Honduras
Second only to Nicaragua, Honduras is the largest country in Central
America, and yet, with a mere five million inhabitants, it is also
the least densely populated area on the continent. The massive
stretches of untouched, uninhabited and unexplored territory result
in many visitors touring Honduras to consider it Central America’s
best kept secret- that with its diversity of landscape, natural
wonder and climate, the country warrants far greater recognition
than it currently receives, and until it does, this magnificent tour
destination and its wealth of alluring features will remain hidden
to all but a select few.
The unique and varied topography of Honduras, with its plethora of
impressive, pine tree-scattered mountainous regions being
interspersed with lowland rainforests, jungle and desert spots is
mirrored in its climate, which ranges from subtropical to temperate.
As a result, not only does a tour promise a wide choice of scenery,
but it also means that travellers can vacation in the climate of
their preference-sun-worshippers, for example, can bask in the
Honduras warmth regardless of season, and with the choice of lazing
near the lapping waters of the Caribbean Sea on the east coast, or
reclining at the edge of the great blue of the Pacific Ocean on the
west, any beach-enthusiast will find touring here the perfect
holiday.
Honduras, as with its neighbours in the Mesoamerican region, is
renowned for its biological diversity. Not only is it home to the
lowland rainforest of Rio Plantano Biosphere Reserve, which is a
UNESCO Heritage Site and is sometimes referred to as ‘The Last Lungs
of Central America,’ Honduras also houses thousands of plant
species, about 250 reptiles and amphibians, about 700 species of
bird and about 110 species of mammal. Unquestionably the ideal tour
destination for naturalists, Honduras and its considerable
biodiversity does beg the question of how many more types of animal
and plant remain undiscovered and hidden in the unexplored expanses?
Aside from its fascinating array of natural phenomena, Honduras also
offers a range of wondrous man-made spectacles; the Mayan ruins in
the jungle, the Colonial churches and monuments littered about the
villages, the spectacular Spanish fortress of San Fernando de Omoa
and the huge and majestic Basilica de Suyapa near Tegucigalpa.