Travel Guide Zacapa

This municipality of over 20,000 inhabitants on the right bank of the Río Shutaque is the first major town to be reached from Puerto Barrios, some 170 km away. Although it owes its existence to its location, at the crossroads of the routes to the Caribbean coast and Honduras, its name evokes the delicious Zacapa rum. Voted best rum in the world on several occasions at the International Rum Festival, it was created in 1976. At the heart of a highly fertile agricultural region, it is also renowned for its cheese and tobacco, which has enabled small family-run cigar factories to set up successfully.The town is served daily by Rutas Orientales buses. Nevertheless, it's not worth the detour: there's very little to do here, especially as its hotels are very poor. If you really must, you can take a look at its Parque Central and the Catedral San Pedro, built in 1660. Also, some 8 kilometers to the north on the CA10 is the municipality of Estanzuela and its interesting Museo de Paleontología y Arqueología, free and open daily from 8am to 5pm. Its exhibits include dinosaur skeletons and Mayan artefacts discovered by an American paleontologist in the Motagua river valley.