Copan to San Salvador

Copan to San Salvador

5/03/2010

Getting back to the boat was relatively easy - we caught the chicken bus to La Entrada, upon alighting we were accosted by a dozen bus hawkers all yelling to try to drown out their opponents encouraging us to get on their bus.  One enterprising fellow entered the bus via the back door and tried to grab my backpack so I would follow him to his bus!!!  We pushed and shoved our way through and when we got on another chicken bus the crowd yelled and slapped the hawker belonging to that bus on the back - he had won this time !!!  Off we went to Santa Rosa de Copan.  From there we were able to catch a fast and direct coach to San Salvador and having arrived earlier than originally thought we did a bit of shopping and caught the local chicken bus back to Bahia de Sol.  That was the undoing of a reasonable day - the local bus had the music at decibels that would shatter glass and heavy metal with lots of bass that permeated through the floor, up through our bottoms and rattled our teeth - 2.5 hrs of that and Don was about to kill someone.  Thankfully the bus was so crowded that he couldn't move.  

The boat was safe and sound when we returned - our friend Jan had become worried about us as we had told her we planned to be away for about a week and it was now 2 weeks - she was going to try and contact us via mobile phone and if unsuccessful contact the embassy - we have never had anyone waiting for us to come back - was kinda nice.  Jan's concern originated from a couple and their young son that never returned to their boat after leaving for a similar trip - they had been killed in a chicken bus crash and it took some time for identification and people to realize they had a boat in El Salvador.

We are now seasoned travelers in Central American countries - if I had to choose one area to visit I would certainly choose Guatamala - I loved the place and the people despite the dire warnings.  If anyone wishes to visit this country may I suggest you take me along as your guide - from the mistakes we have made I would save you so much money that I would be worth my weight in gold (well Quetzals !).  The country is extremely inexpensive to travel through if you wish to do it using local accommodation and local transport - that is the only way if you want to get a feel for the country rather than check out the swimming pools and bars at a large hotel which you could do in Queensland.  You can easily do it under $25 per day.  That includes accommodation, food and travel on local buses.  The shuttle buses are a little more expensive.

I checked out the security factors in Guatamala before we set out - after reading them out to Don each meal time I almost had him worried too.  I suppose it is a case of one bad apple .......

Apparently the thieves watch internet cafes, when they sight a tourist with their own laptop leave the premises they follow them and rob them.  They also target airports and international bus terminals - a taxi from these depots is the only way to go.

Here are some of the comments listed in Embassy websites :-

July 2009  The U.S. Embassy has learned that two separate groups of tourists have been attacked this month while hiking the Acatenango Volcano in Chimaltenango. The circumstances of both attacks are similar: a group of armed gunmen, upwards of six, targeted the groups to rob them of valuables. There was an attempted sexual assault during at least one of the attacks and armed escorts accompanying the tourists were shot in the other. Guatemala continues to experience a significant escalation in the level of violent crime. The U.S. Embassy urges all U.S. citizens to take appropriate precautions.

07 Dec 2009  U.S. citizens are strongly discouraged from transiting outside of Guatemala City after dark and that includes Antigua as well. Keep in mind that abductions, home invasion robberies, burglaries and car-jackings are often preceded by surveillance of the intended victim. Criminals look for vulnerabilities to exploit before they strike, including time/place predictability, therefore you are vulnerable when arriving at and departing from your residence. All U.S. citizens are urged to maintain situational awareness and vary routes and times as much as possible.

In light of the high crime rate in Guatemala and the expected spike in criminal activity during the upcoming holiday season, the U.S. Embassy provides the following personal security guidance. All U.S. citizens are reminded of violent criminal activity along the Carretera El Salvador (Inter-Americana) including homicides, car-jackings

and kidnappings. The overwhelming majority of these crimes take place at night. The Embassy's Security Office strongly discourages travel by U.S. Mission employees along Carretera El Salvador east of kilometer 13 (Colegio Maya) between the hours of 9:00pm and 6:00am.

U.S. citizens are reminded of violent highway robberies along National Route #14 between Antigua and Escuintla, along Route #4 on the south side and west shores of Lake Atitlan between San Lucas Toliman and Chacala, and on Route #11 on the east shore between San Lucas Toliman Embassy of the United States of America

Guatemala City, Guatemala and CA-1. Routes #4 and #11 should be avoided. Embassy personnel have been advised to use CA-1 through Solola when visiting Lake Atitlan.

Virulent rumors of child stealing and murder for organ harvesting continue to be reported in several different areas of Guatemala frequented by American tourists. Frustration over crime and a lack of appropriate judicial remedies have led to violent incidents of vigilantism. In 2007, numerous Guatemalan citizens were lynched for suspicion of child stealing, and three local women who had allegedly facilitated foreign adoptions were attacked by a mob that accused them of kidnapping and killing a girl whose mutilated remains were found near Camotan, Chiquimula (near the Honduran border on the main road leading to the Copan Mayan ruins). In reaction to unconfirmed reports of babies being kidnapped in the El Golfete area of the Rio Dulce (near Livingston, Izabal), residents of small villages in the area remain mobilized and suspicious of all outsiders, including foreigners. Rumors of foreigners stealing Guatemalan children have also surfaced in the area surrounding the Tajumulco Volcano in the Department of San Marcos.

Also in 2007, two foreigners (including an American citizen) and a Guatemalan kayaking on a river near Chicaman, Quiche were accused of stealing children and seized by a 500-person mob (estimated). Although threatened, the individuals were not physically attacked. The incident occurred after the group had been talking and joking with a local boy on the river bank. In Sayaxche, Petén, rumors escalated into mob action against a Guatemalan couple believed to be involved in child stealing. The husband was beaten and burned to death, and the wife threatened, but was eventually turned over to the police. A local American resident was also seized and threatened with death when he tried to intervene with the mob. In the same area, a family of American tourists, along with several Guatemalan motorists, was held overnight at a road blockade for possible use as human shields. Mobs have also targeted police, resulting in delayed or ineffective responses by law enforcement.

The U.S. Embassy has received reports, as recently as March 2009, of restless villagers in the Petén who are suspicious of anyone they believe to be involved in baby kidnapping and organ harvesting.

Avoid close contact with children, including taking photographs, especially in rural areas. Such contact can be viewed with deep alarm and may provoke panic and violence.

Recently a Chinese visitor had stopped to comfort a child that had fallen and was crying - he was shot and killed by the locals on the suspicion of child theft.