility is located on the grounds of The Lodge at Pico Bonito.  Non guests at the lodge may visit the butterfly facility.  Info at e-mail <picobonito@caribe.hn>.  And finally, the granddaddy of Honduras' butterfly breeding farms is located in Raista, La Mosquitia.

Best Brunch: San Pedro Sula, Readers Best of Recommendation

The Club Social Hondureno-Arabe in San Pedro Sula comes highly recommended for Sunday brunch by Dr. Juan Larach, who practices in San Pedro Sula.  He wrote, "You don't have to be a member to eat there.  I've lived in NYC, Chicago and San Francisco, and this is much more delectable and the choices more varied than the best hotels in those cities!  A bargain at all-you-can-eat for Lps. 190.  Check it out!

Best Museum

By far the best museum in Honduras is the Maya Sculpture Museum in Copan Ruinas.  Although plagued by structural problems in the roof, the museum houses some of the most spectacular examples of sculpture and architectural details from the Copan site.  Copan, in fact, is renowned as having the finest examples of sculpture to be found anywhere in the Mundo Maya.  Open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

Best Supermarket: San Pedro Sula

Ever get a hankerin' for a slab of rich creamy brie from France?  How about a hunk of chewy, spicy Italian hard salami, or perhaps a bottle of your favorite California red or a loaf a fresh baked baguette?  Tired of eating that same old dreary, locally produced run-of-the-mill stuff?

Well, allow me to recommend a food emporium that'll set you up with some of your favorite fixin's that you've been dreaming about since your last trip back home.  Supermercado Los Andes, Avenida Circunvalacion in San Pedro Sula, stocks a wide array of tantalizing tidbits for the tummy.

Best Place To Buy Farm Fresh Tropical Fruits

The area near Lake Yojoa abounds in tropical fruits.  Blessed by a near perfect year round spring-like climate and plenty of rain, the area is famous for being the principal pineapple producing region in Honduras.  In addition to the especially juicy, sweet pineapple, other fruits grown in the area include a number of different varieties of bananas, plantains, papayas, coconuts, mangos, limes, lemons, nance, and many others.  You'll notice the difference right away between these fruits and what you are accustomed to buying in the local supermarket back in the States.  Fruit shipped to the United States is for the most part picked green or unripe and shipped in refrigerated tractor trailer containers.  By the time they do in fact ripen, much of the original rich sweet flavor has been lost.

The best place to pick up a load of fruit is in the myriad of roadside stands that dot the side of the main San Pedro Sula - Tegucigalpa highway.

Best Place To Buy Souvenirs

There are two strong candidates in this category, located on opposite ends of the country.  In the south, the small mountain village of Valle de Angeles, located a half-hour drive from Tegucigalpa, is famous throughout Honduras as a place to buy crafts from around the country.  On the other side of the country, the Guamilito Market located in downtown San Pedro Sula has the best selection of crafts under one roof.  And this just in: According to press reports, the Guamilito Market is set to undergo a major facelift by the San Pedro Sula municipal government in an attempt to turn the market into the major regional tourist crafts market.

Best Tour Operator

Although there was bit of competition in this category, my vote hands down goes to Garifuna Tours, which operates out of Tela.  Garifuna Tours is the premier ecotourism operator in the country, specializing mainly in the North Coast region.  Their full-day trips to Punta Sal and Punto Izopo National Parks, both located on the Caribbean coast, have become the most popular and accessible eco-tours available.  Garifuna Tours trips are noted for being well run, professionally organized, using bilingual guides and taking great care to foment responsible eco-tourism practices.  Garifuna Tours has been at the forefront of leading the charge in Tela to promote the area as an eco-tourism destination.  Info: <garifuna@hondutel.hn> or <http://www.garifuna‑tours.com>.

Best Good Eatin' at a Bargain Price

Applebees is the new kid on the block and is thus trying hard to lure customers away from the more established TGI Fridays.  Applebees offers a numbing array of specials just about everyday of the week, including two for the price of one dinners on Thursdays.  Can't beat that!  'Bees gets my vote for best high-end U.S. chain eatery hands down.

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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Butterflying takes off in Honduras

A Morpho peleides rests on a coleus plant.  (Photo by R. Gallardo.)

Five years after Honduras' first butterfly farm began exporting live pupae to the United States, a farm has been established in La Ceiba, an exhibition house in Copan Ruins and another is soon to open in West End, Roatan.

The idea took shape 10 years ago after a group of students, teachers and other professionals from San Diego, Calif. visited the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve in La Mosquitia and conducted studies with logistical support from MOPAWI -- a non-governmental organization that works with the various ethnic groups in La Mosquitia in areas such as agriculture, education, health, biodiversity, ecotourism and natural resource conservation.

After initial studies, the San Diego group gave recommendations as to what other projects MOPAWI could carry out in the region.  One such project was a butterfly farm.

The idea remained on paper in a filing cabinet until 1993 when Peace Corps volunteer Erik Nielsen came upon the report.  He knew of another volunteer in Olancho, Robert Gallardo, who was a butterfly enthusiast, so he put him in contact with Osvaldo Munguia, the executive director of MOPAWI.

Gallardo met with Munguia several times about the possibility of establishing a farm within the Biosphere.  With the support of San Diego, the Peace Corps and MOPAWI, Gallardo was now ready to begin working on the project. 

SITE CHOSEN

In May 1994, Gallardo made his first trip to the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve where he visited the communities of Banaca, Limonal, Belen and Plapaya.  In each community he looked at various factors such as butterfly populations, ease of transporting a farm's product and the willingness of local people to learn something new.  After the trip, he initially chose Belen, situated on a strip of land between Ibans lagoon and the sunny Caribbean.

He returned again in January 1995, but this time with experts from the San Diego Zoological Society.  While there they concentrated on farm details and met the Bodden family in Raista (adjacent to Belen) who were willing to donate for five years a piece of land to the project.

Two months later, Gallardo did a site transfer/extension and moved to Raista where he immediately began working.  He soon met Eddy Bodden who had dove for lobster for 16 years.  It was then that he left the ocean for good and worked side by side with Gallardo for over a year until they and the community had a functioning butterfly farm.

It was nothing less than a miracle in having established Honduras' first farm in such a short period of time and in such a remote region of the country.  Gallardo and Bodden put more than 100 percent of their time and energy into the project.  In fact, Gallardo never even had the chance to visit the famous Las Marias, just a stones throw away.  There were many ups and downs during the start-up period, but they did it. 

PUPAE EXPORTED

Gallardo left in May 1996 and two weeks later the farm exported its first pupae to the San Diego Wild Animal Park.  To date, the farm is still operating and exporting, as well as selling pupae to Gallardo himself.

Gallardo returned to Honduras and established a farm in La Ceiba that was well met by tourists and school groups.  It also went through tough times and even changed locations.  It is once again open, producing pupae and receiving visitors.  This farm is now located at The Lodge at Pico Bonito in the village of El Pino, about 25 minutes west of La Ceiba.

By the end of 2000 a serpentarium will also be opened, displaying some 20 native snakes and reptiles including boas, fer-de-lance, eye-lash and other vipers, tropical rattlesnakes and more.  A separate admission charge of Lps. 20 for adults and Lps. 10 for children will be charged.

The admission charges for this farm are as follows Lps. 30 for adults and Lps. 15 for children.  University and school group rates are available.  The farm is open Wednesday to Sunday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  The best time to see the butterflies is in the morning hours. 

OTHER FARMS

Then the idea rose about opening a butterfly exhibit somewhere else.  Copan and Roatan seemed like likely places due to the large flow of tourists through both areas.

In less than a year, Honduras' first butterfly exhibition house has opened in Copan Ruins, which receives pupae from both La Ceiba and La Mosquitia farms.  Upon arriving, one encounters an ample flagstone patio and wooden deck areas for relaxing.  Going down a flight of steps leads one to the gift shop where Honduran-made souvenirs with butterfly themes are sold.  Each visitor receives an identification chart and enters directly into the 3,200 sq/ft exhibit.  Once inside, visitors can observe butterflies emerging in the pupa box in the morning hours.

The exhibit is built on a slope and consists of five terraces, each one connected to the other by flagstone steps and paths.  It has a series of waterfalls that trickle down three of the terraces.  The enclosure is completely filled with flowering plants such as orchids, passion vines, periwinkles, butterfly bush, milkweed, lantanas and many more.  Benches are available for reading and relaxing.

Future attractions include an insect museum and serpentarium.  It is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Admission charges are: adults $5, children $3.  Student group rates are available.  Saturday and Sunday Lps. 40 for nationals and residents with identification only.

Soon to open in West End, Roatan will be another live butterfly exhibit.  Roatan Butterfly Gardens is targeted to open some time in October and will also exhibit butterflies from La Ceiba and la Mosquitia in its 3,000 sq/ft enclosure.  It will be open Sunday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m..  Admission fees will be $5 for adults and $3 for children.

Whether one is visiting La Mosquitia, La Ceiba, Roatan, or Copan Ruins, the butterflies will be nearby.  Be sure to visit one, or several, of the facilities with the family to appreciate these brilliantly colored insects.

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Best of Honduras Part IX 

Best "Hit of Home" Food: Copan Ruinas

Restaurant Vamos A Ver serves up one heck of meal: big salads you can really sink your teeth into, humongous chewy bread just like grandma used to bake, real imported Dutch cheeses and a few stellar main dishes to tempt those taste buds.  Try the grilled chicken fillet or steak, both served up with a heaping plate of french fries (remember, the owners here are Dutch and french fries have been practically baptized as the national food of Holland).

And while you're going native, don't forget to slather that mayonnaise all over them fries!  "Vamos," as the locals call it, is the place to find that hard to track down food we all know and love (and miss from home): quiche, oversized sandwiches, salads fit for a king and, of course, the personal attention of its friendly Old World proprietors. 

Best Cafeteria: San Pedro Sula

The 24-hour Cafeteria Scandia at the Gran Hotel Sula has been serving up good, simple yet hearty food for as long as anyone can remember.  The place reminds one of the cafeterias of old in the U.S. where smiling waitresses in short tight outfits balanced steaming plates of old favorites, like rotisserie grilled chicken, hot fudge sundaes, and a never-ending stream of coffee.  In today's politically correct age, it now comes under the name of "comfort food," but I call it just plain old good eatin'.

Although the cafeteria has all but disappeared from the scene in the States, it's alive and well here.  Breakfast is my favorite.  They cook up a mean plate of french toast, the coffee is always fresh and the milk for one's coffee piping hot.  Grab an a/c table inside -- remember, this is San Pedro Sula and by 9 a.m. the thermometer is already hovering near the ya-wanna-die mark.

Best Nightlife: North Coast

La Ceiba wins this one hands down.  As the old saying that we've heard in Honduras a zillion times goes, Tegucigalpa thinks, San Pedro Sula works, and La Ceiba, well, they like to party... and party... and...  La Ceiba's nightlife is centered in the Zona Viva, which is a boulevard running parallel to the sea for a few miles.  There are plenty of fresh fish restaurants, as well as a numbing number of bars and discos.  What makes Ceiba unique, however, is its mix of people.  They have migrated from all over the North Coast, nearby inland mountain areas, La Mosquitia, and the Bay Islands, making for an amazing melange of skin colors and ethnic backgrounds.  Black Garifunas, Miskito Indians from the far reaches of the exotic Mosquito Coast, mixed blood ladinos, the offspring of Arab immigrants and a dollop of resident expats make for a potent party mix.  Add the year-round steamy tropical climate, the proximity to awesome beaches, pristine rain forest and abundant natural beauty, and you get the picture.

Aside from Ceiba's dance all night party scene, it's also worth noting that the town, in the eyes of many, boasts some of  the most beautiful women in Honduras -- not an easy mark to achieve if one takes into account that Honduras has many, many beautiful women.

So there you have it: hot tropical-inspired nightlife, sun, surf, seafood and some of the most gorgeous beauties this side of a Gauguin painting.  Enjoy!

Three Best Reasons To Visit Honduras This Winter

1.  It ain't snowin' ...it ain't hailin' and ya don't need to dig the car out with a shovel to drive down to the local Dunkin Donuts for your early morning ration of coffee and a jelly donut and, yes, folks in case you were wondering, we do have Dunkin Donuts in Honduras!

2. We've got some of the best diving in the world.  Australia may have the Great Barrier Reef and plenty of shrimp on the "barby," but they can't touch the likes of the Honduran Bay Islands --Honduran rum, island time, punta music, West Bay Beach, those lovely island women, cheap prices and, like I said and I'll say it again even at the risk of sounding redundant, some of the most superb reef diving on this planet.

3. Honduras boasts one of the most spectacular of all Mundo Maya archeological sites, Copan Ruinas.  With more amazing sculpture than any other Mayan ruins, the site itself is a forested jewel complete with a heavily forested nature trail that winds its way past the jungle-covered remains of still hidden structures over 1,000 years old.  The Copan Sculpture Museum is a must see, complete with a full-size replica of the Rosalila temple, which was discovered deep under existing structures.  For aficionados of Mayan archeology, ya'll might as well quit right here, 'cause it just don't get no better than this.

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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