Travelling in Honduras

I will be in Honduras for 18 days in a few weeks, flying into San Pedro Sula from London via Houston. Will spend

most time in Utila in the Bay Islands but also going to Copan Ruinas and a few other places. Honduras has a bad

reputation for street crime (and worse!) and I'm a bit worried about waving an expensive camera around, particularly

with white lens attached. I wondered whether to just take 5D and 24-105 and my scruffy Billingham bag which may

not be taken for a camera bag. I may even restrict myself to an Oly 8080.

 

I was in Costa Rica and Nicaragua a few years back with no worries at all, but I think Honduras is quite a bit edgier

(poorer?) than CS.

 

Anyone been to Honduras and have thoughts on this?

I think the Bay Islands and Copan are reasonably safe (at least during the day). I hired a taxi for a couple of hours to take me around to the 4 or 5 key sites in SPS. The price was very reasonable for the taxi and I felt very comfortable doing photography at each site visited though I kept the camera in the bag between shots. If you are worried about the white lens, just get a can of black spray paint! GJ

I have been all over Honduras and felt much safer than in most American cities, especially Newark and Detroit. Your camera is insured if it stolen and this is most likely to happen if you leave it in a accessible camera bag in your hotel room.

 

A camera bag with a large flap, like the LowePro Stealth Reporter style bags make it harder for pickpockets to get inside the bag while you are on the street. It also can't hurt to leave the flashy watch, etc. at home when traveling around in a country where the average worker earns less than $100 a month, if only out of courtesy for the people of a country that has been ruthlessly exploited by American corporations for the last 100 years.

 

I believe in hiring a driver/guide/translator when traveling in countries such as this as you can go off the beaten path, check reservations, help in local markets, arrange special personalized tours, and so forth. In Honduras you will find one person in 100 who speaks any English and the "Spanish" is not what you learned in school so the driver/interpreter is quite useful.

 

The only photographers I know who have had equipment stolen have been wedding photographers working at American hotels. So if you want to be fearful or especially cautious these are the placed where it is more appropriate.

I lived in Hondursa for a few years, in SPS and Trujillo. I went back to vivit a few years ago to Trujillo, unfortunately gang bangers expelled from LA have returned and have ruined some peacefull little places. We would walk home in Trujillo at 3AM, the only "bother" would be somebody taht asked for a light. Those times have sadly passed.

 

I also went to few times to Las Ruinas, by bus, car. The country used to be more fun to explore, but it remains inexpensive and rather close by plane. Roatan is pretty nice, but if you can spend a weekend in Trujillo, go for it. The road up to the old radar site is a great hike. I used to see ocelots, snakes, toucans, monkeys and plenty of beer there. Somewhere, I have pictures of the radar taken from the Hondutel tower taken at night, after a wet slippery climb up the scaffold. There was a "watchman" last time I was there, he made some coffee. I caught a ride up the road with a Hondutel tech, but it's a great hike from the Villa Brinkely. Watch out for snakes on the road, I've seen 12 foot boas, Tamagaz Verdes, to a bunch more.

I'm going to bump this thread as I'm going to be going to Honduras in Feb '09 for a week and a half.

 

Nigel, how did your trip go with your gear? Any issues? problems at airports? etc?

 

Thanks!

 

Cheers,

Sid