Tegucigalpa Travel Forum

I want to come an stay in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.I have children an worry about how safe the country is. All i keep reading on the internet is how unsafe it is.I am from houston,texas in the us.Can anyone help???

I lived in Tegucigalpa for 7 months and have close friends/family that still live there. Why do you want to stay in Tegucigalpa?

This is not a particularly noteworthing place for travelers and most people tend to travel through as quickly as possible. And no, Tegucigalpa is NOT safe. I usually tell people about common sense and different tips when traveling but this is not a secure place for a number of reasons. There are certain areas that have higher rates of crime than others but there is no real safe "neighbourhood".

1. There are two major gangs in Central America- the Mara 18 and the Mara Salvatrucha and both have a significant presence in Tegucigalpa. While there are certain neighbourhoods that are considered pure gang (e.g. the 18 de Febrero) gang members are omnipresent and often go on public buses demanding money from passengers or even robbing buses and business.
2. There are lots and lots and lots of guns. And weapons. Honduras was one of the only Central American countries in the 1980s that was not involved in a civil conflict and the Americans stationed themselves in Honduras to help train and arm contras and other individuals fighting leftist governments/rebels in Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador. When the wars were "over", the Americans left. And didn't take their weapons with them... so the country is heavilty militarized and most Jane and Dicks carry guns with them or in their cars.
3. Theft, robbery- armed or not is common. I walked downtown every day to get from the place at which my colectivo dropped me off and my place of work which bordered on a nicer neighbourhood with larger homes, businesses, NGOs... I was attacked by a man while walking in broad daylight and in front of a dozen or so people walking on the street or selling food and many more driving by in the cars. They man tried to choke me and at no time, even after he ran off, did anyone try to intervene or ask if I was okay. This is the way it is there and it made me feel even more insecure that I wasn't even fully safe when other people were around in daylight. I was lucky in this case because the man was not armed and was probably just a poor man who tried to take advantage of seeing a young, white girl walking down the street. There are however much more dangerous people out there. Unfortunately, and not to scare you with horrible stories, I know of a girl living with a Honduran family whose daughter was gang raped by 5 gang members, also in broad daylight.
4. Traffic is bad and drivers do not adhere to North American rules of road safety and many don't even pay attention to stoplights etc. Definitely do not drive here- the number one way to die in Honduras is in a car accident.
5. Car jackings are also quite common and there are very few drivers (or people) on the road or even outside after dark (this is around 6 or 6:30 p.m.) I was cooped up in my home behind 10 foot walls, barbed wire and more bars on the windows every day after dark. I only went out after dark if I was with other people and then had a car (with tinted windows). Never take a taxi after dark and try to avoid taking taxis alone even in daylight (colectivos tend to be safer since there are 4 other people in the car, they travel the same route, and the same group of drivers go on the same route on a daily basis).
5. Despite my experience in Tegus, I would go back to visit my "family" there and to do more human rights work as I was doing back then BUT I would not recommend anyone to spend any significant time here unless working or visiting family. It is not a tourist destination and while thousands of Honduran children live in the city (as well as many expat's children) I do not think it is a good place for children at all (since aside from the above mentioned reasons, it is a rather polluted city and there arent many free spaces where children can just run around and be kids unless you are staying somewhere with a big back yard.)

Feel free to ask me more questions if you have them.

well my new huspand is from their an he wants my family to spend time with his. Is the out of town were there are homes with yards safe?Not right in town.I was thinking on staying like 6 months. I am still just thinking at this point.

I agree with Kindra. I had a bad experience too while staying there for just two days. It may surprise you that many businesses such as fast food restaurants (for example, Burger King) and hotels have security guards armed with automatic weapons. In fact, as Kindra already pointed out, a large percentage of the population is armed. Intercity public transportation is not safe either as armed robberies and carjackings occur along Honduran highways. But small towns are usually much safer.