Trujillo, Honduras

The privately-owned port of Trujillo, situated in the north east of Honduras on the country's 'Banana Coast', saw its first cruise ship call in 2014. It is being developed to open up new destinations in mainland Honduras to cruise passengers. The town is located on a wide bay and is a natural deep water harbour. It has a beautiful sandy beach, and is of great historical significance as it was the first place where Christopher Columbus made landfall in the Americas. We transferred form our ship by tender then caught another boat for a ride along the coast to visit the Garifuna community at the village of Santa Fe. These villagers were still living as their ancestors did for hundreds of years and we were the first cruise ship to visit their community. They were descended from the black Africans who settled here in the 17th century. They really gave us a warm welcome with the bright costumes, music and dance. We had a tour of the very simple village and saw how they cooked their food and in particular the large round flat bread made from Cassava which is a root vegetable. The local Mayor proudly showed us around and in his office presented us with a large wooden key signifying freedom of the village. A simple but rewarding visit to see this village before it becomes too commercialised.