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Honduras Update - April 1996

Finding the "cheapest" air fare -

Airline ticket prices are always confusing.  On any given flight from the same
destination passengers will have paid a wide range of prices.

Here are a few ideas on how to keep your air fare as low as possible:

 Find a travel agent in whom you can have confidence.  If you travel often, use the
same agent and maintain a good working relationship.  You may need their help and
being a regular customer helps.

 To find a discount travel fare, check the travel fares in your local newspapers Travel
Section (usually published on Sundays).  Look for advertisements for Central America
(Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala) and call and get a quote from several.  Ask each if
they know of any specials that are upcoming.

 Continental and American Airlines are most certainly the best as far as service is
concerned.  If you are taking excess baggage this might be your best bet, even if the
ticket fare is better on the other lines.

TACA and LACSA  are the lines that have the most discount fares. However if your
flight involves changing planes you may find they often miss connect and you may be
delayed or even spending the night somewhere you had not planned. These airlines
charge for excess baggage, while quite often Continental and America will either let it
slide or charge only a small portion of the actual allowed charges.

Isleña Airlines now has a flight out of Miami, I haven't had enough feedback on this to
make a judgement.

 Buy your airline ticket 21 to 30 days in advance in order to take advantage of any
special offers.

 Travel during the week rather an the weekend.  Consider a Tuesday or Wednesday
departure and return.

 Have you ever heard a travel agent say "...you must stay a Saturday night".  This is to
discourage weekend travel.  Take advantage of this.

 Honduras' tourist season centers around "La Semana de Santa" (Easter Week).  Not
only will airline fares be higher, but hotel prices often double. The high tourist season
for Honduras begins in about February and ends after April, look for off season
specials.

 Although Christmas is not a high tourist season, many Hondurans return for
Christmas.  Plan to pay higher air fare if you travel during this time.  If possible you
should plan to leave at the end of November.

 One way tickets to Honduras are often the same or more than a two way ticket.
Always check out the round trip fare even if you are not going to use it.

More on maracuya -

From: [e-mail] (Piet Koene)
To: [e-mail]
Thanks for the Honduras Travel Update.  I noticed your question concerning
maracuya. In English it is known as "passion fruit" (the local supermarket here sells it
as in a frozen concentrate form, imported from Puerto Rico), the name in theory coming
from Easter related origins, in that tradition holds that the crown of thorns worn by
Jesus prior to his crucifixion was made from the branches of that fruit, and, as you
more than likely know, Semana Santa is sometimes referred to in English as Passion
Week.

Facts and figures -

The minimum wage in Honduras is 680 lempiras ($64.80) per month...  The
government budget deficit fell from 12 percent as a portion of the total budget in 1994
to 3.6 percent in 1995...  Payments on Honduras' external debt absorb more than 40
percent of the national budget and are equivalent to 101 percent of total exports...
Party makeup of the 128-seat National Congress: Liberal Party 71 seats, National
Party 55 seats, Social Democratic Innovation and Unity 2 seats...

SPS Museum -

From: [e-mail] (R.K. Wisner)
Here's a tidbit for you:  When we visited the SPS Archaeology Museum, we grabbed a
cheeseburger at the little bodega in the courtyard.  I wish they still made them that way
in the US!  Handmade, large patty, with a nice touch of seasoning added.  Came with
fries, condiments, etc.  Add in Sodas, and it came to about a dollar per person
(downright embarrassing!).  Just one of those "nice to know" things.  We used the Hotel
Ejecutivo as our base camp and were very happy with the room, the meals in the
restaurant, and with the folks who worked there.


New lodge near La Ceiba -

NOA NOA LODGE has recently been opened.  Located in a National Park and
surrounded by the deepest jungle. A tourist can enjoy  nature,  observe animals, go on
a jungle tour and white water rafting.   All this at the same time having the comfort of a
nice and clean hotel with pool, restaurant and bar. It is run by the Pribyl's a European
couple who want their guests to discover the beauty and diversity of the tropical jungle.

Due to their location and  environmental concern, it is a small place accommodating
only 12 people at the same time. Service is perfect, the atmosphere is very friendly.
Evenings are  spent with candle light dinners, discussions and relaxing. The rooms
are equipped with 2 beds, table, chair, closet and private bathroom.

The lodge also offers tours such as: white water rafting, horse back riding on the beach
or jungle and beach trips.

Only 3 miles from the  beach it offers the unique opportunity
to enjoy the jungle as well. A great place for adventures
and relaxing.

How to get there: Drive from La Ceiba to COLONIAL PRIMERO DE MAYO (on the main
road to Tela right after the airport). Follow the dirt road into the mountain until you
arrive in a small village called ARMENIA
BONITO, there you follow the main road until you come to a wall where NOA NOA
LODGE is written on. That is the place. It cannot be seen from the road.

The address  is:

NOA NOA LODGE
P.O. Box 129
La Ceiba, Atlantida
Honduras,  Central America

Fax: (501)  43-0700


Thanks to  [e-mail] (Dasa Pribylova) for telling us about this new
lodge.
(Haven't had a chance to check this out yet, but will do so in April - Brad)


Luxury Bus Service Between Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula -

>The SAENZ  bus company provides "executive" bus service between >Tegucigalpa
and San Pedro Sula (to and from each city). The buses are not >the regular buses you
find in most of the country; these buses are much >larger, and more comfortable then
usual.  The trip is a bit over three >hours - no stops.  They show movies, are air-
conditioned, the seats are >very soft, and they provide food and drinks, complete with
bus >attendants, much the way an airline works.  Be sure not to confuse the
>executive SAENZ busses with their regular busses.  I think the SAENZ bus
>company also operates the regular busses as well, so you need to go to  >their
"executive" bus terminals.  The cost was only about 80 lempiras >each way per
person, when I left on January 21, 1996, which comes out to >less than 8.00 US
Dollars.  The regular bus service is around 40 or 45 >lempiras, which comes out to
less than 4.00 US Dollars.  So you pay >about 4.00 US Dollars more for this service;
not very much.  I highly >recommend this "executive" bus service.
Thanks to Jeff Rose <[e-mail]>

Unleaded gasoline available -

From Warren Post, Pizza Pizza, Santa Rosa de Copan -

"Unleased gasoline is now readily available in Honduras."



The Culture and Nature of Honduras -

Holbrook Travel  is offering a natural history tour with Bonnie Lundy, January 18 -
February 1, 1997 and March 1-15, 1997 (leader to be announced).  $2,198 per
person/double occupancy, land only.  Call them at 1-800-451-7111, or fax 352-371-
3710.

Cafe U.S.A. -

Located in the Old Tannery in El Hatillo, this fine restaurant once again reopened in
February 1996.  The restaurant is now under the management of Chef Joe Mays.
Cuisine is southern U.S. with a Texas flavor.  Traditional Honduran cuisine is also
available.  While you are there visit the Tannery's museum which includes the original
tanning equipment.  The facilities are open from 5 to 9 P.M. Fridays and 11:30 A.M. to
9 P.M. on Saturdays and Sundays.  Just look for the road signs on the newly re-
worked road to El Hatillo.

Roatán House For Rent -

It is available for rent weekly or monthly, or for purchase.  Situated at Turtle Point in the
village of Oak Ridge, the house is in a premier location.  Everything you need for an
enjoyable vacation is right here!

All three bedrooms as well as the living area have an ocean view.  The home is
sturdily constructed of concrete, and has been well maintained.  You can either swim
or fish right from your front door! Cross the patio and go down three steps along the
coral-rock seawall to a private swimming/wading area. There is also a small, private
cay, Turtle Cay, for your enjoyment.

 Coconut palms abound in the side yard, and there are hibiscus and
bougainvillea.  On the lagoon side, there is a small wharf and dinghy dock.  The house
is fully furnished, including pots & pans.  While we can accommodate up to 9 people in
4 separate sleeping areas, the house is compact, 30' x 30', and perfect for a couple.
An inside spiral staircase leads up through the tower to an observation deck, where
you can see Jean Cooper hill to the east, Carib Point to the west, and a full, panoramic
view of the Caribbean to the south. We have 24-hour-a-day electricity, refrigeration,
American cable TV, and
telephone.

$595 per week, contact:

http://cyberrentals.com/sa/chuhon.html
[e-mail]
Call Betsy [phone]
P.O. Box 1040
Port Arkansas, TX 78373


Cool Caves -

"I went to some really cool caves near Ojojona at a place
called El Sauce (on the road to San Buena Ventura).  There are supposedly
12 in all (we saw about 5 or 6 of them) and they have these amazing
petroglyphs carved into the walls of the caves.  They have to be several
thousand years old !  REally neat sight for people with a car!  It's only
about 30 minutes outside Tegus!"
Thanks to: Jeff Jackson  >[e-mail]<


MayaQuest - The mystery trail

This is a children's social studies software.   Become a detective and explore the
history, culture and geography of Central America.  Along the trip to the Maya ruins,
your child can use high-tech tools to solve mysteries, navigate wild bike paths and
save priceless Mayan artifacts.

This could be helpful in preparing children for a visit to Copán.  Available in both Mac
and Windows CD, $45 from most software outlets. Publisher: MECC

Expeditions into the Honduran Mosquitia -

Derek A. Parent, author of "La Mosquitia - A guide to the land of savannas, rainforests
and turtle hunters", is offering several author led expeditions to Mosquitia.  His goal is
to provide the ecologically conscious traveler an understanding of the endangered
cultures and fragile tropical environments in which they exist.

Groups are small from 5 to 9 persons.  Photographers and videographers would find
this an excellent opportunity.  These expeditions are eco tourism at its best.

Three expeditions are offered: "The Lost Civilization Expedition", Nov. 15 to 23, 1996
and another Nov. 25 to Dec. 3, 1996. This expedition is through the southern zone of
the Rio Platano Biosphere, rafting to Rio Wampu and Rio Patuca, visiting a Sumu
Tawahka indigenous village as well as petroglyph sites in the Patuca region.

The second expedition is entitled: "El Camino Real Expedition", Aug. 11 to Aug, 17,
1996 and another August 19 to Aug. 25, 1996. This expedition is through the southern
zone of the Rio Platano Biosphere to the Rio Paulaya.  From there rafting to Paulaya
on was once called the royal highway the Spanish Conquistadors used in the 16 and
17th century to raid English colonies.  Miskito villages will be visited while trekking into
the jungle.

The third expedition is entitled" "La Ruta de Los Miskitus", Jan. 3 to Jan. 10, 1997, This
expedition begins on Honduras' Caribbean coast.  Garifuna Villages will be visited
and then entering jungle waterways to Palacios. Dugout canoe will take us to the
Miskito village of Cocobila, the Pech village of Las Marias and experience
conservation and ecotourism administered by the Pech indigenous indians.

For more information contact Derek Parent directly at >[e-mail]<, or see his
web site at http://www.vir.com/~derekp/expeditions.html

Tidbits -

TACA is no longer flying out of New Orleans.

"Coconut Telegraph", the publication about the Bay Islands, has raised their
subscription rates to $35/year.

"Honduras This Week" has raised their subscription to $48 per year. It's worth it!

"Carnival in Ceiba" Tour -

Remarkable Journeys is offering a tour from May 11-19, 1996.  It is entitled "Cultures
and Wildlife: Carnival in Ceiba":  two nights at the Marina in the Copán ruins, three
nights at the Telamar in Tela and three nights in La Ceiba.  Includes the Copán Ruins,
Punta Sal National Park, Garifuna Villages, Izopo Wildlife Refuge as well as the
festivities in La Ceiba.  For more information contact Remarkable Journeys, 1-800-
856-1993, by email [e-mail] or mail P.O. Box 31855, Houston,
TX 77231.

Honduran Diving and SOS

Jorge Giraldez-Benard de Granada, Nicaragua


Last July, 1995 an SOS Expedition Team landed in the Honduran
Miskito Coast to deliver emergency Medical equipment and to
provide training. Join our project or support us with with cash and or
equipment donations. Be a part of our expedition. We are working on
finishing Honduras and start work on the Nicaragua project.
------------------------------------------------------------------

Paralyzed, stunned and afraid, he had laid aboard the ship off the
coast of Mosquitia for five miserable days in August of '93, without
medical attention. I asked him, "WHY? with truth in his eyes, Garcia
told me how he had stood up to lobster boat captains in the past;
rallying the divers to strike, demanding and winning early chamber
treatment for divers paralyzed by the "Bends".

Cruelly, when he was the victim, he saw that his shipmates feared
the captain; so they continue to dive until the ship's quota of lobster
was filled. Too late for a recompression chamber to revive his dead
legs. He stared past me into empty space, eyes misting over, chin
high. I turned my camera from him, out of respect. Here was epic
maritime exploitation, unsurpassed through history.

As this weight fell upon me, I realized that if this brutality went on
unchallenged, my view of humanity would sink. In early March,
1995. an SOS emergency medical expedition consisting of Miskito
Indian divers, 14 yr. old Caleb Windship Izdepski and his dad,Bob
Izdepski, (Publisher of Universal Diver Magazine), manually cast
overboard, floated , then dragged a 4000 lb. recompression chamber 12
miles to the Moravian Mission Clinic in Kalquira, on the Miskito
Coast of Honduras. Motivation came from the news that one third of
the 120 divers living there have been paralyzed by the "bends" (we
have video).

Recently, as new diving technologies have impacted uneducated
coastal indigenous people the world over, tens of thousands of men
and boys have been killed or paralyzed in diving fisheries. The social
and economic consequences are staggering. In June of '94, Robert
Izdepski addressed the international meeting of the Undersea and
Hyperbaric Medical Society and showed the SOS video(courtesy of
Jorge Torrez, winner of the World Press International award for
photographic arts) to a shocked audience that showed it's support
with honors and by a special Society donation.

Sub Ocean safety, has produced simple solutions to these
environmental/social problems, solutions not only feasible, but
which made economic fishing sense to the Honduran lobster fleet; a
fleet that now supports SOS. The Honduran experience has uniquely
prepared SOS to bring emergency medical aid, commercial diving
education, and sustainable fisheries planning to the rest of the world.
To ignore the critical significance of diving fisheries to the world's
diving infrastructure, is to be blind to an encroaching threat; human
rights and morality aside.

The idea that "They are only Indians without money who don't live
near us", deserves no comment. Our world is not compartmentalized
and that "Indians" may well be your next dive guide/instructor.
Unsafe diving is a contagious environmental disease, curable only
with a holistic and unprejudiced approach.

Join with our expeditions, help us to where we cannot go, contribute
to our plans, share the risks and breathe the rewards. SOS can win
battles; help us win the war. We value individual support and offer
membership for $25, video for $50. Corporate support is needed and
we offer publicity in return. You might feel better about life. Help us
get this message out to the concerned. Please contact us with your
support. and PLEASE POST WHERE APPROPRIATE

Jorge Giraldez-Benard de Granada, Nicaragua
Email: [e-mail]

Volunteer at AmeriSpan - Guatemala

To meet the summer crunch, AmeriSpan is looking for 2 volunteers to work in the
AmeriSpan Travel Resource Center in Antigua, Guatemala.  They are looking for
individuals with a strong background in Spanish willing to commit for at least 2 to 3
months.  AmeriSpan will pay round-trip air fare, travel insurance and a monthly stipend
for housing and meals. Volunteers will work in the AmeriSpan office, primarily
supporting the many needs of AmeriSpan students.  Email [e-mail] or
[e-mail]

New Honduras newsgroup being formed -

The new newsgroup "soc.culture.honduras" is now in the the voting stage.  Your vote
is very much appreciated.  All on my mailing list have received at least one notice,
however if you would like the information on voting sent again, just let me know -
[e-mail]   Last day to vote is April 10, 1996.

Import duty reduction March 18 to May 18

Vehicle importation -
>Yesterday, we went to the local customs broker; the fellow we usually >talk to wasn't
in but the secretary said the import duties have been
>reduced from March 18 to May 18 by about 2/3 after which they will be >raised again
to the old rate. A friend of mine is paying about $700 as >opposed to the $2100 which
they wanted before.  (Downie Pate, [e-mail])

Cave of the Glowing Skulls

Far Horizons specializes in archaeological and cultural trips.  They are planning a visit
to the "Cave of the Glowing Skulls"  (near Catacamas) from June 20th to 29th.  For
more information call them at 1-800-552-4575 or fax [phone].

New ambassador to Honduras named -

To: [e-mail]
Date: Sat, 23 Mar 1996 19:12-0500
From: The White House <[e-mail]>
Subject: 1996-03-22 Creagan Named Ambassador to Honduras

    THE WHITE HOUSE

          Office of the Press Secretary

__________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release                                     March 22, 1996


      PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES AMBASSADOR TO HONDURAS


     The President today announced his intention to nominate James
Francis Creagan of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign
Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, as Ambassador to the Republic
of Honduras.

     Mr. Creagan is Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy
in Italy.  He has been a career diplomat with the U.S.  Department of
State for thirty years.  Mr. Creagan's diplomatic career has taken
him on assignment to Brazil as Consul General in Sao Paulo and
political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia.  He was
political counselor at the American Embassy, Lisbon and has served as
political and labor officer in U.S.  Embassies in Lima, Mexico, San
Salvador and Rome.  He was the Deputy Chief of Mission at the
American Embassy to the Holy See and was Consul in Naples, Italy.

     Mr. Creagan was born in Elyria, Ohio in 1940, and grew up on the
shores of Lake Erie in nearby Lorain.  He is a 1962 graduate of Notre
Dame University.  He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia
and has taught political science at several universities including
Texas A&M.  Mr. Creagan speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian.  He
is married to Gwyn Jonsson Creagan of Texas.  They are residents of
Vienna, Virginia.  They have two sons and a daughter-in-law.

 ---- End of White House announcement

Closed for one week -

My office will be closed for one week from April 12th through April 21st while I am in La
Ceiba attending the "Eco-touirism Conference".  Hope to have a lot to report.

Honduras Travel Guide -

The guidebook "Honduras Travel Guide" is available for the asking.  It is the most
complete and up-to-date guide available.  To receive a copy send an email message
to:

Brad Martin
[e-mail]