August 8, 1998

Highlights of Honduras (cont.)
by Patrick Heyman

Tela

Tela is a tropical beach paradise. The town is about 100,000 people, but Latin American towns have a way of feeling smaller than they are, and Tela feels more like a village than a city. The main attraction here is the ocean. At our hotel, a palapa (thatch roof) beach bar overlooks a stunning view of the ocean. A half-hour boat ride takes you to Punta Sal, where soft coral grows. The inlets and coves are the embodiment of secluded tropical hideaway.

Thirty minutes from catch to eat.

Here we found one of the true highlights of the trip. Marshall, caught two mackerel using our guide's fishing gear. Our guide took us to a little fishing village that prepared the fish we caught. Thirty minutes from catch to cook makes some of the best fish I've ever eaten. It certainly beats the U.S. standard of three days old is still fresh fish.

The other attraction in the vicinity of Tela is Lancetilla. This was once a school and experiment by the United Fruit Company.  (Wilson Popoene once taught there.)    Hundreds of varieties of trees and plants were brought here to see which ones grew best in Honduras' tropical climate. One can find bamboo stands over a hundred feet high.

There are numerous small hotels and pensiones in Tela, but only one real hotel, the Villas Telamar. Once a resort for United Fruit Company executives, the bungalows are built on stilts and range from single bed units to houses that can keep entire extended families. The wooden floors and stilted buildings add a quaint feeling and offer a glimpse into the golden age of the fruit companies that made Honduras the banana republic.

Take me to Roatan	Take me to La Ceiba
Take me to Tela	Take me to San Pedro Sula
Take me to Copan	Picture Gallery
Reader Comments	Honduras Information