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Some 20km west of San Pedro in the Sierra del Merendon, the stunning Parque Nacional El Cusuco (daily 6am-5pm; US$10) supports an abundant range of animal and plant life, much of it rare and threatened. Though inevitably affected by the proximity of human settlement, Cusuco is still a joy to visit and not too difficult to reach from San Pedro. To see as much as possible, the best plan is to arrive in the afternoon, camp overnight and walk the trails early in the morning. The lower reaches of the park have long been settled by humans and were heavily logged during the 1950s, contributing to disastrous floods during the 1970s. Here the mixed pine and broadleaf forest is secondary regrowth. At around 1800m the cloudforest begins, its dense oaks and liquidambars reaching 40m in some places, stacked over avocados and palms, all supporting mosses, vines, orchids and numerous species of heliconias, recognizable by the red or orange brackets holding the blossoms. Studies carried out in the park in 1992-95 revealed the existence of at least seventeen species of plant hitherto unknown in Honduras. Four trails , ranging between 1km and 2.5km, have been laid out among the lower sections of cloudforest (there is no access to the highest, steepest sections of the reserve), taking you through a hushed world of dense, dripping, multi-layered vegetation. If you're incredibly lucky, you might spot the reserve's namesake, the cusuco (armadillo), as well as salamanders, monkeys and even a jaguar, though you're more likely to spot some of the reserve's dazzling range of birdlife: quetzals can be spotted from April to June, and trogons, kites and woodpeckers are among the more numerous of the 100-plus species of bird living here.
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