Largely undeveloped, and ringed by dense tropical forest, Lago de Yojoa is incredibly picturesque. Thanks to the unwavering efforts of a local microbrewery owner to promote the region, the lake is now the most popular spot to break the journey between the Bay of Islands and El Salvador or Nicaragua.
At San Pedro Sula bus terminal I bid farewell to Ashlee and Rachel and caught the el Mochito bound chicken bus to the village of Los Naranjos (1 1/2 hours) and headed straight to D&D Brewery.
Rapidly establishing the lake as a backpacking mecca, this excellent hostel has been transformed by Virginian Bobby Durrette, who first came to Honduras with the Peace Corp.
The accommodations are extremely comfortable and excellent value. However, D&D’s trump card is its microbrewery, with a number of tasty beers on tap. The food is excellent and the local coffee fabulous. It also has an super social area that facilitates the opportunity to meet fellow travellers.
Thanks to a lovely Australian couple, who invited me to join them and their 18-month old son, I enjoyed a couple of excellent day trips:
Pulhapanzak is a magnificent 43m waterfall on the Río Lindo, just 17km north of Lago de Yojoa. Surrounded by some lush, well preserved forest, it’s a well organised, privately run beauty spot where guides are available to lead you along a path directly behind the waterfall.
Parque Nacional Cerro Azul Meambar is a well equipped park with kilometers of trails leading to waterfalls, caves and untouched cloud forest. There is also a visitors centre, lodge and restaurant here. Along the route, of the main hike, (a round trip of 4-hours) there are some excellent ‘miradors’ (view points) with awesome views across Lago de Yojoa.
Next stage: Gracias and Santa Rosa de Copan.
