The scenic road linking Nicaragua with Honduras snakes around pine covered hills. The border crossing at Las Manos [1] took us no time at all. We noticed immediately an increased prosperity with better buses, US style shopping malls and gated housing estates. Honduras is the most weaponized country we have seen. Shotgun wielding security guards are everywhere, even outside the ice-cream shops.

.

We stayed in the Honduras capital, Tegucigalpa [2] just long enough to change buses then headed for the colonial town of Comayagua [3], the former capital from 1537 to 1880. The 800 year old clock on the cathedral is the oldest in the Americas, was built by the Moors for the Palace of Alhambra and donated by the king of Spain in 1620.  The colonial center of Comayagua is being gradually restored; so far the churches have been completed.

.

The countryside quickly changed from dry pine forest to tropical green where coconuts, bananas, pineapples, coffee are grown. Fresh produce is sold from roadside stalls. Whenever the bus stops, vendors race to the windows, their wares on long poles. In a few hours we were on the Caribbean Coast at Puerto Cortés [4]. We went out to a 40 room beach resort and got an eerie feeling when we were the only guests, like being in a ghost hotel.

.

Garifuna people live in villages along the coast. They are descendants of West African slaves and Caribbean Indians, brought to Honduras in 1797, known for their dance and music.

.