Into Central America

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The Handbook
Anthony’s Key
Resort on Roatán
Island, Honduras
Into Central America
C
entral America, that ex­­­­
panse of land between
Mex­­ico and South Amer­­
ica, can seem to be a
puzzle of small coun­tries,
and many travelers find El
Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nica­
ragua the most puzzling. For a variety
of reasons these four nations have yet
to of­­fer a stable enough framework
to attract major corporate investment.
There are no grand resorts or elegant
hotel com­panies—Aman and Banyan
Tree, for example, have steered clear. But
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by accepting some ruggedness and in­­con­
sistency, visitors here can find true crosscultural experiences. “My clients do not
go to Central America for the familiar or
the chic,” says custom-travel planner Lisa
Lindblad. “They go because it is dramatic,
stunning, and irreverent. They go for a
journey to the authentic.”
I’ve spent the past ten years living
in this region—what Pablo Neruda
referred to as “the lithe waistline” of
the Americas—flying across and hiking
through it, photographing and filming,
observing, participating, con­necting. What
follows is a peek into my little black book
for these less-visited countries, a list of the
places that bring out the best the region
has to offer: small hotels where the owners
are on hand to welcome guests, bistros
where the chefs themselves serve the meals,
ancient sites that are ex­­plained by those
who excavate them—personal hosts who
open doors for intrepid travelers.
NICARAGUA
The second-poorest but largest Central
American country, Nicaragua is about the
size of New York State and has substantial
BERTHOLD STEINHILBER/LAIF/REDUX
Forget the extravagantly priced Caribbean. Longtime local Catherine Docter shares
her tips on where to stay and eat in four of the region’s under-the-radar locales.
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coastlines on both the Atlantic and Pacific.
To many, the only things the place brings
to mind are Sandinistas, Oliver North,
and the Iran-Contra affair. But times have
changed: The United States is no longer
supporting the contras, and the country’s
president is once again Daniel Ortega,
the Sandinista leader whose first admin­
istration, from 1985 to 1990, the contras
opposed. These days most
dollars flowing in from
the States are in exchange
for beachfront property
near great surf breaks.
Nicaraguan pre-Columbian art and arti­
facts. At the Convento de San Francisco, an
old monastery turned national mu­­seum,
my favorites are the oil paintings done by
the self-taught artists of the Solentiname
archipelago (on the southeast shores of
Lake Nicaragua) and the dramatic, free­
standing stone sculptures carved—with
no metal tools—between a.d. 800 and
In Nicaragua’s
low-slung capital, the 13room Hotel Los Robles is
the only hotel with any
real charm; it has wellappointed rooms and a
welcoming owner, SwissNicaraguan Walter Bühler.
At La Casa de los Nogueras,
Spanish chef Jean-François
Noguera Bussalleu prepares
excellent Mediterraneaninspired dishes: Start with
the Catalan-style lobster
and end with the home­
made orange sorbet. My
favorite shop in the coun­
try, Simplemente Madera,
is actually a design studio
where Forest Stewardship
Council–certified Nicara­
guan hardwoods are trans­
formed into elegant fur­
niture. Founded in 2002,
the company pioneered
re­­sponsible use of the na­
tion’s wood resources.
managua
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GUATEMALA
The majority of Guate­
mala’s 14 million cit­izens
are indigenous Maya,
and there are more than
20 Mayan languages still
spoken here. Though the
nation is experiencing
the poverty of progress—
overpopulated villages of
concrete blocks and sat­
ellite dishes—there are
many reasons to visit: high­
land lakes nestled among
the country’s 34 vol­canoes,
as well as ancient monu­
ments, vibrant markets,
and unique Maya festivals
that help preserve this
4,000-year-old culture.
Most flights to
Guatemala land in the
capital, Guatemala City.
I recommend continuing
di­­­­rectly to Antigua, the old
capital, which dates back to
the 16th century. (Trans­
portation from the airport
can be arranged by any
Antigua hotel.) Here I stay
at Quinta Maconda, a fourroom colonial guesthouse.
(Full disclosure: It’s owned
by my partner, John Hea­
ton.) Filled with antiques,
art, and storied charm, the
house has been on the registry since 1547.
Antigua is a shopper’s paradise. An ex­
cellent selection of fine Guatemalan jew­
elry, pottery, and wooden figurines is avail­
able at Casa de Artes, and Nim Po’t stocks
a large assortment of Guatemalan folk art
and indigenous crafts and weavings. At
Cerería Evelia del Pinal, the Cuevas fam­
ily has been making hand-carved beeswax
candles for clergy (and now top designers
A Simplemente Madera–
MORGAN’S ROCK. OPPOSITE: FREDERIC LAGRANGE/TRUNK ARCHIVE
Antigua
This city is an
designed cottage at Morgan’s
Rock Hacienda & Ecolodge, in
easy hour’s drive from
San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
Managua. (There are rec­
ognizable car rental agen­
cies at the airport, roads here are decent, 1200 on the Lake Nicaragua islands of
and traffic is minimal.) Opened in 1953, Ometepe and Zapatera.
Hotel Alhambra, on the central plaza, re­
tains a certain neocolonial charm—and San Juan del Sur An hour’s drive west
its airy main foyer is a hub for all that goes of Granada lies the scruffy beach town of
on in town. Just behind the cathedral, El San Juan del Sur. Here the much-buzzedZaguán serves superb local cuisine, espe­ about—but well worth the hype—Mor­
cially grilled meats, and two blocks away, gan’s Rock Hacienda & Ecolodge offers 15
in a former Spanish Colonial home, is handsome hardwood cottages overlook­
MiMuseo, the best place in Granada to see ing a private crescent of Pacific Coast
granada
beach. The 1,800-acre property has its
own organic farms that supply much
of the produce on the lodge’s menu—a
unique blend of Nicaraguan, French, and
Asian cuisines. Guests can go for a swim
in the ocean or a ride on the schooner,
take a yoga class, count sea turtles, or ex­
plore the Pacific dry forest with lodge
naturalists in 4x4s.
in the know) since 1890. Then there is the
delightfully sub-rosa Libros San Cristóbal,
whose letterpress books—many of which
have found their way into top libraries and
museums around the world—are made by
local craftsmen using the finest leathers,
exotic skins, and paper.
For a snack there are the delicious pepi­
toria (pumpkin seed–and–molasses) cookies
at Doña María Gordillo, or
La Tienda de Doña Gavi’s
ice cream, which comes in
unique flavors like avocado,
corn, and rice. For a real
meal I go to young Guate­
malan chef Hector Castro’s
tiny,nameless,two-year-old
bistro and order the duck
breast with roasted grapes.
And at French chef JeanFrançois Moulin’s new
bistro, Tartines, both the
ratatouille crêpe and the
arugula-pear-Gorgonzola
salad are excellent.
scientists and scholars working there and
go farther afield from Tikal to places like
San Bartolo and Sak Nikte’.
Spending the night at an active ar­
chaeological site is a real adventure. It
involves making advance arrangements
with the scholars themselves, helicopter­
ing to remote jungle sites, and sleeping
in tents with no electricity. But it’s worth
HONDURAS
The word honduras means “depths” in
Spanish, and it’s what the cartographer
trav­eling with Christopher Columbus
marked down in 1502 when their ship
sailed through some rough, deep waters
off the country’s northeast coast. Though
the mapmaker was referring more to the
water than to the land, the name stuck.
Today Honduras has about
seven million people of very
A Guatemalan girl carrying
diverse cultures: the Gari­
a baby and wearing a huipil,
or blouse, in the colors of
funa, who are partially of
her village near Lake Atitlán
African descent; the Chorti
Maya; the indigenous Mis­
kito and Jicaque peoples;
and the Spanish-speaking
mestizos, who make up the
majority. The poorest and
most undeveloped country
in Central America, Hon­
duras is also the least known
and most complex country
in the region.
COPAN RUINAS Though Te­
Someday
someone will build a tru­
ly grand hotel overlook­
ing this stunning body of
water. Until then my pre­
ferred lakeside stop is still
the Posada de Santiago.
Just outside the town of
Santiago Atitlán—a twohour drive from Anti­
gua—the posada is made
up of a hacienda and
eight simple stone cot­
tages built in 1977 by the
expat American owners,
Susie and David Glan­
ville. Take the canoe out
for views of local farms,
towering volcanoes, and
fishermen in their cow­
boy hats and traditional
handwoven knee-length pants.
lake atitlan
flores, peten To
see Guatemala’s most
im­­pressive Maya ruins, catch a TACA
flight from Guatemala City to Flores, the
capital of the country’s Petén region and
the city closest to the Maya ruins of Tikal.
While there are some attractive lodges
on Lake Petén Itzá, a more compelling
way to experience the area is to stay with
the hassle: Visitors to San Bartolo can see
the stunning polychrome murals from
circa 100 b.c. that Boston University ar­
chaeologist William Saturno discovered
in 2001. At Sak Nikte’ (known today as La
Corona) another Maya scholar, Yale an­
thropologist Marcello Canuto, studies the
timeworn carved-stone panels and hier­
oglyphs. Both men are excellent guides
and welcoming hosts.
­­­ cigalpa is the capital of
gu­
Honduras, it is best to fly
into the “second city” of the
country: tropical, sugarcaneproducing San Pedro Sula.
From there it’s just a twohour drive to the western
village of Copán Ruinas,
one mile from the entrance
to the Maya ruins of Copán
(or Xukpi, in ancient times).
Flavia Cueva, the owner of
the local Hacienda San Lu­
cas guesthouse, can coordi­
nate car service.
Between a.d. 400 and
800 Xukpi dominated the
Copán River Valley, boast­
ing vibrantly painted pal­
aces, huge stone sculptures,
and 25,000 inhabitants. In
the 1930s the village of Copán Ruinas was
built as a base for archaeologists excavat­
ing Xukpi’s ruins. The place to stay here
is Cueva’s tile-roofed, six-room house,
where there are always fresh wildflow­
ers, hammocks to lie in, and pretty Maya
girls cooking their grandmothers’ recipes.
In the village, Honduran entrepreneur
Sandra Guerra’s shop, La Casa de Todo, of­
fers cigars, hats, jewelry, books, music, and
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Izalco Volcano in Cerro Verde
National Park, El Salvador
home furnishings from every
region of the country. At Finca
El Cisne Carlos Castejón takes
visitors riding across the dra­
matic landscapes of his family’s
1,800-acre coffee, cardamom,
and cattle farm. And Macaw
Mountain Bird Park and Nature
Preserve, a haven for tropical
birds, is a short ten-minute
tuk-tuk ride from town.
For Honduran travel
beyond Copán, I rec­om­mend
consulting with Flavia Cueva,
Tanya Cle­ment­son of Copán
Connections, or Belgian en­
trepreneurs Geert Van Vaeck
and Annemarie Van Nieuwen­
hove, who run the tour outfit
Basecamp. These experts will
La Ceiba
56
Ancient Maya ruins of
Copán, Honduras
be able to advise, based on
weather and other conditions,
whether to take the one-hour
bush-plane flight to La Ceiba
or to make the five- to sixhour trip by car instead.
Upon arrival in this city on
the Caribbean coast of Hon­
duras, you know you have
entered another world. Here
the people are Garifuna—
descendants of Carib Indians
and African peoples known for
their traditional dance form,
the mesmerizing punta. In La
Ceiba I like to stay at the nineyear-old Lodge at Pico Bonito,
which has 22 plantation-style
cottages, a great staff, and a
perfect location at the juncture
of the Corinto and Colora­
FROM TOP: KRAIG LIEB/LONELY PLANET IMAGES; BERTHOLD STEINHILBER/LAIF/REDUX
“People go to Central America not for the
familiar or chic but for a journey to the authentic.”
dito rivers. I go swimming in the natural
rock pools, climb the wooden towers for
birdwatching, and sample the harvest at a
nearby pineapple plantation.
for its 12-year civil war, which ended in
1992, the country today is delightfully un­
spoiled by tourism. The smallest, most
densely populated of the Central American
nations—seven million people live in an
ROATAN ISLAND There are several flights area just smaller than Massachusetts—it
and boat trips each day shuttling visitors boasts rugged, unde­­veloped Pa­­cific coast­
and locals between La Ceiba and Roatán, line be­­loved by surfers, as well as beautiful
the largest of the Bay Islands, off Hondu­ old haciendas that cultivate native indigo.
ras’s Caribbean coast. Pico Bonito’s travel
office can give guidance on the best way San Salvador The country’s capital city
to get there. (I prefer the boat, though the does not yet have any charming small hotels;
view from the plane is spectacular.) Sev­ for now the 194-room Radisson Plaza Hotel
eral large resorts have been built on is the best bet. Well located for shopping
Roatán, but I’m partial to the old-school and museums, it has a handsome pool and
Anthony’s Key Resort: Its wooden cottages a wonderful concierge, the knowledgeable,
sit on stilts over azure seas, which are bilingual Jocelyn Alvarez. Charming Ital­
home to magnificent coral reefs and ian Roberto Sartogo graciously pre­sides
schools of dolphins.
over my restaurant of choice here, Il
Buon Gustaio, which he operates out of a
EL SALVADOR
clean-lined Neutra-style house. I order his
In 1524 the invading Spanish dubbed homemade porcini tagliatelle.
this region—then known as Cuscatlán,
or “the land of precious things,” by the Suchitoto While in Salvador, hire a car
indigenous Pipil—La Provincia de Nuestro and driver; the hotel concierge can make
Señor Jesucristo, el Salvador del Mundo (The the arrangements. About 45 minutes north
Province of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the of the city lies the village of Suchitoto,
Savior of the World), a name that was home to my favorite Salvadorean lodge,
quickly and thankfully abbreviated to El Los Almendros de San Lorenzo. Former
Sal­va­dor. Too often remembered only Parisian event planner Pascal Lebailly took
Address Book
NICARAGUA
Hotel Alhambra Rooms,
$65–$120. West side of the Parque
Central, Granada; 505-2/552-4486;
hotelalhambra.com.ni
Hotel Los Robles Rooms,
$100. Managua; 505-2/267-3008;
hotellosrobles.com
Morgan’s Rock Hacienda &
Ecolodge Rooms, $180–$265.
San Juan del Sur; 505-2/254-7989;
morgansrock.com
El Zaguán Dinner, $15. Calle la
Sirena, Granada; 505-2/552-2522
La Casa de los Nogueras
Dinner, $30. 17 Av. Principal Los
Robles, Managua; 505-2/278-2506;
[email protected]
Convento de San Francisco
1 North
the ruins of an indigo mer­chant’s domain
and converted them into a six-room hotel,
which he opened in 2003. Three blocks
from Los Almendros is Argentine artist
Miguel Martino’s La Casa del Escultor.
A painter and wood and metal sculptor,
Martino also loves to cook. On Sundays
he and his wife transform his studio into
an informal restaurant, with grilled meats
and regional vegetables. At the town’s only
dock on nearby Lake Suchitlán, simple,
open-air boats are available for rent—this
is the best way to see the tens of thousands
of herons, cormorants, ducks, and egrets
that flock here year-round.
Indigo is native to Central
Amer­ica, and El Salvador produces a small
portion of the world’s best. In La
Libertad—20 minutes northwest of San
Sal­vador, by car—Grace Guirola-Séassal,
the daughter of one of the country’s found­
ing families, owns and runs a work­ing
in­digo plantation, the Hacienda San Juan
Buenavista. She recently opened two
rooms in the 500-year-old manor house to
guests, who can take indigo-dyeing courses,
hike through the fields for stunning views
of the Pacific, or just enjoy lazy afternoons
in the hacienda’s cool corridors.
la libertad
Simplemente Madera Calle
Prin­cipal Los Robles, Managua; 5052/276-8840; simplementemadera.com
Libros San Cristóbal To
make an appointment, contact
[email protected]
GUATEMALA
Nim Po’t 1 29 Fifth Av. Norte, An-
Ruinas; 504/651-4245; macaw
mountain.com
Basecamp Copán Ruinas; 504/
651-4695; basecamphonduras.com
tigua; 502-7/832-2681; nimpot.com
Copán Connections
$65–$95. Santiago Atitlán; 502-7/
721-7366; posadadesantiago.com
Sak Nikte’ To arrange a visit, contact [email protected]
Copán Ruinas; 504/651-4182;
copanconnections.com
Quinta Maconda Rooms, $145–
San Bartolo To arrange a visit,
EL SALVADOR
Posada de Santiago Rooms,
$200. 11 Fifth Av. Norte, Antigua;
866-621-4032; quintamaconda.com
Hector Castro Dinner, $12.
contact [email protected]
HONDURAS
Anthony’s Key Resort Rooms,
9A First Calle Poniente, Antigua;
502-7/832-9867
$150–$225. Sandy Bay, Roatán; 800227-3483; anthonyskey.com
Tartines Dinner, $22. 1C Fourth
Hacienda San Lucas Rooms,
Calle Oriente, Antigua; 502-7/
882-4606
$110–$125. Co­­­­­­pán Ruinas; 504/6514495; haciendasanlucas.com
Casa de Artes 11 Fourth Av.
Lodge at Pico Bonito Rooms,
Sur, Antigua; 502-7/832-0792;
casadeartes.com.gt
Cerería Evelia del Pinal
30 Sixth Calle Poniente, Antigua;
502-7/832-0616
Doña María Gordillo 1 11 Fourth
of Plaza de Leones,
Granada; 505-2/552-5535
Calle Oriente, Antigua; 502-7/832-0403
MiMuseo 505 Calle Atravesada, Gra­
La Tienda de Doña Gavi 1 2 Third
nada; 505-2/552-7614; mimuseo.org
Av. Norte, Antigua; 502-7/832-6514
$240–$325. La Ceiba; 504/4400388; picobonito.com
Finca El Cisne 1 Copán Ruinas;
504/651-4695; fincaelcisne.com
La Casa de Todo Av. Los
Sesemiles, Copán Ruinas; 504/6514689; casadetodo.com
Macaw Mountain Bird Park
and Nature Preserve Copán
Hacienda San Juan Buena­
vista 1 Rooms, $120–$150.
Huizucar, La Libertad; 503-2/2491919; azulmaya.com.sv
Los Almendros de San
Lorenzo Rooms, $95–$150.
Suchitoto; 503-2/335-1200;
hotelsalvador.com
Radisson Plaza Hotel Rooms,
$160–$1,000. Colo­nia Escalón,
San Salvador; 503-2/500-0700;
radisson.com
Il Buon Gustaio Dinner, $25.
327 Calle Loma Linda, San Salvador;
503-2/245-1731
La Casa del Escultor 1 Dinner,
$20. Sixth Calle Oriente and Third
Ave., Suchitoto; 503-7/836-7940;
miguelmartino.com
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