Garifuna Tours guide Mario Mier knows just how to find a quick snack when leading vacationers on a hike through the tropical forest of Honduras’ Punta Sal National Park.

Mier will seek out one of the tall trees in the humid setting that attracts termites, scoop some off and eat them, assuring giggling visitors that the insects – which are high in protein – taste like carrots.

Tourists are then invited to do likewise, with most apparently squeamish and declining, although Mier notes that there are usually one or two adventurous sorts in each group who take up his offer.

And, says Mier, termites are only some of the creatures visitors can expect to see on the half-day trip to Punta Sal -- one of a number of excursions his company offers -- which fronts the Caribbean and is near the town of Tela, which Conquest Vacations will send people to this winter.

Groups of up to 60 monkeys may be spotted and they’re always a crowd pleaser, he reports. “People have different types of likes. But it’s usually the monkeys that catch their attention the most.”

Punta Sal -- reputed to have played host to famed pirate Henry Morgan, who frequented Honduran waters -- is home to howler monkeys, famous for their calls that can be heard from far away.

Crabs are also found on shore, with Mier reporting that he had one “walk right over my feet.”

Pelicans are among other Punta Sal inhabitants and dolphins may be spotted by Garifuna Tours clients while they travel to and from the park by boat.

There are only two families now living in Punta Sal, with those families serving beach lunches of fish and beans and rice – typical food for the Garifunas, whose ancestors settled on coastal Central America long ago from Caribbean islands and who today have a distinctive culture -- to Garifuna Tours clients.

Snorkelling off that beach and viewing the coral found there is also part of the half-day tour.

Mier likes to give his guests the lowdown on a number of uses for Punta Sal insects and vegetation, with almonds making tasty treats, and area residents, for instance, using coconut seeds to make a type of wine.

And of course, there are those termites, with one recent daring tourist accepting Mier’s invitation to try them.

The visitor’s verdict?

“Tastes like carrots.”

Go to www.garifunatours.com for more.