La Campa

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La Campa is an aldea, or small town, in the Honduran Department of Lempira, located about 18 kilometers by dirt road from Gracias, the largest town in the immediate region. The inhabitants of Gracias, La Campa, and other nearby aldeas, including San Manuel Colohete, are mainly of Lenca descent. Although the aldea is small, there are multiple smaller and spread out satellite communities in the hills above La Campa, such as Cruz Alta. People in these communities refer to La Campa as if it were their nearby city. These communities grow coffee to consume and sell; substance crops of rice, mango, a dozen varieties of bananas, and black beans; and run their own public elementary schools and churches.

The town is known as a center of Lenca pottery production, of which there are two main styles; there are black and white (smoked) pots and red-glazed pots. La Campa's are of the latter style. Much of the pottery sold in La Campa is brought down from the hillside villages, where the villagers are adept pottery makers. The town also has a lovely and large 18th century Spanish church. La Campa sits in a deep river valley near Celaque, the tallest mountain in Honduras.