Honduran Mosquitia

La Mosquitia is the easternmost part of Honduras, if you go there you will find yourself in a place were progress has hardly made any inroads. There are a few roads or you could call them that at times but they just get part of the way there. The most used travelling systems are by boat, and I'm talking slow cargo boats which take 2 days to get to Puerto Lempira which is the largest, most modern town and also the departments cabecera or capital.

Most of the population are either native Indians or Americans however you want to call them, mostly from the Tawahka tribe, and what we call Misquitos or Zambos, these guys are a complete mixture of English, Spanish, blacks, and natives who have their own language, customs, and heritage. Mostly they live in wooden huts on posts, because there are a lot of wild animals around so they protect themselves this way. English and Spanish are also spoken but they have their own peculiar accent. About 150 years ago this part of the country was occupied by the British.

Their main economic activity is farming, cattle ranching, fishing but I think their main sustenance comes from the guys who work as divers on lobster, conch and shrimp boats. Many of these divers have suffered from the bends (decompression) as on the boats the equipment they are given is not that good so they go down, spend too much time and come up all of a sudden and the change in pressure just works on them, many become paralized for life. Also La Mosquitia is an entry point for drugs, so this is another source of income.

In fact many of these guys have struck it rich just by being able to pick up bundles thrown into the sea by traffickers who are being chased by coast guards.

The place is beautiful, it is mostly unspoiled, full of big rivers, completely forested mountains, grassy plains, all types of flora and fauna, including all types of snakes, jaguars, alligators, tapirs, a lot of wildlife here. The Mosquitia region is divided by the Wanks-Coco or Segovia river, which is the frontier between Honduras and Nicaragua. So Misquitos actually live in both countries, I don't know about Nicaragua but the Honduras Mosquitia has over 50,000 inhabitants, many of whom have emigrated to the western coastal cities and towns because of the lack of jobs in their area.

I believe this place could be a very significant tourist atractor because it is completely natural, there are ancient ruins, you can have all types of jungle adventures, kayaking, white water rafting, canopy, mountaineering, archeological expeditions etc.

But the thing that has most people keeping an eye on it, is that it is believed to have large deposits of petroleum, I know of many companies who have sent exploring parties there, including Russian companies, but we, the public never get to know the results.

So, I will put some picture so you get an idea of what it is like, I have never been there, just gotten close by boat so I haven't any original photographs.

This is a plane used for bringing drugs once here the plane is destroyed.

Puerto Lempira