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 exerpts from the National Geographic Traveler article at left:
Great (3-Day) Escapes
the secret garden - Honduras
While eco-tourism thrives in Costa Rica and Belize, Honduras has remained off the beaten path. Though only a two-hour flight from Miami and two and a half from Houston, Central America's second-largest but least-populated country has never caught on with North Americans. Honduras has been even less popular since 1998, when Hurricane Mitch wreaked havoc. If you're at least somewhat adventurous, however, now's a great time to go. Nature reveals its raw glory in Honduras, and with so few vistitors, it feels like a private show.
For an awesome weekend escape, fly to La Ceiba, population 130,000, a city in the north on a coastal shelf between the Caribbean and the Madre de Dios mountain range. Stay at the Lodge at Pico Bonito, just ten minutes from the airport, dramatically situated below the bright green face of the 8,000-foot Pico Bonito and its plumes of high white waterfalls. The proprietors bill this as the country's first full-service nature lodge.
The 200-acre property lies between the country's largest national park and a cacao plantation. The grounds harbor a rich diversity of plants, animals, and birds (over 260 species) and also a special sanctuary where one can step into a fluttering rainbow of 40 species of butterflies.
The lodge, staffed almost exclusively by Hondurans, is appointed with indigenous weavings, pottery, and artwork and has floors of hard pine harvested from hurricane-felled trees. The decked cabins are cooled by breezy fans, and out back, among the toucans and iridescent hummingbirds, the spa uses treatment mud from local hot springs. Lodge cuisine is Mesoamerican, prepared by a chef from an adjacent village, with fresh Honduran beef, vegetables, spices, and a dozen tropical fruits, many of which flourish on the grounds.
"The Hondurans have something htey can rightfully be proud of," says general manager Michael Wendling. But don't idle here for long, because there's so much to do nearby.
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