Los Olingos and La Villa de Soledad, a perfect match?
After years of exploring Honduras, in search for new unique experiences for the traveler in this part of the World, I am still astonished by what I find! I was exploring the Los Micos Lagoon this weekend when I came across Los Olingos, located deep in the shores of this large lagoon. My immediate thoughts were that these two unique resorts were a perfect match! When trying to come up with the way to describe how Los Olingos and La Villa de Soledad can complement each other, I recalled the old song that Frank Sinatra used to sing: love and marriage, go together like a horse and carriage…. Truly, Los Olingos and La Villa de Soledad go together beautifully, and offer the perfect combination of an eco adventure or an eco relaxed trip to Atlantida, “Central Americas’ Caribbean Heart”.
Getting to Los Olingos is an experience in itself: First you must get to the Garifuna village of Miami, located in the Bay of Tela, on a narrow sandbar between Los Micos Lagoon and the Caribbean Sea. This is the most authentic Garifuna Village on mainland Central America, and is itself, worth a visit to get more acquainted with the Garifuna culture, which has been awarded the status of Intangible Human Heritage by the UNESCO! At the entrance to Miami, I came across a nice dock next to a shaded deck, where I was greeted by the friendly staff of Los Olingos, who after introcing themselves, led us to our boat to commence the last part of the journey to Los Olingos, a 20 minute boat ride through mangrove canals and across the huge Los Micos Lagoon.
At Los Olingos we were greeted by friendly staff who immediately offered us a glass of chilled coconut water, that had just been taken from their plentiful coconut plantation. Truly a delightful welcome. The complex consists of several historical wooden homes that were built a century ago a were part of the executive residences for the Tela Railroad Company management. The homes where purchased in Tela, and then carefully taken apart and rebuilt, completely refurbished, in their current location. Extensive porches, fine wooden details and lots of cross ventilation, you will feel like transported to time when life was much more relaxed and when nature still surrounded the communities in the world.
Los Olingos gets its name from the howler monkeys that inhabit in the adjacent forests to the property. These loud critters emit intimidating sounds, but are actually harmless and stay away from humans. For a trip to Los Olingos you should plan on at least 3 nights, to enjoy visiting Miami and Punta Sal, exploring the mangrove forests and canals, do some bird-watching or get to know the adjacent community of Agua Blanca and its friendly people. You can also of course simply relax in a hammock and enjoy the cool breeze blowing across the lagoon…
Los Olingos and La Villa de Soledad are the perfect match, they both offer a relaxing setting, but in very different environments. They are located about 2 hours away from each-other, and while at the first you will enjoy the mangrove forests, in the second you can enjoy hiking in the rain-forests of Pico Bonito National Park. In Los Olingos you will enjoy some leisurely paddling through mangrove canals and at La Villa de Soledad you will have the opportunity to experience the best white water in Honduras, possibly in Central America and the Caribbean. The sounds of nature are magnificent at both Los Olingos and La Villa de Soledad, but they are very different between each other! For the perfect nature and adventure vacation in Atlantida, plan on a week, and spend three nights each at Los Olingos and La Villa de Soledad, located on the Cangrejal River Valley.