Home » Honduras » La Mosquitia

La Mosquitia, Honduras

Pawel Jaworski

Displayed: times.

This area along the northeastern coast of Honduras is everybody's vision of jungle: heavily forested, swampy and remote, with few roads. It's the largest continuous rain forest in Central America. Isolated groups of tribespeople - the Miskito (for which the region is named), the Pech and the Tawahka - still live in the area and have retained their distinct cultures. The forests support many species of wildlife, especially birds: herons, parrots and egrets. Alligators are present in the rivers.

Although some travelers go to Palacios or Puerto Lempira on their own, most people go to La Mosquitia with a tour company. Travel is by dugout canoe, bush plane, pack animals or four-wheel-drive vehicle. There are several areas that tours frequently visit. The Tawahka Anthropological Reserve gives you a chance to visit the Tawahkas and see their vulture dance. The Rio Platano region is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. And Patuca National Park is a more primitive area that opened only after the Nicaraguan Contras who were based there disbanded. Plan on a long visit if you go to La Mosquitia - seven days minimum - and expect a lot of rain. Conditions for travel are worst during November and December. 175 mi/280 km northeast of Tegucigalpa.