Honduras, on the rise

With political turmoil behind it, Honduras emerges as an up and coming Central American destination.

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Travelers staying on the private island of Little Cay can pick up supplies on Pigeon Cay, about a five-minute boat ride away.

Nancy Trejos / The Washington Post

The first islanders to inhabit Pigeon Cay came from the Cayman Islands in the 1800s.

Nancy Trejos / The Washington Post

Kids jump off a dock at Pigeon Cay, a fishing village off of Utila, Honduras.

Nancy Trejos / The Washington Post

Old boats line the dock on Pigeon Cay, a tiny fishing village near the island of Utila. Pigeon Cay has many tiny grocery stores where residents sell everything from suntan lotion to fish.

Nancy Trejos / The Washington Post

In Gracias, the mid-19th-century San Cristobal fort, which boasts two impressive cannons but never came under attack, now houses the tomb of Juan Lindo, who twice served as president of both Honduras and El Salvador in the mid-1800s.

/ Bildagentur-online

La Merced is the oldest church in Gracias, once the capital of Spanish Central America. Built in the early 1600s, the church took almost 20 years to complete. It is only used now for special occasions.

Nancy Trejos / The Washington Post

A kiosk in Gracias's Central Park. The park is surrounded by shops and colonial churches.

Nancy Trejos / The Washington Post

La Iglesia de San Marcos, the largest church in Gracias, one of the main towns along the Lenca Trail. Originally built in the 1800s, the church was destroyed in a 1915 earthquake and rebuilt soon after.

Nancy Trejos / The Washington Post

A statue in Gracias's Central Park. Once known as Gracias a Dios (Thanks be to God), the town of 20,000 was once an important capital city in the 1500s. Now it's an important transportation hub for the Western Highlands of Honduras.

Nancy Trejos / The Washington Post

The view from a hill overlooking Santa Rosa de Copan, the largest city in Western Honduras. Santa Rosa marks the beginning of the Lenca Trail and is also home to La Flor de Copan cigar factory.

Nancy Trejos / The Washington Post

Employees work on tobacco plants at the Flor de Copan factory in Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras. Honduran tobacco is primarily sold to the European market.

Gustavo Amador / EPA

Dona Soledad Munoz de Nolasco roasts coffee at her home. The former teacher makes her own coffee and sells it to residents and tourists traveling through the Lenca Trail in the Western Highlands of Honduras.

Nancy Trejos / The Washington Post

People as far away as Tegucigalpa commission Dona Desideria Perez’s pottery. She makes the reddish brown glazed Lenca pottery at her studio in La Campa along the Lenca Trail.

Nancy Trejos / The Washington Post

The old colonial church in La Campa, a town on the Lenca Trail. La Campa is the center of the famed reddish brown Lencan pottery.

Nancy Trejos / The Washington Post

Travelers board the ferry from the island of Utila along Honduras's Caribbean coast to the town of La Ceiba. Travelers who rent the private island of Little Cay must first stop in Utila.

Nancy Trejos / The Washington Post

The beach at Little Cay, a private island that travelers can rent, about 20 minutes from Utila, Honduras.

Nancy Trejos / The Washington Post

The main house on Little Cay, a private island that travelers can rent, about 20 minutes from Utila, Honduras. The main house and a guest cottage sleep up to 12 people at $115 a night.

Nancy Trejos / The Washington Post

The view from Little Cay, a private island that travelers can rent, about 20 minutes from Utila, Honduras.

Nancy Trejos / The Washington Post

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