Last weekend I took a road trip with some friends to Tela and Punta Sal. Tela is about an hour and fifteen minute drive from San Pedro Sula. The two-lane road is filled with giant pot holes and it’s not a good idea to drive it at night. Tela is a quiet coastal town with a resort atmosphere, a pleasant beachfront and some say it’s the best vacation spot on the coast.
Below are some of the photos from the trip but to view ALL of the photos in an awesome PASS gallery and to download any of the high resolution images click HERE
Above: After we arrived on Saturday afternoon and enjoyed lunch at Evelyn’s house, we ventured out to explore some more rural areas nearby, stopping at two of the Garifuna villages. First stop, Miami. The drive there was extremely rugged – but fun! (below)
Excerpt from my Lonely Planet book: “Miami is often described as a ‘pure’ Garifuna village, with clusters of thatched huts at the end of a long, sandy road, free of outside influence. There’s only one catch, it’s not a Garifuna town! It’s a designated Garifuna area, and many of the lots are owned by Garifuna people, but almost all of Miami’s full-time residents (about 100) are ladinos (people of mixed Indian and European parentage) who have moved here from Tela. Most of Miami’s Garifunas spend their time in Tornabé, where there are jobs, shops, schools, and electricity and running water. Miami is appealingly rustic.
We stopped at one of the huts to walk around and drink some agua de coco (coconut water) from freshly picked coconuts. How awesome is that!?
Then, we drove further out to the center of the ‘town of Miami’…
Below: Where we then got stuck in the sand. Doh! But, Abel, Deysi & Evelyn pushed the truck as I got the easy job steering and stepping on the gas peddle! (and taking photos)
We decided to hire a boat and take a tour of of the Laguna de los Micos (Lagoon of the Monkeys) where we saw extensive mangrove forests and a couple of cocodrilos (crocodiles)! So fun! Sidenote… I’m obsessed with mangrove trees and how they grow. Click HERE to watch a cheesy video I found on youtube explaining it a little more.
Once back on shore, we decided to take a tour through the largest and most developed of the Garifuna villages in area, Tornabé. I’m kicking myself now for not taking more photos of the actual town itself. There was a big gathering happening at the center of the town with dancing and music that we passed by. We did stop to walk on the beach there and came across a lot of trash, stray shoes, a few syringes and lots of crabs. I don’t recommend walking on the beach barefoot!
From there, we headed back to Tela and stopped at the Maya Vista hotel & restaurant for a spectacular tree top view of Tela at sunset.
Then we headed back to Evelyn’s house where we met up with the rest of the crew that had just arrived from San Pedro and we celebrated Ruth’s (Evelyn’s Mom) birthday with a piñata and all! We had a great time!
After the mini birthday party we headed over to Marielly’s house for baleadas – (traditional honduran food)
We closed the night out with a fogata (bonfire) on the beach. It was a ton of fun. I was in awe that it was even ‘allowed’ because that’s SO illegal in the States! We brought all the fixings for s’mores and everyone got to try a s’more for the first time! Then we played charadas (charades) and laughed a lot!
PUNTA SAL: At 6:00am the next morning we piled into the pickup truck (all ten of us in one truck = totally legal here) and headed out to the beach to meet up with the boat that we would be hiring for the day to take us to Punta Sal. I didn’t know what to expect other than I knew there were no bathrooms and I needed to bring my own bottle of bug spray and keep it in-hand!
Walking out to the boat and loading our gear for the day…
Salva Vidas (or life jackets) all around! Some were more eager than others to put the life jackets on because they couldn’t swim… yikes!
It took about 45 minutes to get out there and it was a beautiful boat ride. I soaked up every minute I could of the fresh, salty air blowing on my face and the sunshine. It was MAGNIFICENT.
Punta Sal according to Lonely Planet: Punta Sal is part of the Parque Nacional Jeannette Kawas and is considered to be one of the most scenic places on the North Coast of Honduras. The park has several white sand beaches. You will find marked national park trails and you may spot howler monkeys on the way. Offshore are coral reefs that make for fine snorkeling.
We arrived at one of the many beaches and jumped off the boat for a hike through the forest with our guide, Raul.
We had the boat all day so we got to go wherever we wanted, whenever we wanted. We visited two beaches and both times had them all to ourselves, which was awesome. We hung out on the beach, got sun burned, did a lot of swimming, hit the beach ball around, hid in the shade, and then swam some more. It was a wonderful day!
And then… sadly… it was time to head back to shore. Below: Tela from the water.
When we arrived back in Tela, Evelyn’s mom had made all of us sopa de caracol (conch soup) for a late lunch – and it was amazing! She’s an incredible cook!
And then, after lunch… it was time to head back to San Pedro Sula. Awesome weekend!! Can’t wait for another adventure!
Leo - Great article and even better pictures. I love the magazine feel of the layout. Can you say Nat Geo? 😉 Vanessa, keep up the great work.
Vanessa Embling - Hahaha, WOW! Thanks Leo!!