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 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 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.

Getting to Finca El Eden

All the direct buses between La Ceiba and San Pedro Sula, 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.