Date of Trip: May 7-12, 2023
This is one of my favorite trips of all time. We visited Honduras with our friends who lived there and still owned a home near La Cieba in Villa Palma Real. Having “locals” to guide us in Honduras made it truly a once in a lifetime adventure.
Day 1: We flew from Atlanta to San Pedro Sula and our friends picked us up from the airport with refreshing coffee slushies.
We then went to El Progreso to tour my friend’s amazing Oye—an educational center that provides vital resources and opportunities to local children. My friend originally established Oye, but now it’s entirely run and operated by the local community. It was such a cool place, and I was really impressed by the impact it’s having on the kids and the area. We also met some amazing people who are passionate about what they’re doing and making a real difference. I’ve linked the site below with more info!
Also a highlight from our welcome to Honduras, Noysita!! Our friends found a puppy stranded in a park and rescued her! She was our mascot for the whole trip.
I can’t promise there won’t be hundreds more puppy pics to come.
Our first night we splurged and stayed The Lodge and Spa at Pico Bonito, a luxury eco resort in the jungle.
After dinner our friend guided us on our first of many “herping” excursions—- to herp is to actively search for reptiles and amphibians, if you’re unfamiliar with the term.
Day 2: A few of us were up at 5am to climb the birding tower for sunrise before breakfast.
Breakfast at the resort was fabulous. Baleadas are like a tastier quesadilla with beans included.
We then had the pleasure of meeting our friend’s birding guide, the incredibly talented and knowledgeable Olbin Bejarano. I’ve included links to his socials below. Olbin leads world-class birding excursions, and we were fortunate to benefit from his expertise while exploring the stunning Pico Bonito National Park.
Olbin’s Socials:
The trail we did was absolutely beautiful and led to Unbelievable Falls. We were able to take a dip before returning back and the water was refreshing but not too cold. It was about 3.5 miles with lots of wildlife and full shade.
I’ve linked the AllTrails although I’d highly recommend getting a guide.
Unbelievable Falls on AllTrails
Find the froggie ⬆️
This little guy is near extinct. ⬆️
After some pineapple, we headed back to Pico Bonito Lodge for a spa day.
Started with a traditional mud hut and scrub then had an amazing massage.
We then left for our friend’s home in Villa Palma Real near La Ceiba.
Day 3: First stop of the day was Laguna Cocao in Nombre de Dios National Park where we toured the mangroves and were treated to songs from the howler monkeys.
https://iht.hn/es/laguna-de-cacao
We then headed to a nearby animal rescue and I’ve included some photos. These were animals that were rehabbed but not able to be returned to the wild.
Our friends met a local prior to our arrival who invited us to enjoy his river home. So we scooped up Noysita and drove to his place on the Rio Cangrejal.
Stopped and did the tourist bridge on the way.
The house was perfectly perched on the hill with views of the river and mountains.
We all swam and played in the river with Noysita until she was all tuckered out and needed a nap in the hammock.
We were all as tired as Noysita so when we returned to Villa Palma Real we called it a night.
Day 4: We were up before sunrise to boat to the Cayos Cochinos islands where our friend spent a time living and working with the locals. It’s a very special place for her and she was so excited to share it with us. And all her friends on the islands were so happy to see her, we were met with a warm welcome!
Our little princess got a wee bit of motion sickness and had to be carried the whole time.
Then more herping on “Snake Island.” At one point the guide asked us to stop and count the snakes. I saw none, but there were 12 snakes dangling from branches and disguising themselves on roots. Good thing Noysie was in safely the Kavu bag.
Peep the snake eyeing Noysita from the root system!
Next came snorkling for Steve and some of the others. I lost the GoPro on the way so no pics but my island views were pretty spectacular and I much prefer to remain on dry land.
Noysie caught a crab!
We all enjoyed the traditional lunch on the island. It was absolutely delicious. I even ate the fish eyeball.
When we got back to Villa Palma Real, we enjoyed sunset cocktails on the beach.
At that point my friend convinced me we should go tour the abandoned amusement park in the neighborhood that I dubbed “Chernobyl”. I was looking forward to the creepy ruins and disaster tourism but apparently she was looking forward to seeing the caiman that had taken up residence.
We snuck past the security guard, went under the chain link fence and had the park to ourselves (well unless you count the caiman). The security guard caught us but then essentially gave us permission to continue the hunt for wildlife. Or actually I’m not sure how that conversation ended because they were speaking Spanish, but I assumed he allowed us in?
Note the dinosaur which is the only wildlife we ended up seeing (fortunately for me, not my friend). Check out the hilarious videos on my Instagram for more of our herping shenanigans.
Day 4: After enjoying another delicious baleada breakfast, we made our way back to the stunning Rio Cangrejal for what turned out to be the best hike of our trip.
I’ve linked the AllTrails to this beautiful but pretty hard waterfall hike. Especially hard for my friend who carried Noysita in her pouch the whole 4.5 mile hike with 2270 feet in elevation gain (in the pouring rain).
El Bejuco Falls on AllTrails
It began raining shortly after we started the hike which made the jungle leaves glisten. It was quite beautiful but made for a slippery and muddy trail.
We made it to the falls and stopped for lunch on the rocks.
It was an unforgettable experience and one of my favorite trails.
It was a rough climb back up!
Well for most of us, Noysie got to rest the whole time.
The rain cleared and the views were fabulous.
We ended the day with a well-deserved feast beachside at Arena’s in Corozal.
Noysie got lots of chips. And we had lots of cocktails.
Day 5: Our friends dropped us off at the airport after a coffee slushie stop of course. We begrudgingly flew back home.
In case you were wondering, our friend stayed in Honduras until she was able to bring Noysita home to the US and she because a permanent part of the family!
Here she is pictured with my puppy Mersey!
Little Miss Noysie painted by my dad Pat Patterson.
Our trip to Honduras was truly unforgettable, filled with experiences that are unlikely to ever be replicated—the scenery, the hikes, Noysita, the friendships, and even our visit to “Chernobyl”. I wish everyone had friends who open their eyes to the world in such incredible ways.
If you have questions about this trip or any others, don’t hesitate to reach out!
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