From Mangrove Bight, a dirt road heads southeast past an unused airstrip and across a low point in the interior of the island to Savannah Bight, about an hour away through mosquito-filled pasture land. Rooms are often available for rent in Savannah Bight, which has frequent boat service to Bonacca Town, especially in the mornings.

Not far outside of Mangrove Bight is the town of Mitch, a small community that sprang up where some of Mangrove Bight’s homeless pitched tents after the 1998 hurricane of the same name.

About halfway between Mangrove Bight and Savannah Bight, you’ll pass Marble Hill, an anomalous, tree-covered outcrop on the west side of the road. On the far side of the hill is the largest known pre-Columbian ceremonial site on the Bay Islands, Plan Grande. The site was mapped in the 1930s before being completely pillaged of its pottery and jade artifacts and destroyed.

Little remains of either the ceremonial site or a large residential complex nearby, but locals will take a visitor to poke around for a fee. The Instituto Hondureño de Antropologia e Historia (IHAH) is planning a serious excavation at the site, but moving slowly. The road between Mangrove Bight and Savannah Bight offers good views of the mountains in the center of the island.

For the industrious, a trail leads from the western end of Mangrove Bight up a small valley, over a peak, and down the other side to Sandy Bay, on the south side of the island. The summit of the 412-meter peak is flat and reportedly a good spot for camping. Needless to say, the views from the top are stunning. Fresh water can sometimes be found, but it’s best to bring enough for the whole trip, which could be done in a long day. The walk is longer than it may look, due to several high valleys not visible from below that must be crossed.