Beaches and Mosquitoes in Honduras

Most tourists I´ve met have only gone to Honduras to the Bay of Islands for the cheapest diving schools in the world and for a relaxing break on the beach! There is so much natural beauty and friendly open people on the mainland that this was a favourite on the trip so far.

Bay of Islands - gorgoeus clear water, snorkling and diving on the largest barrier reef outside of Australia.

Garifunel indigenous villages combined with seeing a bit of their traditional dancing alongside windswept white beaches - cheeky local kids as well!

I was unable to enter the remote La Mosquitia area in time so I headed to a remote La Mosquitia village ie. wooden shacks surrounded by sand dunes. An island surrounded by the sea on one side and the river on the other it lost 1/3 its population in Hurricane Mitch. Apart from the mosquitos liking me, I found a found a human form of a Mosquito who was pestering for me, money and my items:)

Copan Ruins - beautiful ruins with amazing structural details. They are still uncovering the history and other buildings here, fighting for them with the jungle, as well as finding two temples burried under the existing Maya building.

Other areas - the old colonial capital of Camayagua was pretty. On the western side, the roads turned into rivers in a daily 1 hr dump of rain!

Nicaragua

I was stressed at the end of Costa Rica so my first stop was a secluded beach hideaway on the Pacific. Gorgeous and definately got the stress out by jumping and being pummeled by waves! Nicaragua is green, poorer, beautiful, lively and a lot more adventurous than Costa Rica and I definately preferred it. It was so easy to get off the beaten track and just lay back and relax in old colonial buildings, relaxing in hammocks (and watching the football)! Granada and Leon, beautiful old colonial towns were my pit stops in Nicaragua for exploring the nearby countryside, doing a full moon hike up an active volcano and just pottering.

The people are friendly, the country beautiful and the bus stations chaotic and exciting at the same time. The old US school buses are the main buses used and are brightly coloured inside and out with blaring music systems, and constant streams of people selling food and drinks passing through the buses.