Francisco Morazán

Santa Lucía and Valle de Ángeles lie one after the other on the road that climbs north-east out of Tegucigalpa, both former silver-mining towns of the colonial era, higher and cooler than the capital. Santa Lucía, the nearer, is a hillside village of whitewashed houses with red-tile roofs, steep lanes and an old church, with views back over the pine-covered valley. Valle de Ángeles, a little further on, is larger and livelier: cobbled streets around a central square and church, and shops and stalls selling the crafts of the region — carved wood, leather, ceramics and paintings. Weekends bring families out from the capital; a weekday morning is quieter.

La Tigra National Park protects the cloud forest on the mountains just north-east of Tegucigalpa: tall trees hung with moss, ferns, bromeliads and orchids, often wrapped in mist. Trails start from two entrances — Jutiapa on the western side, reached from the capital through El Hatillo, and El Rosario on the eastern side, above the old mining town of San Juancito. Paths of different lengths lead into the forest, one of them to a waterfall. Birdwatchers come for the forest birds, the resplendent quetzal among them, though a sighting is never certain.

Ojojona lies south of Tegucigalpa, on the other side of the capital from the hill towns of the north-east: a quiet colonial village of adobe houses, cobbled streets and old churches. It is known for its pottery, and clay pieces made in the village are sold around the square. It makes a calm half day of its own.