These two connected Miskito towns sit on a thin strip of land between the Laguna de Ibas and the Caribbean. If it weren't for the grassy airstrip, often used for soccer games or grazing horses, you wouldn't realize you had left one town and entered the next. Both places are extremely laidback and undeniably pleasant. Flowering bushes and fruit trees decorate the colored little plank-board houses with neat little yards. They are carved out of the fields, mangroves, and forests, and connected by a web of footpaths and one sandy road that runs parallel to the beach. Raista is slightly more compact and has a greater concentration of trees and shade than Belén. A growing number of tour options, proximity to Las Marías, a steady number of incoming flights, and better boat traffic have recently made these tiny villages the center of tourism in La Mosquitia.
Facilities here are still quite rustic. Electricity runs only part of the day and via personal generators at some houses at other times. There are just a few basic comedores and little shops with basic supplies, all of which are run out of family homes.
