Ziplining in Parque Nacional Pico Bonito, Rio Cangrejal, Honduras

Honduras has been one hell of a roller coaster ride for me. After the madness of diving in Utila, surviving the world’s most dangerous city San Pedro Sula and exploring ruins and birds in Copan, it was time to actually chill out in the awesome national parks at Rio Cangejal. Or was it? What was going to be a chilled out time could have been so much more crazy – I was offered white water rafting, hiking, kayaking and zip lining!! But with a tight schedule ahead, a load of travel writing to catch up on, I only had time and energy for one of them, so naturally I chose the one I hadn’t done before – zip lining!! Well I did a bit of hiking and swimming too…

Organising Zip Lining in Rio Cangrejal

I was staying with local travel expert and author John Dupuis, who owns a truly incredible lodge in Rio Cangrejal. If you ever want to head to Honduras, make sure you stay here – you will love the views, the relaxation and the tranquility of it. John’s place is called La Villa de Soledad and we stayed for two nights here. After a great breakfast and well needed Honduran coffee, we headed down the main road that runs alongside the Rio Cangrejal.

To organise the zip lining you just turn up on the day to a place called Jungle River Lodge. They run a company there called Jungle River Tours and they can do all sorts of fun things, the main ones being the zip lining and the white water rafting. The ziplining costs $40 US Dollars per person (plus tax) so it’s not cheap, but it’s a great activity!

I meet Oscar the owner and my two zipline guides for the day – Juan Carlos and Santos. We get our gear on immediately and are ready to go! It’s about 11am.

First up we are given a demonstration and a practice bit of ziplining. We get our helmet on and our harnesses and gloves. All set.

Then the first big zipline is epic – we cross the Rio Cangrejal and the views and thrill is immense. Basically left hand on the links and right hand on the zipline – push right to turn back right, push left to turn back left. Squeeze your right hand to brake – you really only need to brake at the end.

Eight more ziplines follow and here are some photos from them…

The ziplining isn’t just about ziplining though!! Here is a total run down in point form of what happens on the zipline tour, you’ll love the random extras thrown in!:

– There are a total of 9 separate ziplines

– We see snakes and frogs

– We see a rubber tree. Hit it with a stone and this white substance comes out, once that dries, we have rubber!

– We see a waterfall. There is also a 2 – 3 hour hike to another waterfall (we didn’t do that one).

All along the way, the guides can speak in either English or Spanish to you to explain the nature of the forest. The entire zipline experience stretches further than just flinging yourself on metal wires across a jungle, it’s pretty insightful, and even has moments of comedy…

Another major reason I’m writing about this, is because Honduras gets some bad publicity for the wrong reasons and doesn’t deserve it. At it’s heart Honduras is a country of gorgeous national parks, uncovered gems and intellectual people. It’s also nice to note that Panny and I toured the country and stayed in places like San Pedro Sula, Rio Cangrejal and Tegucigalpa. Those places are the ones most travellers avoid in favour of the over hyped touristy Copan and Utila (yes I went to both as well). But seriously, break out of that vibe and head to La Ceiba and Rio Cangrejal. You’ll love it.

Here are my videos from the entire Ziplining Tour: