What is Eco - Tourism?
Eco - Tourism is tourism that has a minimal impact on the environment. It provides income that helps preserve protected areas and also benefits local populations, to reduce their dependence on activities that could damage natural areas.

Day Tour Information:
Tour Leaves Roatan Airport at 6:15 AM (Roatan to Rain Forest only 35 min) arrive back to Roatan at 4:00 PM

1. Round Trip Airfare Roatan - La Ceiba
2. Transportation To & From Rain Forest
3. 4 Hour Guided Tour In Pico Bonito
4. Picnic Lunch Including Beers & Sodas At Our Farm
5. Eco-Snorkeling At The Waterfalls (Mask & Snorkel Provided)
6. Fully Loaded Back Pack For 2
7. Duration Of Tour is 6 Hours
8. Liability Insurance Included
9. Visit to the Maras Rehabilitation Center

Available For Customers:

Hiking Boots Sizes 4-11 (Incl. Boot Socks)
Hiking Hat

*Support Eco - Tourism*
$135 Per Person
Tours Every Friday
Remember That Silence Is Sometimes The Best Answer

Pico Bonito National Park

Click Photo to Enlarge

Mainland Honduras offers many different National Parks and much nature to enjoy. Perhaps the most unique of all is the Pico Bonito National Park. This unique park offers the most extensive biodiversity in the region, and includes tropical rain forest habitats in its lower elevations. Located in the Nombre de Dios Mountain Range, just behind the city of La Ceiba, this unique park receives its name from the Pico Bonito mountain, that reaches an elevation of over 2,450 meters above sea level, equivalent to almost 8,100 ft. To the spectator looking at the mountain park, it appears like a massive green wall, rising almost vertically from sea level to above the clouds. Travelers from Roatan can now enjoy a full day trip flying out of the island in the morning and getting back to their hotel in the late afternoon...

Salt & Pepper Tours, run by flamboyant English Expat Paul David has set up a unique tour including an outstanding lunch. Tourists meet at Roatan's airport and fly to La Ceiba, where they are greeted and transferred to a private farm at the foot of the Nombre the Dios Mountain Range. Here they are welcomed by Cristino, a local farm hand who is very familiar with the area and its native plants and animals. Cristino, who now joins Paul David's part of the guiding - escorting group, sets itself out to the adventure. Paul David and Cristino, both armed with machetes, a full first aid kit and their loyal track dog lead the group up the short trail from the farm lands to the steep forest mountain sides. Here they are met by at least one park ranger, and the group starts its ascent into the rain forest. Although the climb is steep in some places, the trail is in fairly good shape and has some crudely fashioned stairs that allow easier access.

Throughout the climb, numerous stops are made to observe different kinds of plants, many of which are used for medical purposes by the locals. Although the forest is teeming with wildlife, most of it is shy and you will not likely see many animals, however, some tropical birds, such as toucans and parrots are relatively easy to see. The trail is a circular trail, this is, you do not come back on the same route as you go up. The end of the trail is marked by a lovely, jungle fringed waterfall, that is to say the least, spectacular. The Zacate River is absolutely crystal clear and very much on the cool side, which is perfect for a refreshing dip at the end of the hike. After the hike. (about 2 1/2 hours) you have a good half hour to freshen up on a lovely secluded pool at the base of smaller but not less spectacular waterfall, and by then, hunger is definitely a factor.

The short hike back to the farm is rewarded with cold beers and soft drinks and a superb lunch, which will seem as gourmet food in a totally relaxed environment.

After lunch, you will visit the Maras Rehabilitation Center where you will see a 220 lb female jaguar, an ocelot, monkeys, and exotic birds. This program enables these endagered species to return to their natural habitat.

Then you will return to La Ceiba's international airport to board your flight back to the island. I will almost bet that you will fall asleep on the flight back to Roatan.

Salt & Pepper Tours can be found at the Coconut Tree hotel in West End, Roatan. Regularly scheduled tours depart every Friday morning, however private tours can be arranged at any time!

Legendary White Jaguar Guarded Lost Mayan City

While researching the Honduras Bigfoot or Sisimite, we stumbled on to another fabulous legend. It all started while a local legend expert was explaining and describing the unknown mountain hominid, which is said to be 7 feet wide at the shoulders and about 12 feet tall, which can take a man in each hand, smash their heads together and break them like watermelons. It steals and eats whole cows, is totally covered with hair and stinks. It trots in a loping sort of gait and completely disappears into the jungle when spotted. The only thing it is afraid of is the jaguar, but not a regular jaguar: the white jaguar.

Ages ago it was said in ancient Mayan folklore that Pico Bonito was made into a giant fortress with huge caverns and tunnels with entrances under waterfalls. Mayans hid remaining remnants of their heritage, culture and treasures deep inside their mountain lair. During the process of their building and excavations, they are said to have built a huge vertical gateway made of 14-foot thick silk cotton trees (Ceiba). On either side of these gates were carved two great white jaguars out of white limestones with blue eyes shaped like diamonds. The sisimite would eat anyone who wandered outside the gates, but would not pass the two jaguars. Then one September, a great hurricane destroyed part of the mountain and a landslide buried the gates and mud filled most of the caverns.

The great god Kul Kul Kahn saw these disasters coming and breathed life into the white jaguars and ordered them to guard the holy mountain forever and keep the Sisimite away from this holy place. Before Kul Kul Kahn gave the jaguars life, the Sisimite would kill a Mayan everyday. Now with the jaguars on the loose, the Sisimite had to go to the low lands where it steals and eats cows at night. Sometime in the Early 1800's a team of explorers found a "White City of Bones," so it is theorized that erosion or the very steep mountain uncovered the once buried city. However only one, badly mauled guide returned from the expedition, saying that all the group had been eaten by two white jaguars, a male and a female but the guide died before he could reveal the location.

It is said that each night the Sisimite paces back and forth where the gates used to be and one can hear the white jaguars growling in the nearby jungle, which keeps the Sisimite from entering the area. An albino jaguar is within the realm of possibility and sporadic sightings do occur, and Sisimite sightings do occur often enough in the mountains to warrant further research.