Central America - (Page 13)

hoNDURAS calling... cALL oF ThE WiLd ing). San Francisco el Alto, the largest market, is considered the highlands’ most authentic. Guatemala is also rightly famous for its vibrant festivals, usually honoring a Christian saint, but with elements of earlier Indian rituals. The most famous is Santo Tomas, in Chichicastenango, beginning Dec. 13 and at its best on its final days, Dec. 20/21. Antigua stages a famous Easter Week (Semana Santa) celebration with processions through streets carpeted with patterns of sawdust and flowers. For All Saints Day (Nov. 1), there are extraordinary all-day horse races and folkloric dancing in Todos Santos Cuchumatan, as well as huge street fairs in Chichicastenango. On the same day, giant kites are flown in and around Santiago Sacatepequez and Zunil. Pico Bonito, which translates to “pretty peak,” is the tallest mountain in Honduras’ largest and wildlife-rich national park. A hike into the park—following only two designated trails—will be rewarded with crystal-clear swimming holes, rushing waterfalls, a lush and mountainous rainforest, colorful birds and butterflies. All this beauty and action is most accessible from the very upscale Lodge at Pico Bonito, right at the edge of the park, as well as the even more luxe, 3-suite Las Cascadas Lodge, right on the Rio Cangrejal. For pulse-quickening adventure, the Rio Cangrejal, which forms much of the eastern park border, offers some of Central America’s most exciting whitewater rafting, with rapids rated from class II-IV. The gateway to this north coast wonderland is the port town of La Ceiba, also a good base for outdoor excursions running the gamut from canopy touring and kayaking, to mountain biking and horseback riding. Two other not-to-miss attractions are the boat trip through Cuero y Saldo Wildlife Refuge—a wildlife zone replete with manatees, crocodiles, howler and white face monkeys, as well as birdlife galore—and the Lancetilla Botanical Garden, which also attracts hundreds of bird species, drawn to acres and acres of gardens hosting more than 1,200 species of trees and plants from four continents. Coming soon to the north coast in Trujillo—discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1502, it’s Honduras’ oldest town—is a new cruise port project, Banana Bay. Developers expect to receive cruise passengers in 2012. GUATEMALA ToUr TALk v Tara Tours (800-327-0080; taratours.com) steps out On the Mayan Path, starting in Guatemala City and continuing to Chichicastenango for market day and staying at the Mayan Inn; to Lake Atitlan with a motor-launch trip to visit some of the 12 indigenous villages, and to colonial Antigua for a stay at the Casa Santo Domingo. Then travelers fly to Flores and transfer to ancient Tikal for a site visit. An extension is available to follow the Mayan path to Quirigua and Copan in Honduras. The cost of $1,640 pp dbl includes air from Miami on American Airlines or Taca, accommodations, guided touring, domestic overland and air transportation. v Adventure Life (800-344-6118; adventure-life.com) packages Highland Maya Markets into a 10-day cultural Guatemala travel experience, visiting the colorful markets of Antigua, spending a day with a Mayan family; traveling via Totonicapan for market day to Lake Atitlan with a visit to the women’s textile cooperative and studios of naïve artists in San Juan La Laguna; seeing the Zunil textile cooperatives; continuing to the largest and most authentic market in the country, San Francisco el Alto; and to Chichicastenango. The $1,735 pp dbl price, based on four persons, includes 9-night accommodations; all breakfasts and some meals; eight days of private guide service and transfers. n cALL oF ThE sEA Moored 30 miles off the mainland, the Bay Islands is a rather pristine archipelago that covers about 92 sq. miles along the hemisphere’s largest barrier reef. And thanks to that reef, divers have been coming to the islands of Roatan, Utila and Guanaja for decades. Diving facilities and snorkeling draw beginners and experts to Roatan, the largest of the Bay Islands and the holy grail of scuba diving with plummeting walls, crevices and caverns, as well as excellent shore diving. The island’s most memorable dive sites are Hole in the Wall, West End Wall, Spooky Channel and Mary’s Place. On the other hand, Utila is the place to go to swim with the whale sharks, and beautiful Guanaja’s divers are treated to a wreck-diving bonus. Roatan offers an ever-expanding list of water-bound things to do including glass-bottom boat rides, sailing, sea-kayaking, deep-sea fishing or swimming with dolphins at the research station at Anthony’s Key Resort. (And don’t miss the exhibits at the Institute of Marine Sciences and Roatan Museum on AKR’s property.) On land you can visit a bird park, an iguana farm, a butterfly or botanical garden, or just lie on the beach. The sands are particularly fine along West Bay, whose hotels—Infinity Bay is the newest—and cafe and beach scene are the island’s best. A short boat-taxi ride links West Bay to the laid-back, lively village of West End, full of dive shops, little boutiques and several excellent ➤ August 2010 C13 GUATELMALA FAsT FAcTs Capital city: Guatemala City International airport: La Aurora International Nonstop air service from the U.S.: American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Spirit, Taca, US Airways Domestic airline: Taca Entry requirements: Valid U.S. passport International departure tax: $33 Tourism information: visitguatemala.com http://www.taratours.com http://www.adventure-life.com http://www.visitguatemala.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Central America

Belize
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
Nicaragua
Panama

Central America