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La Ceiba, named for an oversized Ceiba tree on the beach that provided shade for dock workers, goes beyond its history as a port city. The laziness of the beach coupled with the full-fire energy of eco-tourism attractions and a wild nightlife scene make Honduras' third largest city perhaps the country's most vivacious. With its international mix of inhabitants, the local culture melds Latin, Caribbean and Afro-Antillean influences. Overall the city is a breeze to navigate, and includes shady parks and the zona viva, a jam-packed street with restaurants and discotecas. The nightlife rises to a head during Carnival week, the last week of May. For this explosive celebration of the town's patron saint of San Isidro, the city's various zones blast
with gigantic parties complete with live bands, local food and plenty of drinking all the way until dawn.
When banana plantations were laid out in the area back in 1899, the city was born. Originally the bustling hub for the Standard Fruit Company, now Dole, astronomical numbers of bananas, pineapples, grapefruits have floated away from these Caribbean shores, but the port has calmer days now as La Ceiba is the company's administrative headquarters instead.
The area's resources now bring those wishing to appreciate more than exploit them. At the magical Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge gaze at jaguars, ocelots, boa constrictors, jaguars, ocelots, boa
constrictors, and howler and white-faced monkeys, or one can simply laze about the beaches of and around La Ceiba. A short drive away, climb up 8,000 ft to the abundant, dripping cloud forest of the Pico Bonito Natural Reserve. Here you can also find rainbows in the streaks of waterfalls, and catch awe-inspiring views of the verdant Caribbean coastline, the deep turquoise waters and the nearby Bay Islands.
The three Bay Islands, as well as their islets and keys, are simply a ferry ride from La Ceiba. The spectacular diving has earned these hilly islands with their white coral sand beaches status as Honduras' top tourist destination. They boast the most varied collection of corals and sponges in the entire Caribbean, and among the crystal waters gentle, unmodest whale sharks float intimately close to divers. The opportunities to commune with natural realms are infinite in the area of La Ceiba.
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