Tourist Sites & Things to Do

Trujillo Bay is really spectacular.  With the old Spanish fort with its canons on the bluff, and the big curving bay, and the almost volcano-like mountain looming behind the city, the physical setting could hardly be better.  A tropical paradise in the rough, and not a Holiday Inn or Motel Six in sight. The BEACH right at the base of the center of town has a nice sand surface with a lot of activity.  You can pick a champa and alternate between the sun and shade.  Buy a native “petate”(straw mat—about $2.50 to $3.00) at Casa Hode or several of the other tourist shops in town, and use it to lie on the sand.   You can buy beer or drinks at the various champa bars, or buy lunch or dinner there for a very reasonable price.  If you are lucky you can find a place in the shade, or even a hammock to spend the day.  Often little boys will come by and try to sell you carved stonework that is from Santa Fe (but is not a Mayan artifact, as they may claim).  But it is cheap enough and a good souvenir.  Starfish chandeliers and other items may also be offered, and horseback rides on rather small and docile steeds may be available.

The beach further down towards the airport has the popular, more upscale, Bahia Bar and Gringos (currently closed 4-2008).  At the Bahia Bar there are changing rooms and shower, but it is quite a hike from the center of town.  Since this area is closer to the Lagoon, if there is no breeze, there may be sand fleas.  Be careful to use repellant the moment you lay on the beach or get out of the water.  You won’t notice the bites until it is too late.  The beach to the west of town does not have any sand fleas.

Watch the water at the foot of the several streams that enter the bay, as the effluent may not be very pretty. It can be dangerous at night to walk towards the west along the beach into Cristales.  Not recommended.  Don’t get drunk at a champa and take a midnight beach walk alone.  If you use common sense, you should have no problem.

If you have transportation, consider driving towards Puerto Castillo and about one mile before the entrance to the port on the right look for a sand road that will take you the 200 yards to the beach on the outside of the bay. You will find bigger waves, absolutely tourist free, and only a very occasional native walking by.  Watch the current.

Hiking

Hiking along the beach to Campamento, the Garifuna fishing villages of Santa Fe, San Antonio, or Guadeloupe is easy, but you will have to wade across numerous small waterways that enter the ocean.  Inquire as to the distance at which you think you may be comfortable.  It’s about 10 kilometers to Santa Fe, and several more kilometers to San Antonio and Guadeloupe.

Hiking in the national park above the town is beautiful and cooling as you reach the top at about 4,000 feet in altitude.  The summit is a cloud forest environment.  You should hear or see macaws, monkeys, giant ferns, orchids, and abundant other flowers.  There is a small entrance pavilion just above the town, but nowadays it is empty.  The less adventurous can drive to the top if it has not been raining too hard and you have a four wheel vehicle, or at least a vehicle with good clearance.

They say there is an old Spanish Royal road that traverses the low mountains just to the west of town and Mount Calentura. In places there are cobblestones from Colonial days. It leads over the ridge to the plain of the Rio Aguan. Someday, perhaps this will be developed for hikers. It begins near Campamento.

Unfortunately Matthias Henkel at Turtle Tours which was at the Villa Brinkley is no longer operating. Inquire at FUCAGUA for information on tropical rainforest tours, walks in the park above the town, and trips to the Guaymoreto Lagoon. The crocodile preserve that was mentioned in previous info on Trujillo was washed away by Hurricane Mitch. You can visit the Garifuna villages of Santa Fe, San Antonio, Guadelupe Santa Rosa de Aguan and Limon by car or bus. More distant adventures to the Mosquitia and the island of Guanaja can be accessed from Trujillo by boat.

Go to FUCAGUA at their office on the left 5 or 6 blocks up the road from the center of town to the Villa Brinkley. They have maps to look at and maybe some tips for excursions. Sometimes there are Peace Corps workers there with whom you may converse; at other times, there is no one who speaks English. Also you may inquire at the new Tourist Info Office in front of the fort and next to the old Commandancia (yellow building with red roof).

Birding

Birding can be very rewarding in the Trujillo area. Villa Vista Dorada sits above the ravine of the Rio Cristales, and in the morning between the hours of 5:30 and 7:30 a.m. flying below the terrace we have identified at least 4 different parrots (including the yellow-naped parrot that is supposed to only be on the Bay Islands)., blue-gray tanagers, numerous hummingbirds (maybe the Emerald---but not confirmed), keel-billed toucans, and countless others. In the winter all the transient migratory birds from up North are present in addition to the locals. Further west down the coast are any number of small rivers that empty into the Carribbean just a few hundred meters from the road. Numerous interesting waterfowl can be seen on trees and stumps in the streams. The Guaimoreta Lagoon has numerous waterfowl, and you might inquire if anyone can arrange a canoe trips for you. Buy a copy of Birding Honduras by Mark Bonta and David L. Anderson (to purchase contact vicentemurphy@yahoo.com.) and take it with you. It is not so much a bird identification volume as it is an enabler of adventure and guide for side trips in Honduras, including excellent birdwatching. Check their book and you find trips like one they recommend that is only an hour and fifteen minutes east of Trujillo by paved and dirt road, where you can head into the headwaters of the Mosquitia Coast for birding and hiking and a visit to a splendid waterfall.

Water Sports

Water Sports are only rudimentary as yet in Trujillo. There are two or three Americans with motorized boats who might take you out for a tour or fishing. Maybe a local fisherman will take you fishing in the small motorized dinghy provided to some of them by the Japanese fishing cooperative. Or maybe you can get one of the Garifuna fishermen to take you in his “cayuco” (dugout canoe), but beware as they are low to the water and not very stable. The new tourist dock at the beach below the town center has been built to facilitate picking up tourists for boat trips.

Hot Spring

The Hot Spring is about seven kilometers from the center of town just beyond the Pech village of Silin. The resort has cabins and a restaurant that is open for semana santa and by arrangement for groups. You pay a small entrance fee (50 lempiras) to enter the wonderful hot springs, and an additional charge for a 30-40 minute massage. Great way to relax after some hard traveling or hiking, and the food is good when it is available. Take bug spray if sunset is approaching. There seems to be good birding at this location also.

Fishing Villages

The Garifuna FISHING VILLAGES of Santa Fe, San Antonio, and Guadelupe are picturesque and reachable by the unpaved road that is just back from the beach and stretches to the west of town. Only in the last 10 or 15 years have most inhabitants of these towns “improved” their houses from mud and a thatch to concrete. For a small fee the children will cut a coconut and insert a straw so you can enjoy the milk. In Guadelupe, the last store on the road on the beach side sells hats made from the coconut palm, and native-made drums. Great gifts—but you may have to sneak the drums, which are partly made of animal hide—past immigration. It’s a treat to have lunch at Comedor Caballero in Santa Fe. There are other Garifuna villages along the coast east of Trujillo that might be a good day trip by car or bus. Santa Rosa de Aguan and Limon are picturesque..

Historic Sites

Cemetary

The old CEMETERY in the center of town is evocative and has the grave of the legendary adventurer, William Walker. His grave has a cross with his name and the epitaph "fusilado"---meaning "shot by firing squad". Behind the hospital, and accessible from the fort is the spot where they shot Walker, and nowadays it sports a small monument. For those intrepid tourists continuing on to Nicaragua, be aware that in Granada, Nicaragua they make a very big deal of the famous Mr. Walker, possibly because he burned down the town when he was chased out. Of course he ended up in Trujillo, where he was captured and shot.

No one has pointed out to me the location of the burial of the earliest colonists, but it has been pointed out to me that it is probably to the left as you enter the old cemetery. The historic cemetery was abandoned and closed in 2005 and 2006, but now a charitable group is helping with maintenance and it is open and attended.

Museum

The Museum RUFINO GALAN in Trujillo is funky and interesting, and most unusually, has its own stream-fed swimming hole. The private owner of this museum is a treat to talk to if you speak Spanish. If not, the displays are rarely marked. With so much history and pre-Columbian artifacts waiting to be found and catalogued, let’s hope that Trujillo, in the near future, gets its own serious museum.

Fort

The Fortaleza of Santa Barbara still commands the bay from atop its bluff, but is somewhat hidden from the street by the concrete basketball court. A small entrance fee will assure you an unparalleled site for photos and a view of the bay. If you have a penchant for collecting early Caribbean prints, there is a print of Trujillo done by an intrepid Dutch artist, Ogilby in 1671. It shows a much larger fortification than is present today, and walls that extend all the way down to the almost sea level at the town entrance to the east. The Ministry of Culture is restoring the Commandancia---the part of the fort that was the headquarters building (with the square brick columns). Unfortunately, the new roof is entirely inappropriate. In fact, maybe we can consider the new roof on the Commandancia a new tourist attraction for those interested in historic renovation as an example of how not to do it. There are other plans to improve the rest of the fort and its permanent exhibition area, and eventually begin restorations of buildings in the historic center of town. Spain sponsored a mission that came to Trujillo in 2002 to begin the process of improving the infrastructure of the town. The two story building with balcony across from Hondutel in the historic center has been well renovated. It now houses INFOP, a school for the hospitality industry.

Look carefully at many of the old buildings in the center of town as many are hidden jewels. The prison is the old capital building. Many store-fronts are old Spanish buildings with 19th century French Colonial style second floors of wood. A group of visiting architects in 1996 declared the barbershop to be an important 300-year-old Spanish Colonial edifice. No one has yet sought to identify and improve the scant remains of the old convent, hospital, or Casa Real, or other early edifices. Let’s hope that the government, a foundation or other benefactor steps forward to help preserve Trujillo’s historic structures and patrimony before it's too late.

Trips to the Mosquitia

Trips to the Mosquitia by boat can be arranged by going to the municipal dock.The best person to ask would be the captain on a boat tied up to the pier. Since they may be sleeping, you might have to jump on board and bang on the window to get assistance. Severall years ago for instance I was told that the boat BILLY REY, whose captain is Reynaldo Blanco Christiana goes Thursday afternoon to Brus Lagoon for 250 lempira ($15). It arrives the next morning. The boat SULI, goes to Puerta Lempira for the same price and leaves at 10:00 a.m. The CAPITAN ROLO also goes to Puerta Lempira. I am told that there is no regular service to Palacios. Since Trujillo has a large number of students at normal school from the Mosquitia, they travel to and from home on the boats above-mentioned, and although the boats look pretty worn, because they are used regularly by the students, it is said to be fairly safe. These boats and routes change, so please inquire at the dock or the Tourism Office. As of 2007 there is ferry service twice weekly to Guanaja. The cheapest way to get to Guanaja. Check at the dock for times.