This roadside stop serves up both savory and scenic rewards
Lake Yojoa is a favorite midway stop for hungry travelers driving Highway CA5 between the cities of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro. Along the shore line, a collection of roadside restaurants serves up fish caught fresh from the lake, accompanied by a fresh array of the local fruits and vegetables that thrive in the region’s rich volcanic soils. To stay alert on the road, diners can finish up with premium coffees from the nearby plantations of Santa Barbara.
Sitting in a broad valley overlooked by volcanic peaks, Yojoa is Honduras’ largest natural body of water, covering more than 30 square miles. Visitors who come for more than a lunch break can explore a pair of national parks that flank the lake’s eastern and western shores. These forests reserves are home to more than 400 species of birds and some 800 varieties of tropical foliage. Also worth a visit is Los Naranjos archaeological park, home to the remains of a pre-Columbian city dating back to 1,300 BC. Not much remains of the home of these ancestors of the Aztecs, but the park’s lakeside trails and boardwalks are a favorite with naturalists and bird watchers.
