La Ceiba - Lago Yojoa

We decided that La Ceiba was a bit dingy and we didn't really want to go out to the Bay Islands for more snorkelling so we decided to head inland to the Lago de Yojoa area. The guidebook mentions that it's very green and tranquil with a much nicer climate than the north coast. We also found that there was a nice looking B&B with attached micro-brewery near the lake. Sold!

We bid our goodbyes to La Ceiba (didn't take long) and left for San Pedro. The bus to San Pedro was nice enough, but we wound up on a chicken bus (complete with chickens) out to the lake. It was completely packed and even when I thought we were full up, the driver was still honking for more passengers to get on. We ended up 3 to a double seat and 2 to a single with the entire length of the aisle full with standing passengers all the way down to the front of the bus. I think that if we'd had a roof rack we'd have had the same number again on the 'upper deck'.


Anyway, we finally arrived in Los Naranjos with a thankfully lighter passenger load – but still the same number of chickens. Trace was dropped off near the football field – I was dropped a little further down the road due to some difficulty extricating my backpack from the luggage rack. Luckily (for me) this was at the end of the road we were looking for anyway so that worked out OK (for me). After our La Ceiba experience we decided that we'd splurge a little here and so we went for a private cabin (at an extortionate £13 per night). After settling in and eating dinner we set up a birdwatching trip down the lake with local birdwatcher (and ex-Ipswich resident) Malcolm and two other guests Rosa and Joahim from Holland. Unfortunately the best time to see birds is first thing in the morning. We set our alarm for 5:30am and turned in for the night.

On the few rare occasions I have been persuaded to wake up at 5 or 6 in the morning I'm used to having the place (wherever that is) to myself. In Honduras, however, it appears that anyone waking up later than 6:30 is a bit lazy. It's no wonder though: as we made our way down to the canal, the temperature was perfect and the wildlife was in full voice. We stopped at Malcolm's house for coffee and pancakes, picked up our oarsman and set off downriver for the lake.


During our trip we spotted hummingbirds, orioles, a couple of ospreys, some proboscis bats, moorhens, various types of heron and egret as well as innumerable flycatchers. The highlight though was the amazing display put on by the kingfishers. We saw all 3 types found near the lake – including my personal favourite: the tiny green kingfisher - and they were mostly perched on low branches near the waterway making them really easy to spot. On a couple of occasions we saw them dive for fish right in front of us. One even followed us (almost) all the way home.