#garifunas

July 19, 2015

Best of Honduras #garifunas, #intangibleworldheritage, Bioshpere Reserve in Honduras, Cacique Lempira, Senor de las montanas 0

Did you know that there are three World Heritage Sites in Honduras?

As of June 2015, Honduras now has three sites that have been designated as such by the Unesco! All three World Heritage Sites in Honduras are truly unique and deserve to be included in the list of these protected sites. We are talking about the Mayan Archaeological site of Copan Ruinas, the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve in the Moskitia region of Honduras, located on the Caribbean Coast, close to the border with Nicaragua and the new Cacique Lempira, Senor de Las Montanas Biosphere Reserve in Western Honduras.

The Archaeological site in Copan is the only Cultural World Heritage sites in Honduras, and is a magnificent example of the unique, extremely advanced Mayan Civilization in Meso America. Copan is not only the most studied Mayan Archaeological site in the World; it is also the one that has more elaborate high relief sculptures. The buildings, stelaes and altars in Copan boast an abundance of hieroglyphs that make the site truly unique. The largest surviving Mayan Hieroglyphic text belonging to the Mayan Culture can be found at the hieroglyphic stairway in Copan!

Altars, such as “Altar Q” tell us the story of K’inich Yax Kuk Mo and his dynasty, including the names of all 16 members of the royal family who governed this city state during a period of almost 4 centuries! Copan is truly a magnificent jewel that is well worth visiting! In your travels to Copan, you will be surprised to find that Copan, unlike other Mayan Archaeological sites that have also been designated World Heritage Sites, has a lovely, truly charming colonial like town that is within walking distance of the archaeological site. This means that you can have the best of both worlds! A World Class Archaeological Park that is one of Unesco’s World Heritage sites in Honduras and a nice town where you will find hotels and restaurants with a unique atmosphere and character to provide for a true Central American experience.

The other two World Heritage sites in Honduras are both under the category of Natural World Heritage, and the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve and the Cacique Lempira, Senor de las Montanas Biospehre Reserve. The Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve is a huge expanse of preserved land that is actually home to the largest tract of tropical rain forest in North America. The site is in a truly remote location and it is hard to get to it, however if you are truly interested in visiting a remote, pristine area, you should plan on an expedition to the area. La Moskitia Ecoaventuras is a local tour operator and outfitter, who operates expeditions to this remote area, the only Natural World Heritage sites in Honduras. You can learn more about their expeditions by visiting www.lamoskitia.hn. The region has several different ethnic communities living in its area, including, but not limited to Miskito Indians and Garifunas.

Speaking of the Garifunas, this unique culture was designated “Intangible Cultural Heritage” by Unesco in 2008. This designation is meant to protect and conserve the language, religion and dances of the Garifuna people, 90% of which live within Honduras. This is the only Intangible Cultural Heritage that includes Honduras to have been designated as such by the UNESCO. If you are interested in knowing more about this culture, the areas around the department of Atlantida, in Honduras are the easiest to access to, and provide the opportunity to meet and interact with this unique culture. In particular, the cities of La Ceiba and Tela are great locations to venture out to the different Garifuna Communities. The most original of which are the Village of Miami, located close to Tela, and the Village of Chachahute, located in the Cayos Cochinos, close to La Ceiba. For more information on the Garifuna check out www.garifuna.com. If you are interested in visiting these communities, contact Reservaciones Turisticas La Ceiba, a community owned nonprofit tour operator that specializes in community tourism. www.larecoturh.org/reservaciones-turisticas

A great option to enjoy the Garifuna culture is to spend some nights at La Villa de Soledad B&B, from where you can easily visit the many Garifuna communities both around Tela and La Ceiba as well as Cayos Cochinos as day tours. La Villa de Soledad Bed and Breakfast is a lovely boutique B&B that is conveniently close to Sambo Creek and Corozal, the two Garifuna Villages within the municipality of La Ceiba, on the Caribbean Coast of Honduras.

The last of the three World Heritage Sites in Honduras is the recently declared Cacique Lempira, Senor de las Montanas Biosphere Reserve. Located in Western Honduras, this unique reserve is located around the highest peak in Honduras, Cerro de las Minas in the Celaque National Park. Here you will find pine and oak forests, tropical cloud forests and even so tropical rain forest habitats. You will be charmed by the small, colonial rural communities that live around the park, that offer a window into rural life in Honduras, which remains pretty much unchanged for the last couple of centuries. The best way to explore this new biosphere reserve is to visit the colonial city of Gracias, where you will find several hotels, as well as variety of tour operators that will be happy to arrange your trip into the biosphere reserve!

February 10, 2015

Best of Atlantida #garifunas, diving in Atlantida, La Ceiba, Tela, White water rafting

Atlantida is the new and upcoming destination in Central America!

1. Atlantida Honduras is the Gateway to the Bay Islands

Yes the Bay Islands of Honduras are famous, and there is a reason why they are: Lovely, still quite pristine, with beautiful white sand beaches, magnificent coral reefs, picturesque native towns, and friendly English speaking people. Although Roatan has its own international airport, most people prefer traveling to La Ceiba, the capital of Atlantida and then take the 1 ½ hour state of the art ferry trip to Roatan. This way, they get to see more of the country and its beautiful nature and friendly people.

2. The Garifuna Culture

The Garifuna Culture has been declared Intangible World Heritage. The heroic fight that this unlikely culture fought against the European Conquerors’ is a truly interesting part of History that is known to few. Not only did they maintain their freedom, they have also retained their own language and traditions over the centuries. 95% of the Garifunas call Honduras their home, and many of them live in Atlantida Honduras. The Garifunas are friendly people who live off the sea, and therefore all of their villages are on the Caribbean Coast of Central America. Come and interact with this unique culture, and visit their communities in Atlantida.

3. The highest peak on the Atlantic Coast in the North American Continent

The Nombre de Dios Mountains rise sharply from sea level to a maximum altitude of over 8000 feet above sea level. The highest peak is Pico Bonito, located almost behind the City of La Ceiba. This triangular shaped peak has become an icon for the city, and is home to Pico Bonito National Park. Pico Bonito is the highest peak on the Atlantic Coast of all of North and Central America. This natural barrier provides outstanding protection to some of the most pristine National Parks in Central America.

4. The highest percentage of protected areas in all of Central America!

Atlantida Honduras offers 4 national parks, two wildlife refuges, one marine monument and a Botanical garden; in total 8 protected areas where you will find a huge diversity of eco systems, providing a variety of options for the eco tourist. Great hiking, outstanding birding, World class white water rafting, fantastic snorkeling are but a few of the options available. What else could you ask for in a eco destination?

5. The best beaches on the Atlantic coast / Caribbean Sea in Central America

There are two main hubs in Atlantida Honduras, Tela and La Ceiba. Tela is famous in Central America for its beautiful beaches. The Bay of Tela has many miles of beaches, including the most beautiful white sand beaches in Central America. La Ceiba is not famous for its beaches, however the community of El Porvenir, adjacent to Tela offers great beaches and a relaxed atmosphere. If you are a beach lover, Atlantida will not disappoint you! Without much pretense, I can assure you that the best beaches in mainland Central America are to be found in Atlantida Honduras.

6. The best nightlife in Honduras

La Ceiba has an outstanding reputation as the best night life destination in Honduras. It has a lot to do with the great clubs and disco’s that are located right on the beach and offer music to dance to till the wee hours of the morning. If you are dancer, or a night owl, come to La Ceiba and enjoy some of the best night life in Central America.

7. The Cangrejal River in La Ceiba is the hub for adventure activities in Atlantida.

Just like Tela is famous for its beaches, La Ceiba has the magnificent Cangrejal River which offers World class white water rafting . This is one of the best rivers in Central America to raft in! It is easy to get to, it offers great, challenging technical rapids, incredibly clear water, and an amazing scenery as you paddle to maneuver through huge, building size boulders on the river bed. Atlantida Honduras offers the best white water rafting in Honduras and quite possibly, the best white water rafting in Central America and the Caribbean!

8. Outstanding diving

Atlantida Central Honduras offers World Class diving! Despite the fact that it is not well known for its diving, Atlantida offers World Class diving. Both Tela and La Ceiba have great diving options. The “Capiro” reef located a few kilometers off the shores of the Tela Bay is the best preserved reef in all of the Central America Caribbean Coast. If you are in La Ceiba, easy access from Sambo Creek to the Hog Cays (Cayos Cochinos) will set you in one of the most pristine reefs in the Caribbean. Diving is absolutely spectacular. Best of all, there are few divers in the reefs, so these are still very much pristine and your to explore!

9. There are no crowds in Atlantida Honduras!

Atlantida, up to now, has been a relatively unknown destination. This means that it does not receive many visitors, and although this is not good news for the business owners, it is great news for the tourists who do visit Tela, La Ceiba or both! The National Parks, the different activities available and the many attractions are beautiful and un-crowded. If you are like I am, and dislike being in crowded places and avoid being caught in tourist traps, then Atlantida is perfect for you! Come to Atlantida and enjoy nature like its meant to be: un-crowded and pristine. Atlantida is often overlooked by travelers who on their way to the Bay Islands of Honduras actually pass right through it and actually skip it completely! What a mistake! Take note that the one week of the year when this is not true is during Easter Week, known locally as Semana Santa. During this week

10. Atlantida Honduras is easy to get around in.

One of the great advantages of Atlantida Honduras as a tourist destination is that there are so many different things to do and it is easy to get around. There is great bus service between Tela and La Ceiba, and there taxis are plentiful and affordable. In addition, there are two daily departures from La Ceiba to both Utila and Roatan, and the airport in La Ceiba offers direct not stop flights to all three of the islands plus San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa. The highway between Tela and La Ceiba is in great condition, so you can rest assured you will find it easy to get around. Another fact that will it easier to get around in Atlantida is the fact that Atlantida has the highest percentage of bilingual English Spanish people in all of Honduras. This means that communicating in English will be relatively easy during your vacations in Atlantida Honduras.

Now that you are aware of the top ten reasons to visit Atlantida Central Honduras, start planning your trip. Make sure you do not miss out on the Cangrejal River. Here you will find outstanding lodging options, such as La Villa de Soledad. Come and enjoy the best vacations ever with us in Atlantida Honduras!

November 11, 2014

garifuna #garifunas, Garifuna, Garinagu, Roatan, Saint Vincent, Truinfo de La Cruz

Guifiti a traditional Garifuna beverage

Guifiti has come from an ancestral alcoholic beverage meant to be both a spiritual and an earthly cure to many maladies to a tourist attraction!

Guifiti is a bitter alcoholic beverage, which consists of over 20 different herbs and roots, each meant to have a specific effect on your body or spirit. The idea is that it will cure many maladies and illnesses in a natural way. It is without doubt the result of a huge cumulative knowledge that has been passed on by generations of Garifuna people. But the knowledge actually goes further back, before the Garifuna existed.

Guifiti is the result of ancestral knowledge shared between two very different and distant cultures. On one side we have the African people that were captured off the coast of Western Africa and brought to America as slaves. The boat they were on was shipwrecked in a storm off the coast of the island of Saint Vincent in the Grenadines, and many of the slaves survived, suddenly recovering their freedom in a far away land that was inhabited by a completely different culture: the Carib Indians. They became instant allies, to survive the aggressive imperialistic expansion of the Brits. The result was a new ethnic mix, the Garifuna or Garinagu people.

The Garifunas flourished in Saint Vincent, and eventually became a nuisance to the Brits, who rounded them up and shipped them off to a remote unpopulated island in the Western Caribbean, known as Roatan. This historical incident took place on the 12^th of April, 1797. The Garifunas were literally marooned on the island of Roatan by the English. Originally, the Garifunas settled in what today is the community of Punta Gorda, located on the north side of Roatan, about halfway between the East End and the West End of the island.

The Spaniards, who controlled the mainland of Central America, saw this action as a British effort to colonize the Bay Islands, which were under dispute between both European nations. As a result, they rounded most of the Garifunas in Roatan and brought them to mainland Honduras, where the first group of Garifuna established in what today is Triunfo de La Cruz, just east of the City of Tela. From this point they eventually spread throughout the whole Caribbean Coast of Honduras and even beyond, with some villages established as far as Belize and Nicaragua. The bulk of the Garifuna people however, remain in Honduras.

The knowledge of these two different cultures, created the bitter mix that today is considered part of the Garifuna heritage: Guifiti.

Guifiti is the result of herbs and roots which are put into a bottle and mixed with an alcoholic beverage. Originally it was locally produced rum, but today it can be any rum, so you can actually have a very good guifiti, which would have been mixed with a good quality rum or a cheap guifiti with some moonshine rum mix, known locally as “guaro” or “Aguardiente” which would translate into something like “burning water”. The effects can actually be very different, as cheap moonshine rum will undoubtedly produce a horrific headache the day after…

Today, more and more bars in Honduras, especially along the Caribbean Coast and the Bay Islands serve guifiti. Some of them even have what they call a guifiti challenge, which challenges you to have a certain number of guifiti shots in exchange for a “free t shirt” Evidently, the t shirt is not free, as you actually pay for a part of it with each guifiti shot you drink, however you will find that the hangover the next day comes at no extra charge!

For a genuine guifiti tasting experience, I recommend visiting a Garifuna community or an establishment owned and run by a native Garifuna. In La Ceiba, probably the best spot for an authentic guifiti tasting experience would be at “caseta Gorcha Collins” located about a block away from the Hotel Quinta Real, on one of the side streets in the Zona Viva de La Ceiba. Here “Gorcha” a famous soccer player who retired many years ago, will sell you a shot of guifiti and walk you through the experience.

Of course if you have enough guifiti you will probably meet the old Garifuna Gods soon after, but beware because you can also meet the Garifuna Devils the morning after. Guifiti is considered by many to have aphrodisiac properties and is drunk by those looking to enhance their sexual performance. Whatever the case, when in Atlantida or the Bay Islands, you should definitely taste a shot of guifiti!