NWGratefulDiver:
Not really ... when I travel I will opt for a bus or train (in places like China, Taiwan, and Indonesia) in order to get a better feel for what the place is really like. Sure, it presents some additional risks ... but if some of us are willing to accept that for the experience.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
What I meant by that was: They were taking a bus to La Ceiba to (board a plane to) go diving...
from where???
From the story, it must be assumed that they were on a
non-SCUBA jaunt around the mainland, and I don't think any of the articles
(Without lending a note of factuality or credence to any news source account) mentioned where the incident occurred. One may fly from the North into LaCeiba, but getting there by bus means you were out in the sticks sightseeing.
My days of side trips in Central America are over. I have had that adventure during the 70's and 80's. I fly down to dive in my doddering years.
The exposures are indeed real, as other posters have mentioned. There are some pretty much unavaoidable locales that you have to deal with as you "gateway" to SCUBA backrolls...
This list may run the gamut from "be watchful" or "be aware of certain neighborhoods and times of day" to "take an armed escort". In this South/Central America forum & the Caribbean the "gateway city" list might include:
Trinidad (
not Tobago)
Caracas (
not Los Roques)
Quito (
not Galapagos)
Belice City (
not the atolls)
Nassau (
not the outer islands)
Honduras (
not the Bay Islands)
Once again, lest anyone be ruffled, not all of the above are equal, nor is your mere appearance in these cities any guarantee that you will be violated. Just as in the US or and (so called) civilized place, maybe even Canada, you can really get into some deep puppy-poop in the bat of an eye. Try not to bat your eye!
Tourists (and in this case, lower economic class bus riders) make most excellent targets of opportunity. They come neatly packed into a handy container; your criminal activity is well obscured by normal goings-on within and around the bus; your victims are seated tightly and unable to access weapons or position themselves for resistance without being obvious; your targets are unarmed because of their socio-economic or non-citizen status; the targets are likely transporting merchandise or cash because they have the family stash for a shopping trip; they/you are not locals or known to each other.
All in all, robbing busses is a national sport. This isn't much different than the wild- west robbing of stage coaches. "Why do you rob banks? Because that's where the money is!"
Many visitors from the North are alarmed by the Guards posted in front of stores and banks with drab uniforms and 12 gauge pump shotguns, sittting on wooden chairs throughout the night. You figure it out. What's the response time of the Cops to an unreliable telephone alarm system
versus the cost per hour of having a guy sit in front of your shop/bank and watch the goods. Do not be afraid of these guys, it is the rough equivelant of having a Texan with a concealed carry card in your midst. Everything is going to be o.k. (If they do have cause to engage a
Ladron (robber) in a gun battle, you might want to duck- They aren't real well trained in marksmanship or tactics, but then again, they don't have to be all that good because the Guard from the next block will be by to 'get some' if he hears some commotion)
In the (not so) old days, TACA would tell us that we were scheduled to land in Roatan at 16:45 hrs on any given Saturday. Any idiot knew that wasn't true. Sunset was at 16:33 and RTB airport had no lights. Wasn't going to happen. TACA knew you were headed elsewhere!
Surprise! At 16:00 hrs, just as we should have been descending over Belice to approach Roatan, they would (or sometimes not) announce that we were being diverted to El Salvador. (That they would make no further announcements or expalnations is an entirely different story, more about TACA than anything related to this thread)
They would pack us into comfy busses at El Salvador airport and schlepp us through the dark mountain highway to the big city where we would be hosted at the fabulous 5* Intercontinental Hotel and then be dragged back for the daylight flight into Roatan. S.O.P., all the time.
Some folks noticed and were quite alarmed by the pickup truck full of aremd guards that preceed us on that 25 mile journey into the darkness. You couldn't convince your fellow travellers that this was
indeed a good thing , and it
certainly wouldn't have made them feel any better if they had seen the same kind of guards
following us in another pickup truck.
It's a different way of life, run by a different meter. In the US we accept law enforcement's role being that of taking reports for filing insurance paperwork after an incident. In other countries, "Homie don't play dat".
Do not be afraid of the guards, they are placed there and paid for by the guys that make money from your presense. Many islands have yet an additional level or layer of law enforcement called "Tourist Police". Trust me, they aren't there to bust you for drinking or tell the beach bunnies to put their tops back on.
Be safe by being smart. If you want Disneyland, stay in Springfield or watch the Travel Channel. If you want to accept the risk and rewards of leaving your house and home,
the adventure is endless!
