Tax Breaks in the Cloud Forest

In Honduras you can find lush vegetation and tropical flowers…waterfalls and natural pools…wild birds and some of the world’s largest butterflies… all just 10 minutes from La Ceiba, the third largest city in Honduras, and 10 minutes from white sand beaches.

Does Honduras have white-sand beaches? Certainly. Warm, clear seas? Absolutely.

But Honduras also offers a different kind of natural beauty: the cloud forests of the mainland, where the environment is lush, the wildlife plentiful and fascinating, and the flora exquisite. The aroma of the air here in late afternoon is intoxicating.

Visiting the Honduran cloud forest will change your life…living here will change your lifestyle. Imagine falling asleep to the soft shushing of a waterfall and waking to the peaceful sounds of cicadas and tropical birds. You could spend your days surrounded by the kind of flora and fauna most people only see on the travel channel, including 700 species of butterfly native to Honduras, like Thysania Agrippina--one of the world’s two largest butterflies, and Amphimoea, the butterfly with the biggest proboscis in the world (his mouth, to you and me).

The Honduran government is passionate about maintaining the environment in its natural form wherever possible, but is balancing this with the need for foreign investment. This means you can own a piece of the forest if you build an eco-friendly home or an eco-lodge for visitors. And, since this would technically be a tourist venture, you can apply for a 10-year tax holiday on your property.

I know of one opportunity just minutes away from La Ceiba, with an elevation high enough to see across the channel to the island of Roatan on a clear day. What would you say to over 120 acres of natural forest with flat areas for building, two streams which flow year-round, waterfalls, and naturally formed pools with fresh-water shrimp and fish? Brightly-colored birds including macaws and parrots live in this intricate environment, and so do those bright Honduran butterflies.

This land would be ideal for an eco-lodge with hiking trails, horseback riding, bird watching--even a canopy tour would work well here. Or you could just build your own hideaway for a delightfully secluded life.

There are many places like this on the north coast of Honduras, but this property caught my interest especially for its asking price of only $220,000. That’s less than $2,000 an acre for the kind of pristine forest land which is quickly disappearing from our planet.

Honduras is small enough that you can come for a week and see the diversity of nature without exhausting yourself…better yet, come for two weeks and you might never want to leave.

Janine Goben
For International Living in Honduras

Editor’s Note: Why not plan an itinerary around IL’s first-ever Live and Invest in Honduras Seminar, taking place in La Ceiba, August 18-20? The timing couldn’t be better for you to explore this country. For details, read more here or contact Janine, IL’s local representative, by e-mail at Honduras@internationalliving.com.