Tegucigalpa (Honduras)

This review is about a trip I took to Tegucigalpa in Honduras.

About Tegucigalpa

Tegucigalpa is in the centre of Honduras and is the capital city.

Tegucigalpa is situated among many mountains and is 990 metres in the air via elevation and has a population of just 1.5 million people which is small when compared to most other capital cities in the world.

Tegucigalpa is a very religious destination with many monuments and religious attractions.

Weather

The weather in Tegucigalpa is always a tropical climate partially due to their destination and elevation in the air.
In December and January the temperatures are usually pretty cool ranging around the 23 degrees and if you go in March to April the temperatures tend to rise and are very dry condition ranging up to 36 degrees.

Usually they have many tropical storms which can last a few days or a few hours all depending on how the conditions are at the time.

My Adventure

I have visited many places in South America all partially because of curiosity but sometimes because I wanted to travel the world and see how other people lived and with Tegucigalpa I was fortunate enough to spend 10 lovely days there.

I had to travel to Brazil on a flight and then to Tegucigalpa because it worked out cheaper for me, which I always find bizarre but it was and on route back the same route home. They are sadly 6 hours behind us so it was a challenge when I arrived to keep concentrating because it was a big time difference and I had my Honduran Lempira (there currency), I wanted to find a bed to rest.

After a short break I ventured into the city and tried to discover why the place was so special to many of my friends who had visited here before. As a first thought I saw something very special about this place and it was how the buildings were designed, some had gargoyles in the building work and random angels and it was very enchanting and relaxing at the same time.

When I finished looking round for an hour I went back to the hotel to bed and the hotel to be fair was not something I am used to. You had to wear sandals in the hotel because if you did not they looked at you with this rather nasty glare. I am not sure why they wished people to wear sandals but they made us all wear them. When approaching my hotel room there was little security and anyone could walk in when they wished and it was a problem for me with the amount of items I had with me.

There was ample food in store such as fruit and confectionary but it was chocolate mainly and there was air conditioning which was on all the time.
On my second day there I wanted to explore the mountains and the stores I had seen on the previous evening and I was amazed how polite the people were. They all spoke Spanish and they were so polite and if you struggled to understand them they would stand there and attempt to give you directions via a picture or try and locate someone who could assist you, this for me was a very kind gesture on the people of Tegucigalpa to give to me.

I remember walking past many universities and the view of the mountains was clear to see from everywhere in the city and it made a great conversation started with the locals who lived there.

I found on my first evening there I wanted to have something to eat and most of the restaurants opened late and did not wish to serve food until late so they had a very good night life in terms of eating late partially due to the heat I believe. I then went to my room and rested and it was 8 more days of fun ahead of me that I had to look forward to.

Attractions

The first place of note is the La Tigra National Park and this is a huge park in Tegucigalpa and is actually the first national park they had in Honduras. The park has been protected now by Honduran law and is full of clouds which is idea I guess for the trees to grow and some areas have much rain and yet others do not, it is hard to explain but when your there you would see what I mean. In this park they have got rare birds inside the park and with so many entrances you have to keep an eye out for them like mockingbirds and there are plenty of other animals there as well such as mammals and I remember seeing deer and pumas and it was such a pleasant place to visit. With plenty of colour from the plants and with so much wildlife and green grass to admire it is well worth the visit.

The Villa Roy Museum is a place which I stumbled upon and is a great museum to visit because it has many vintage cars inside for people to look at. When I was there I wanted to see what the place was about because on the outside there is not real indication of what this place has to offer. For a visit in there it was a few English pounds but it was well worth every penny. The actual museum is named after an Anthropologist Roy Fearon and this museum just features some of his items he used and was known for and only issue with visiting this small but sweet museum is the climb it takes to get there and in the blistering heat it is a huge challenge.

Another place is named Valle de Angeles and it is this rather nice location where backpackers go when they visit Honduras and it is a small location and a town in many ways and they have so much arts and crafts items there it is shocking. They have some amazing items like tapestry and other sort of items which require needles and thread. They are colourful and they teach you how to design the items they have made so when you get home you can make your own or you can simple go ahead and pay for them there and then so either way you get yourself a nice souvenir if you wanted one and they are quite cheap as well.

Lady of Suyapa Shrine and this is a special place and extremely beautiful looking on the outside and the idea is behind this destination is that the shrine represents the patron saint of Honduras and since 1925 she has been that patron saint. On February 2nd every year many people queue up to visit the shrine and pay their respects to the lady herself and I did just that and I was just thrilled to be a part of this adventure but I was also upset with how people depended so much on this lady and I know she is someone special to the people of Honduras, so much Infact that people from many neighbouring countries also visited to pay their respects and the queues can go on forever. For me this is a place to visit just for the location and history behind the lady herself.

There are many more parks in the city itself and some of them are big and some are small and one which I have to say I forgot the name of was a hiking park and it had so many places to go because you could take part in competitions to get to other locations before everyone else and it was plenty of fun to take part with. I think the parks are some of the best I have ever seen in the world and they are full of great wildlife, clean and tidy and are always nice to sit around and relax with and so many people there to talk to as well.

Culture

The culture in this city is quite hard to explain because they are people who honour God and are not the sort to go to church. There are many churches around for people to visit yet during my stay I never saw people visit the location once to pay respects so I found it hard to imagine.

I think they are all very friendly people if your an outsider like I was they tended to treat me like I was a natural and someone they knew and yet if you look at the people from the distance you might assume they are not that friendly, it shows looks can be deceiving. I think they are very clean people they do not like places to look untidy and they also have a great way to show off their buildings.

All the places I visited whether a museum or a place of worship I was always left impressed with the amount of appreciation they had towards them.

Market and Shopping

When I was out I did find a few shopping complexes and some were very big in height and had plenty to offer people which is always a big benefit I guess but it was how many stores were the same which was funny to see. If you saw a clothing store for the men and ladies (they never had separate stores) and they had many of them all together so it was a nice idea but it made it very confusing when you went searching elsewhere for stores.

They had many places which were convenient for people to enjoy and they had some DIY stores but not like we would have but places which featured items to build using plants and bamboo sticks and I found that also very fun to see and take part in as well.

When it comes to markets I hardly saw one and the one I did see was not that bad it was big in some ways but small in others. It was big in terms of space and what they had but small because there were hardly any stores inside at all. Some of the stores in the market were full of coffee products and with so many varieties as well to choose from. They had some coffees which were so rich in smell and taste I wish I could have brought back a whole sack full. When it comes to antiques and items like this there were rare to see it was mainly art and craft items they had in stock and that would suit people who enjoy those activities.

Food

For food Honduras absolutely nails it because I was left spoilt for choice when I was eating and I found most items had coconut in them but this was items which required a sauce so if you had no real sauce to the item you were eating you were fine.

I had two meals I had occasionally when there and one was called Carne Asada and this was a product which was basically beef in small pieces and sometimes thicker pieces and they are made to look like a kebab. They can be marinated and sometimes they are not but the product is used in wraps or with something else like fruit and vegetables and they are usually coming with salsa dips and tortillas depending on where you go and they fill you up and full of flavour and spices as well (if marinated).

They also have another item which was called Tamale and this was something I will struggle to explain to people. This dish when put to you on a plate looks like a spring roll and yet the topping is not the same. With this meal it is soft and rubbery top which is a corn based product and inside you steam cook meats and vegetables together and once finished you take off the outer skin and eat what is inside and sadly it is not the best tasting meal partially because of the outside.

Every meal you have has many tropical fruits and they love papaya there and so much so it is in every store you visit. They have pineapples and plums and passion fruits as well and it was very sweet and most of their food products have a sweet taste to them.

Night Life

There is not a big nightlife atmosphere in the city because of the heat but when it is cooler in the earlier months of the year there is a big party atmosphere similar to what people see in Brazil when they have the party seasons.

I like how they party but they do not get drunk like people do in the UK they have fun and get jolly and that is the best part to the city when it comes to the night life. When it comes to the people who like to eat out the night time is the best part because the restaurants are opening up later and it means you eat later and have a better time overall.

I appreciate their night life and if you’re not the sort of person who likes noise you will not get any either when the residents return home.

How to travel

The best route to travel is via bus travel and they go from all over the place and if you get on the right bus you can end up in other locations in no time at all and the price is usually done for a day pass rather than just the one ride and it costs about £9 a day for a person to get a pass to go travelling.

There is a taxi service but the problem with this is the expense and to be fair the taxi drivers deliberately go around taking the longest routes imaginable to get the biggest amount of cash out of people. This is a route I would advise people not to use because it does cause people to lose more cash and the best route is the bus service.

You can walk if you wish to places but you do need to do a lot of walking because there are not many places which are situated next to one another. They are usually scattered around the city and have many miles between them so that is something people need to remember when travelling to this city.
The only place to get to via foot is the city itself.

Accommodation

The hotel I was in had the nice warmth about it with the people at the reception willing to assist me whenever I brought something back with me and always offered me help if I was struck going somewhere. The building was decorated in a pleasant format and it was full of great pictures and paintings to admire.

I just did not like the security part and although the crime levels are extremely low and I had nothing stolen from me the neighbours next door to myself who were from Belgium had a camera stolen and their passports so it did make me think about things.

I am not sure why I was not targeted but they were and this was a 4 star hotel so obviously a 5 star hotel is needed when you pay a visit to this city. I like the food supplies in each room and plenty of television coverage but just a few channels and each one was in Spanish but it was nice to watch as some shows were what we see in the UK which was strange but nice at the same time.

Good Points

I love the fact there is so much to do in terms of visiting parks and museums because the city has a huge history behind it all. Although most of the destinations can have a huge gap between them there is a nice feeling when you visit the destinations you are given above by me. The parks are perfect for a nice walk and a picnic (if you’re into all that) and they are so clean and tidy you get the feeling the people respect their city.

I think the shrine was the best part of the city because this was a Lady who is so special and they let you visit her shrine when it is her patron saint day and for me that is a unique experience because so many people from all over pay a visit and it was a great place without doubt.

They have a nice night life with little of people getting drunk and making a huge noise but there is a nice sense of relaxation at night time and everyone eats late and they never seem loud and over the top and the police presence is nonexistent so it shows that the place is quiet at night time.

The food is simply lovely and some of the items are odd in taste and texture but most plates of food you have are full of colour and flavour and some have a little too much coconut and some might be too sweet but overall they are very tasty. The preparation as well for making the items is very quick so that can be a huge benefit also.

Bad Points

I am not that impressed with the travel arrangements at all. There is a real issue there because if you cannot find a bus service you have no other way of travelling around that well. The taxis are super expensive and the people who run them deliberately make sure they take the longest route ever to make sure they do not get paid anything so they are pretty ruthless in that respect.

I think the security can be a problem for people especially if your there to take pictures and purchase items you can risk losing everything just because of the fact you have poor security in the hotel you have got and that for me is the biggest problem when away in this city.

Summary

The scenery, the cleanliness is beautiful to say the least. They have nice friendly people, great buildings and plenty for people to admire.
The security and transport is a problem and that for me is not the best news when you’re going away on a trip. Most items are cheap to buy and with so much to do and do your going to have a good time, just do research on the hotel beforehand.