Top Ten Central America Off-the-Beaten-Path Adventures

Santa Maria del Carbon, in Las Montaqas del Carbon National Forest, is a small town inhabited by 1,200 Pech Indians at the base of the El Carbon mountains. An environmental group formed from the Pech tribe, WATA, has constructed a visitor's center and rustic hospedajes with the goal of promoting responsible tourism and environmental awareness. WATA is also working toward the official designation of the area as a Pech anthropological reserve. In addition, a trail has been cleared to the La Cascada waterfall, the headwater of the Ojo de Agua River. This spectacular waterfall is at least 80 meters high and 35 meters wide, dropping out of the cloud forests rising behind the village of El Carbon. El Carbon is located in a frontier zone where pine savanna changes to rain forest. As one ascends the mountains, the rain forest changes to cloud forest and eventually to dwarf cloud forest. This mosaic of forest habitats makes El Carbon a unique site for those interested in birding and observing other wildlife.