Marcala

Marcala sits at around thirteen hundred metres in La Paz, in country that grows some of the best coffee in Honduras, and the district holds the country's first denomination of origin for its beans. Production is overwhelmingly smallholder and Lenca, organised through cooperatives that handle washing, drying and export, several of which take visitors through the sequence during harvest. The town itself is small and cool, and the surrounding hills are covered in shade-grown coffee.

What you actually see

• The coffee smallholdings - shade-grown plots across the hills, worked by Lenca families.
• The cooperatives - washing stations, patios and drying beds, active in harvest.
• The cupping rooms - tasting and grading at the larger cooperatives.
• The town - a small cool highland centre serving the coffee district.

When to go

December to March is the harvest and the only time the processing is visible. The dry season also makes the roads passable. Outside harvest there is little to see beyond the plantings.

Honest expectations

Cooperative visits are arranged in advance rather than turned up to. The roads to outlying fincas are rough and need a proper vehicle. The town has limited accommodation.

Nearby

La Esperanza is north, and the Cueva del Gigante rockshelter is in the surrounding valleys.