Catacamas
Encyclopedia
Catacamas, Honduras is the largest municipality in Central America in terms of area.

Catacamas, the "Florida City" as called by the great poet and writer Olanchano Froylán Turcios, extends over a vast plain irrigated by the Rio Guayape in the heart of the luxuriant department of Olancho.

Easily accessible by paved road, 210 km north-east of Tegucigalpa, Catacamas has historically been characterized by their hospitality, resilience and progressive spirit of its people and its nature, suitable for agricultural and forest production.

It is a very attractive city located in a valley 450 meters above sea level. The lush North White Stone Mountain, part of Agalta Mountains National Park, is located here and is home to a variety of botanical species such as conifers, broadleaf plants, some 80 varieties of orchids and numerous wildlife including cats and quetzals.

To the north and west are the mountains "Cerro de la Cruz" and the hill "El Cuartel", among others, where you achieve the best panoramic views of the city, including the sports center and cultural park "Ramón Díaz López”.

Approximately five km to the east of Catacamas, one can find the world famous Talgua Caves (Cuevas de Talgua) discovered in 1935. A recent discovery in the caves is that of the "Glowing Skulls," Pech Indian skeletons from approximately three thousand years ago.

About 6 km to the south of Catacamas runs the Guayape gold, which forms the river Guayambre Patuca, the largest river in Honduras, after Segovia. Between the two is the Cordillera Entre Ríos, belonging to the Municipality of Catacamas.

Catacamas and Olancho have many characteristics in common: they are the municipality and the largest department of Honduras. Catacamas’ area is 7228.5 square kilometers.

The city of Catacamas is located between 14°, 54', 04" north latitude and 85°, 55', 31", Meridian Grenwich. Gualaco lies to the north, St. Esteban and Dulce Nombre de Culmí to the south with Patuca and Las Trojes, to the east, Dulce Nombre de Culmí and the department of Jinotega, Nicaragua, and west to Santa María del Real, San Francisco de Becerra and Juticalpa.Portal Virtual de Negocios

It is to the south of Dulce Nombre de Culmí
Dulce Nombre de Culmí
Dulce Nombre de Culmí is a municipality in the east of the Honduran department of Olancho, south east of San Esteban and north east of Catacamas. The Ríos Wuampú and Culmí pass through this municipality....

 and San Esteban
San Esteban, Olancho
San Esteban is a municipality in the north east of the Honduran department of Olancho, west of Dulce Nombre de Culmí, east of Gualaco and north of Catacamas....

, to the north of Patuca
Patuca
Patuca is a municipality in the south of the Honduran department of Olancho, east of Juticalpa and south of Catacamas. It contains the Patuca River which is the second largest in Central America.-External links:*...

, and to the east of Juticalpa
Juticalpa, Olancho
Juticalpa is the capital of Olancho Department in Honduras. Situated in a broad river valley alongside the Rio Juticalpa, the town is the commercial center for much of Olancho's ranching and agricultural economy.-Geography:...

. The Talgua River
Talgua River
The Talgua River or Río Talgua is a river in the Catacamas of Honduras....

 runs to the east of the town, before joining the Guayape.

The Catholic Church "San Francisco de Asis" is one of the main focal points in the town, and sits in front of the municipal building. At the center of Catacamas township is the Parque Central, a focal point of town life.

Villages within Catacamas municipality include El Esquilinchuche
Esquilinchuche
El Esquilinchuche is a small village in the municipality of Juticalpa, Olancho, Honduras.-Topography and access:El Esquilinchuche sits on a low rise that forms the banks of the flood plain of the Guayape river that lies approximately 2 kilometers to the south during the dry season, but comes to...

 on the banks of the Guayape
Guayape
Guayape is a municipality in the west of the Honduran department of Olancho, west of Salamá, south of Yocón and north of Concordia.Guayape, Is Divided Into Three Huge Territories.Some even covering the river....

 river.

Infrastructure

In the recent years Catacamas has changed its appearance regarding street paving the urban area. A lot of streets were paved and there are plans to continue the paving of new streets and boulevards.

Rural roads have been paved so that the mobilization of products has become much more comfortable, for example: The route between the municipalities of Dulce Nombre de Culmí and Catacamas. This drive now only takes 45 min. in private vehicle.

Road and aerial infrastructure:

The highway to the capital is paved the entire way with a lot of pot-holes (Catacamas – Tegucigalpa 210 km; aprox. 4 hours ride) which connects to Sand Pedro Sula (Catacamas – SPS 545 km) and to the north coast. The road to Dulce Nombre de Culmi (Catacamas – Culmi 40 km) is dirt but is passable year round. In June 2011 a new airport should be opened in Aguacate, some kilometers in direction to Culmí.

Water and sanitation:

Two oxidation ponds in use with one more in the planning stages. Dump where solid waste is burned. Solid waste burial dump in planning. Water sanitation plant that is not in use.

Communication:

Telephone: Fixed telephone service provided by Hondutel; four cellular providers: Tigo, Claro, Digicel, Olanchocel.
Television: Two cable television providers: Telecab and Cavicab; 5 local television stations: canal 30, canal 9, canal 21, canal 33, canal 40.
Radio: 15 local radio stations and 1 national station (radio América).

Energy:

An electric substation is under construction that will considerably better the energy service which is currently lacking due to increasing demand.

Health:

Catacamas is served by several health centers. Predisan, a Christian mission established in 1986, has a family health center offering out-patient surgical care in Catacamas, CEREPA addiction treatment center in Catacamas, and six public health clinics. One clinic, Bella Vista, is in a barrio of Catacamas, and five are in the Sector Three mountain area east of Catacamas. The mountain clinics are operated in conjunction with the Honduran Secretary of Health. Predisan is a non-profit organization chartered in Honduras and is supported by Predisan-USA, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization in the United States.

A public health center offers maternity services.

Ward and emergency services:

A private, Catholic hospital is currently under construction.
A public hospital is being solicited.Portal Virtual de Negocios

University:

The Universidad Nacional de Agricultura UNA (National Agriculture University) is also located in Catcamas.

Economy

Catacamas is a town rich in dairy, meat and basic grains. Of the three sectors of the municipality: Primary (Agriculture, Livestock), Secondary (Industry) and Tertiary (Services and Trade), the last produces 45 percent of the gross value of production (GVP).

But the town is still dominated by its productive rural areas. The growing productive sub-sector has a gross production value of over 1.9 billion Lempiras annually. The main agricultural products include beans and corn as well as coffee and cassava. The main industrial products are the production of milk, sand blocks, sewing and breads. (Data source: PDEM Catacamas, 2007 y Base de Datos del Dpto. Control Tributario Municipalidad de Catacamas 2009).

(1)The construction sector, for example, has been strengthened with new projects of subdivision/development. Many of the houses and land are bought by originating Catacamans living abroad or through their relatives.

(2) Another growth area is tourism. Recently, a public private table implemented activities that strengthen this sector according to a common strategy of the municipalities Santa María del Real and Dulce Nombre de Culmí, supported by the German Cooperation. Currently, we are working on the design of eco-tourism routes and in training for service providers (tour guides, restaurants, hotels, etc.).

(3) Another innovative process is the certification of several coffee farms in the region with the Rainforest Alliance Certificate which is a certificate for sustainable coffee production. The certification can achieve better prices for coffee while preserving the environment.Portal Virtual de Negocios

Talgua caves

Among the area's most famous tourist attractions are the Talgua caves
Talgua caves
Talgua Cave, , is a cave located in the Olancho Valley in the municipality of Catacamas in northeastern Honduras. The misnomer “The Cave of the Glowing Skulls” was given to the cave because of the way that light reflects off of the calcite deposits found on the skeletal remains found there...

, also known as "The Cave of the Glowing Skulls," is located a couple miles north-east of Catacamas. The caves were used as a burial site by the native peoples, and over time, the bones left there were covered by the calcite dripping from the ceiling Radiocarbon testing indicated that the burials were made around 900 B.C., well before the rise of the Maya and other civilizations. The ossuary
Ossuary
An ossuary is a chest, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the skeletal remains are removed and placed in an ossuary...

chamber was discovered in 1994 by a Peace Corps Volunteer named Timothy Berg, along with two Catacams locals named Desiderio Reyes and Jorge Yánez, and research is still being conducted in the area.

External links

  • http://www.holancho.com
  • http://www.calstatela.edu/academic/anthro/harvest.htm
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