For an offbeat adventure, a jaunt up the dusty roads to the colonial mining town of El Corpus is a worthwhile day trip while in southern Honduras. During the colonial era, the town became the center of one of the richest mining regions in the country, and some mines in the surrounding hills still operate. The colonial church is currently being restored, and one old mine is located directly behind it.

No formal hotels operate in the small town, but you can find inexpensive and basic lodging if you ask around. One comedor selling fried chicken and tortillas is just off the main square, next door to the Tigo business, and there are a number of pulperías.

The cobblestone streets and colonial architecture are reason enough to see El Corpus, but the surprisingly lush countryside all around the town adds to its feel of being an oasis in the dry Choluteca plain. Many paths lead up into the hills, including to a viewpoint where you can see out over the Golfo de Fonseca, into Nicaragua, and sometimes as far as El Salvador.

Two particularly good hikes are to Cerro Calaire, 2–3 hours away, or a longer hike via the aldea of Agua Fría to Cerro Guanacaure. From the top of Cerro Guanacaure, covered with a sort of dry tropical forest, hikers have great views over the volcanoes of Nicaragua and the Golfo de Fonseca. Agua Fría is a two to three-hour hike from El Corpus, and the mountaintop is another hour or two farther. Locals will be happy to point the way.

Getting to El Corpus

The turnoff to El Corpus is from the new loop road between the exits to San Marcos Colón and to Guasaule. The bumpy dirt road to El Corpus is 15 kilometers long. Buses to Choluteca leave every hour 5:30 a.m.–6:30 p.m. for the hour-long ride, charging US$1.

It’s possible to take a bus directly to Agua Fría from Choluteca—they leave from Campo Cabaña near the Mercado Viejo, usually at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. daily (and charge US$1.50), but during the rainy months or if one of the buses happens to be out of service, there is just one bus at noon. Unfortunately, the only bus back to Choluteca from Agua Fría leaves early in the morning and there are no hotels, but you can likely find a villager willing to put you up for the night if needed.

If traveling by car, head out of Choluteca on the Panamericana toward San Marcos de Colon. At the large roundabout at the edge of town, take a right, heading south toward Guasaule, and you will see the turnoff for El Corpus shortly thereafter. It doesn’t take more than half an hour to get from the center of Choluteca to El Corpus by car.