Dangerous Countries: Honduras one of the worst?

The truck pulls up, I jump in and my husband explains quickly……………

“WE NEED TO LEAVE, NOW!”

We were on the beach in Puerto Cortés, Honduras (just over a week ago). The girls and I had just bought minutas – a snow cone. My husband had gone to our vehicle to “check things out.”

Someone was close to our truck and we both thought perhaps something was wrong.

Our gut feeling was correct!

Once we were on the road I was told we had been ROBBED! Even saying that now feels like a dream.

Our things stolen?!! Are you kidding??

How could this be? I mean, when you would never steal from others, it is extremely difficult to wrap your head around the fact that others would do it to you.

Life Lesson

That is a naive way of thinking. Things like this happen all the time and not just in “dangerous countries” either, but everywhere! Anything can happen at anytime – don’t let fear keep you from traveling the world. Travel and travel often!

So your probably wondering what was stolen? First, let’s back up a bit – what had our day been like up until at moment?

We got moving a bit later than we wanted. Our breakfast was really more of a brunch. There was a great place to eat baleadas, and sip on some awesome café in town before taking the girls to the Spanish Fort in Omoa (a 20 min drive from our location). Both my husband & I had been before, but this was the first time for our daughters.

After eating brunch, we headed to the bank. I needed to use the ATM at Banco Atlantida before heading out to Tela early the next morning. I knew my debit card (Capital One) worked at this bank with no fees since I had done it before.

One more errand before we left for Omoa – the pharmacy. My oldest lost our sunscreen earlier in the trip.

Tip: don’t loose your sunscreen! In extremely dangerous countries it can be painful (lots of sun) and very expensive too.

We made it to the the Spanish Fort on an EXTREMELY HOT day! Walked around, took pictures and had fun! Not to mention, we were very sweaty!!

What to do next?

GO TO THE BEACH – in one of the most dangerous countries around the world (some say).

We parked, we changed, we swam and we were ROBBED!

To our good fortune our truck was not one of the things they took.

Items stolen:

• New Canon EOS Rebel DSLR camera (a month old)
• 4 U.S. passports (2 of them had just been renewed for this trip)
• Money (would rather not say, but enough to end our vacation early)
• Dad’s new tennis shoes

The individuals who took our things pulled out the lock with something and opened the door. They had parked a small car behind ours, and a van behind that. We couldn’t see all this from the water, but my husband could see better as he got closer.

Let me stop and take a moment to say, we are very lucky that nothing worse happened. We had our truck and none of us were injured.

A few things I did learn right away

1. This wasn’t the end of the world
2. How to file a Honduran police report
3. How to contact the U.S. Consulate

There are many of you right now that would say, “Honduras is the worst place to travel to. It is one of the most dangerous countries in the world.” I think that is crap! If I am going to base it off headlines like so many others do than Honduras is not the first place I am going to think of.

I am not angry with the country as a whole. I am angry that it happened at all. I am angry that individuals here did something that was wrong. I am angry that many will still blame the entire country for the wrong doings of some.

Let me break a few things down for you

FIRST:

I am angry & frustrated that we had our things taken. I feel violated. The hassle & cost to reapply for our passports is beyond aggravating. It’s wrong to steal, plain and simple. None of us in our family would do that to someone else. However, it does happen often all around the world. Not just in Honduras. I always feel bad because this small country only makes headlines when things are “terrible.” What about the rest of the world? There are good and bad places/things in every country.

SECOND:

I don’t blame the country as a whole for what happened. I blame those who stole our things – No one else. There are so many good and wonderful people here. They shouldn’t carry on their shoulders the wrong doings of others. After living here for 5 1/2 years Honduras is home. There are many beautiful places to see and know. My husband is from here. That means my daughters are form here. Why does our home have to be a terrible place to travel too. We are proud of where we are from – even if many think it is among the many dangerous countries there are.

THIRD:

After this experience I think I have EVERY RIGHT to believe Honduras is a horrible place to live in (or travel to). Yes, I said live in. I am proud to have raised my 3 daughters here for many years (more details in the future). In fact, when my oldest was not even 2 I sent her with her abuela for the first time to visit for 3 months. If I ever thought my daughters would be living in such a terrible place I would have never done it. They are my first priority – always!

(I made sure my snow cone was vegan. We never got to eat them after rushing off 🙁 )

For a long time I have wanted to say how sorry I am that Honduras gets such a bad rap for being one of the most dangerous countries. Truthfully, there are some places here that I don’t feel safe. Also, there are always precautions one needs to make – I always have. I would be a liar if I said anything different. I also would be lying if I said I feel safe in all the places in the U.S.A (where I am from).

Do I blame Honduras for being one of the most dangerous countries? ABSOLUTELY NOT! The criminals are out there – I hope they will be found & punished.

There is so much I have learned from my time here, in the past and now with this new life/travel experience. I am always learning new things. That is good.

Please keep an eye out for travel tips on what we should have done different while in Puerto Cortes. No matter how careful you are there is always something different you can do. I believe these tips will help with all sorts of travel in the future.

Have you been robbed while traveling? Perhaps you have skipped over visiting Honduras because of negative headlines?

I would love to hear from you! Please share your experiences in the comments below 🙂