As a newly certified diver I returned to the Honduran mainland. The return journey to La Ceiba was less turbulent than the outward journey. I took a bus directly to Tegucigalpa but got off before that and took a small minibus to Lago Yojoa, a beautiful lake. I was accommodated in a brewery with restaurant. So there was food provided.

So green & diverse nature

I consider the lake one of the most beautiful places of my trip because of its silence and its incredibly diverse nature. When I arrived, the European Championship final 2016 had just ended, which Portugal won in extra time to the surprise of everyone. After a short snack in the restaurant I visited a nearby natural reservoir. I saw all kinds of flowers and was almost alone on the area except for the brown snake that ran across my path. Later on I came across a big, aggressive dog, which was nagging at me from meters away. I tried to go a detour, but the dog ran slowly after me. I finally made an even bigger detour and was not bitten. Very different from an Irish girl I met later. She was bitten by a running dog in this very area.

A peaceful hike and bird-watching tour

The next morning I got up early because I had gone on a bird-watching tour. First the Honduran guide took me to his house where he showed me his family and invited me for a coffee. With a rowing boat we swam in Lago Yojoa in silence and at the crack of dawn. I didn't see many birds, but this boat trip alone had an incredibly calming effect. The guide was extremely nice and down-to-earth. Shockingly, he did not even know that Germany is an independent country. But this is due to the country's deficient educational system.

In the evening I hiked again with the same guide to a lookout point and saw all the many plants that bloom here in this green oasis: coffee, cocoa, bananas, orchids, etc. The view of the lake was equally spectacular.

I ended the evening with some local and delicious craft beers in the company of a couple of Danes and a Swede, with whom I visited a nearby park the next day, where we watched for armadillos and a strange tree like in Africa. We rushed back to the hostel to escape the incoming strong rain shower.

After 3 days I left the beautiful lake and went to the Maya ruins of Copan, another beautiful place in Honduras!