Finca El Eden

Finca El Eden (tel. 504/3345-2833, bertiharlos [at] yahoo [dot] de) is a great budget accommodation run by a German, Berti Harlos, offering backpackers a chance to enjoy the Pico Bonito jungle [1] for not much money. Berti operates a large ranch—with some 40-odd kinds of exotic fruit trees—just off the La Ceiba–Tela road, 32 kilometers from La Ceiba [2] and just before the village of Santa Ana.

The main building houses a full-service restaurant downstairs, Edelweiss (US$3–10 per plate), while upstairs is an open-air champa with floor space for mattresses and mosquito nets (US$8 pp, including purified water). Berti serves the only German beer available in the region, for US$1.50, and fresh juices from the fruit of his own trees.

Berti has also built a small cabin on a nearby hilltop called Mayabell, which also costs US$8 a night to sleep in, plus US$15 if you want to ride horseback to and from. Berti will happily help arrange a variety of other horseback or hiking tours for groups, such as a trip to Cuero y Salado [3].

Getting to Finca El Eden

All the direct buses between La Ceiba [2] and San Pedro Sula [4], except Hedman Alas, will pick up and drop off travelers at Berti’s front door, or you can catch a Santa Ana bus at La Ceiba’s main terminal. From La Ceiba to Santa Ana is US$0.85.