Garifuna fishermen, Punta Izopo, Tela

Garifuna fishermen, Punta Izopo, Tela, a photo by Adalberto.H.Vega on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Around 10AM these Garifuna fishermen will pack their nets and head to their huts with today's lunch: a few fresh fish caught from the Río Platano canals in Punta Izopo National Park as they have been doing since over a couple centuries when they first arrived to Honduran Caribeban Coast after being sent away from Saint Vincent Island.

Alrededor de las 10am estos pescadores Garífunas recogerán sus atarrayas y retornarán a sus cabañas con el almuerzo del día: unos cuantos pescados recién obtenidos de la desembocadura del Río Plátano en el Parque Nacional Punta Izopo como lo han venido haciendo a diario desde su llegada a las Costas del Caribe Hondureño hace más de dos siglos luego de ser enviados lejos de su natal isla de San Vicente.

 

A few Km. from Tela, Atlántida in Honduras, Punta Izopo National Park main attraction is the Rio Platano, where you can kayak through a maze of  mangroves admiring an impressive landscape and plenty of aquatic birds, howler, spider and cappuccino monkeys and some crocodiles. An exciting way of spending half day, and then enjoy a typical Garifuna lunch at the community of Triunfo de La Cruz.

Copan Canopy Tour - at Lonely Planet forum

Zipline in Copan 

One of the most fun parts of Copan was doing the zipline. Its called the Canopy Tour de Los Sapos. Its about a mile walk from the south of town, or you can arrange a pickup from some of the tour operators in town. Its fairly pricey, I think it was $35 US per person, but it was definitely worth it. Its several kilometers of zipline over the canopy, and you can see the ruins from the zip line. The longest zipline was about a kilometer. - travelinggnome08

Color and texture - Chichicastenango, Guatemala

Chichicastenango Market, Guatemala, originally uploaded by Adal-Honduras.

AOL travel blog site Gadling.com has honored us by choosing one of our flickr pics as Photo of the Day 4.27.09 a few weeks ago.

Man, if there was *ever* a study in colour and texture, this fabulous photograph is it. Shot and shared by Adal-Honduras, you can almost hear the sounds and smell the smells of this Guatemalan market. Beautiful capture! — Gadling

It is indeed our region landscapes and people —like these Chichicastenango kaqchikels—with their colorful and elaborate textures who provoke those reactions. It is truly a proud for Central Americans to have such a diverse culture and riches, all contained in such small area of land.

Central America has a lot to offer to the traveler eager to experience living cultures, lush forests, abundant wildlife, artistic samples of ancient sculpture, mystical archeological sites, colonial towns, breathtaking white sandy beaches in the Caribbean Sea of crystal-clear pristine waters and home to the World Heritage Site Belize Barrier Reef spanning down to Roatan, second in size yet number one in biodiversity in the world —and closer to the Northern Hemisphere.

There are indeed 15 places in the region declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO:
Guatemala

• Antigua Guatemala
• Archaeological Park and Ruins of Quirigua
• Tikal National Park

Belize

• Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System

El Salvador

• Joya de Cerén Archaeological Site

Honduras

• Maya Site of Copan
• Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve

Nicaragua

• Ruins of León Viejo

Costa Rica

• Area de Conservación Guanacaste
• Cocos Island National Park
• Talamanca Range-La Amistad Reserves / La Amistad National Park

Panama

• Archaeological Site of Panamá Viejo and Historic District of Panamá
• Coiba National Park and its Special Zone of Marine Protection
• Darien National Park
• Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo
• Talamanca Range-La Amistad Reserves / La Amistad National Park

Central American main cities are around 2 - 5 hours flight from main gateways in the U. S. there is wide connectivity to/from Europe and South America as well.

Birds of Honduras

Copan Ruinas based naturalist Robert Gallardo  has compiled an extensive and most interesting repository of valuable information about the birds' species found in Honduras in his website “Birds of Honduras ”.





The interactive way of presenting this info becomes a valuable treasure for every birdwatcher interested in this region. Here you can read information on the species, enjoy nice photographs, and listen to some of the birds calls recorded by Robert himself. There are more than 380 species listed in the Website and include: Lovely Cotinga (Cotinga amabilis), Honduran Emerald (Amazilia luciae) endemic to the country, Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja), several species of Motmot and the elusive Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno).

His experience and knowledge of Honduras flora and fauna, including orchids, butterflies and specializing in birds, is a result of his numerous travels throughout the country both as a scientist doing field work and as a Tour Guide including Olancho, the World Heritage Site of Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve , Pico Bonito National Park, and Copan Ruinas.

Born in Southern California, Robert's interest in nature developed during his numerous family camping trips. He has a degree in Natural Resource Planning and Interpretation. Thanks to joining the Peace Corps and being sent to Honduras in 1993, his passion for tropical natural history took off.

Robert has identified and added more than 20 new species of butterflies to the country's list and 17 new bird records. Two orchids he has collected are currently under investigation as being new for science. Robert and his wife Irma had completed the country's first work on native orchids in compact disk. It features over 170 species with around 350 wonderful photographs and bilingual English/Spanish text.

The natural history tours have continued to grow with each year seeing new companies coming to Honduras. They have been a good source of field data and personal satisfaction. — Robert Gallardo, Birds of Honduras

Their property in Copan Ruins in western Honduras: Enchanted Wings Butterfly Farm  is a fine Nature Center, unique in Honduras. It has a butterfly house, collection on display, native orchid exhibit and botanical gardens. Soon they will add an insect museum, reptile exhibit and an eco-lodge.

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