The Stutz's Travel Pages: Grandma's Trip to Honduras

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The last 'big trip' of Grandma's visit was to the beach resort of Tela. Located about two hours away from San Pedro, Tela is home to many Garifuna. Garifuna are back Caribs that came to Honduras in the mid 1700's.

We enjoyed a day trip to Punta Sal nature preserve and Cocalita village. Punta Sal is an 'ecopreserve' located just west of Tela. A protected national park, it is the home to a few Garifuna and an abundance of native wildlife. Here, the modern world imposes on a way of life that has changed little in over 200 years.

We left Tela at 8:00 in the morning and headed out for beautiful Punta Sal. We were in the boat for about 45 minutes before reaching the entrance to the park. The preserve is a mix of rain forest, mangrove, and coral reef. We were on the look out for monkeys, but they eluded us that day. We had our share of other wildlife on the beach, however, as Breck and Alea romped in the waves.


Alea was entranced by our jungle trek. We saw woodpeckers, crabs, hiking ants, and prints form a deer. We heard the monkeys, but could never quite track them down.		Cocalita is a Garifuna village next to Punta Sal preserve. We enjoyed a fish, platano, and rice and beans lunch on their beach. While Susan napped with Breck in a hammock, Alea made friends with this little boy. The villagers welcomed her and let her explore their homes; of special interest was the sugar cane press and the banana leaf matresses.

We stayed at Telamar resort. It is a complex constructed to be a 'get-away' for the Dole banana employees. A traditional marimba band was there and we all enjoyed their beautiful music. Alea loved the music and showed everyone just how great of a dancer she is!

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Alea was entranced by our jungle trek.

Cocalita is a Garifuna village next to Punta Sal preserve.