honduras/el salvador

Tashi,

I lived in El Salvador for three years and based on my experience
living and travelling there I must suggest that you avoid El Salvador
for security reasons. You will find Honduras a bit safer and with many
more tourist attractions (both in and out of the tourist loop).
Nicaragua and Costa Rica (where I currently reside) are by far better
choices for any kind of visitor.

Good luck!

Carlos

> I have no real desire to travel to touristy area like Costa Rica and
> Nicaragua.

Nicaragua touristy? :) Which parts exactly? That's kinda funny.

I agree with most of the list, but my understanding is that Nicaragua is
not touristy, just poor. I am not aware of any major tourist resorts
for Americans in Nicaragua.

I don't think that Panama is overrun by tourists, either, but I think
that it has more tourism than Nicaragua.

Richard


Tashi wrote:
> I thought guatamala,nicaragua, costa rica, belize, mexico, panama were the
> touristy countries there, also the Roatan in Honduras.
>

porter970 wrote:
> > I have no real desire to travel to touristy area like Costa Rica and
> > Nicaragua.
>
> Nicaragua touristy? :) Which parts exactly? That's kinda funny.

Grenada is about it...unless you dive/snorkle and then the Corn Islands
can also be added in as a destination.

Sandi

I have been to Honduras and El Salvador as a tourist for several weeks.

Having traveled in the Americas (US, Mex., Central & South) there are certain
things one can do to make the trip safe.

· Never have either costume or real jewelry on where it can be seen in any way.
· Do not travel at night.
· I usually take different routes back to where I am staying and make sure you are
not followed. ..................Life line residents of El Salvador believe
this is a must.
· Try to blend in as best as possible, use the same clothing styles as the
residents.

Our family that includes a 23 and 25 year old has stayed in some rather budget
location in areas where you never find non-locals. Although they had a single
guard with a shotgun we always ok and had no problems.

Flashy hotels attract thieves and unwanted attention unless you never venture out
on your own.

As per transportation we normally either ride the bus or rent older cars that
blend in. These cars can be found at great savings, one must check them out real
good and make sure that they have the proper paper work to be driven to other
locations and cities and are not local cars only. I have been stopped in the past
for a document check.

Never have a camera out when its not being used, limbs can be lost. In Peru a
resident and a cab driver, scolded me for such an incident in plain broken English
and Spanish,

In San Pedro Zula, my spouse had a gold cross and chain pulled from her neck that
was inside her blouse. Many people know the thieves and its best not to follow
them. The local police told us they would not look for the thief since the items
would not be with them when caught. We were advised to use force to detain the
thief or forget about it.

In the past 30 years of travel in the Americas, the only time I felt unsafe was in
Mexico on a road between the Copper Canyon and Hermosillo, Sonora. Near a remote
town at dusk we passed a group near the start of a town with 2-way radios watching
cars and flashing their lights and saw the same at the other end of the town. We
turned around a stayed in a hotel surrounded with a high chain link fence where a
few tractor trailers had stopped for the night, a safe location.

PS: We are a Spanish speaking family, my spanish is the worst.

Salto