Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
295 la ruta MosKitia,
honduras
296 las terrazas, cuBa
If you want a taste of life in the real Cuba (away
from the all-inclusive resorts and state-of-the-art
hotels) it's fairly easy to achieve by staying in
private rooms ( casas particulares - see p.229) and
dining in local homes ( paladares ). Alternatively,
one of the most harmonious and well-organized
locally run places to stay is in the Sierra del
Rosario reserve in the Guaniguanico range.
Here, the Las Terrazas co-operative - a village
established as a social project in 1971 and still
with around a thousand residents - offers lodging,
cafés, restaurants and trips into the surrounding
reserve, where you can go swimming in natural
pools, kayak on two lakes or go horse-riding and
mountain-biking to visit coffee plantations.
The main place to stay at Las Terrazas is
Hotel Moka, built in the Spanish colonial
style around an ancient lime tree that climbs
through two floors and up through the roof via
a skylight. You can also stay in any of five villas
comunitarias ( casas particulares run by the
hotel) in the heart of the village (where there are
several cafés and restaurants that are part of a
village cooperative), in two campsites near the
natural pools, or in huts 13km away, which are
convenient if you're trekking to San Claudio's
waterfalls, where you can swim in natural pools
at the foot of 20m cascades.
The hardest thing about visiting the Rio Plátano
Biosphere Reserve in northeastern Honduras
is choosing where to spend your time: by the
coast, inland on wide-open savannah or in the
heart of the rainforest. Each setting is home
to indigenous communities who have joined
together to form a collective enterprise known
as La Ruta Moskitia, which provides board
and lodging and a range of activities in the
reserve - the first place in Central America to be
designated a World Heritage Site.
At the Yamari Savannah Cabañas you can go
horse-riding across the plains of the Great Pine
Savannah, meet Miskito guides who will teach
you how to fish with nets, or explore creeks and
lagoons from the comfort of a sit-on-top kayak.
Jungle junkies, however, should head to Las
Marías in the heart of the rainforest highlands
(along the River Plátano), home to the Pech
Indian community which organizes a variety
of rainforest treks (from a couple of hours to a
couple of days) to see monkeys, tapirs, birds and
thousand-year-old petroglyphs carved into the
rocks.
If you'd prefer cooler conditions, head to Belén
on the Miskito Coast, where you stay just behind
the beach at the Pawanka Cabañas (palm-
thatched cabins) or at the Raista ecolodge near
the country's first butterfly farm on the shores of
the Ibans lagoon. Alternatively at Plaplaya and
Batalla (both on the Garifuna Coast) you can see
the hypnotic Garifuna drum-and-dance groups
and the Plaplaya Sea Turtle Conservation
Project.
Need to know Las Terrazas is an hour's drive from
Havana, 8km beyond the turn-off at Km 51 of the
autopista. Unless you're staying at the hotel, there's
a $4CUC charge to enter Las Terrazas, payable
at a tollbooth at the entrance. For prices and
reservations of Hotel Moka, community rooms and
campsites, as well as opening times of cafés and
restaurants and trips into Las Terrazas see W www.
lasterrazas.cu (Spanish only); T +53 7204 3739.
Need to know For prices, reservations and
details on how to reach the various destinations
and communities see W www.larutamoskitia.com;
T +504 406 6782. Ten percent of revenues goes
towards conservation projects in the reserve.
297 live with the Maya, Belize
The world of the ancient Maya is an enduring
draw for travellers, who flock to sites such as
Tikal, Caracol and Chichén Itzá to marvel at the
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