Is backpacking in central America dangerous?

Hello Monica 😊

Whether it is dangerous or not depends a lot on what you do.
I would avoid walking between villages. Take public transport or a horse.
Also it is wise to avoid wandering around the streets as much as possible after dark.
Also avoid areas in cities which have a bad reputation.
Avoid any shows of wealth such as camreas, jewelery..... Dont even wear fake jewelery that could be mistaken for real.
Put a relatively small amout of money in the purse you will take out when paying for things. Keep the rest in various places on your body. Robberies are not unheard of so dont keep all your money in one place on your body. If somebody wants to rob you hand over some of it right away to get rid of them.

I suggest you get a copy of the Lonely Planet book for whichever country you are planning to go to. I find the safety instrucions in the Lonely Planet helpful and accurate. These guides are availabe in most bookshops around the world for around 30 Euros.

Mel Reply to this

Here are a few threads that may be of interest to you Monica.

Central America



Central America



Central America
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if somebody comes to antigua guatemala, call me here is my phone number, .
i got an extra room and a lot of space....

take care

Hugo Pappa

people who loves people

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I have a question...my 25 year old sister is going backpacking to ALL of Centra America for one month, but she is ALSO bringing her 4 year old soon. So it will just be her 4 year old and her going. Any suggestions as far as safety is concerned? Any thoughts on this will be greatly appreciated! Reply to this

If your sister is going to travel alone with his soon, the best thing to do is to be informed about all the places that she is going to be, because there are a few turistic places where is too dificult to bewith a child, and remember that she has to always be prepare, and ask if the places are secure, for sure in central america there are a lot of places dangerous but she has to be in the turistic areas when all the time are turistic police. Reply to this

A reply to a reply:

Should I take extra precautions beeing a girl?
Yes. Men in Central America often have the idea that foreign women are ''easier'' than the local women. Dress and behave in a way that does not encourage them to think it about you.
***The reason for this is the Hispanic culture is very conservative, women dont leave their homes until they are married and in many cases married couples live with their parents and for this reason, when they younger Hispanic population sees foreign women visiting their cities, clubs and bars, they see they tend to "let loose" and just have a good time. This of course does not necessarily mean anything other than a difference of culture but yes, I agree with Mell, this misconception can be a bad thing, if youre at a club or bar alone at night and somewhat tipsy, otherwise you should have no problems whatsoever. I would be more concerned about taking taxis alone and drunk, at 3 am or camping by yourself in isolated areas, that sort o thing.***

I am traveling with my boyfriend, but I am still really nervous for rapists, kidnappers and violent robbers. Have you heard of any of these things happening to backpackers in these areas? where?
Yes violent robberies sometimes happen. Be careful. See my last post. I think kidnappings and rapes are not as common especially if you take the safety precaution of not wandering around isolated areas. The only place I heard of where kidnappings are in any way common is in Colombia.
*** Colombia, Guatemala, possibly Nicaragua and El Salvador are the countries which I would be most careful in but when I say this, its geared more towards people that tend to travel into the jungles by themselves and stumble upon guerrillas or this sort of thing. Average tourist that stay in populated areas usually have nothing to worry about.***

Is it safe to use the local buses?
Yes. I used them all the time when I was in Central America without incident and I did not hear of others having trouble. The only dangers where this is concerned were that I was there during the rainy season when the roads along the mountain sides sometimes corrode, the drivers drive a bit too fast and recklessly and in some places they have those old school busses from the US with threadbare tires.
***Just make sure the bus is NOT empty, some of the bus drivers can they themselves be somewhat shady, especially at night. Dont take buses alone or with one or two people... this can be dangerous and I know first hand from a past experience.***

Is fake or corrupt police common in any of the countries in CA?
I dont know if there are fake ones but I would still stay well away from them. From stories I heard they can be scarier than the criminals.
***Due to drug activity and the sex slave trade in South America, there are plenty of corupt officials all over, people who are paid by the mob or drug cartels and in many cases they will take advantage of this with foreigners. Most often though, all they are looking for is a "mordida" which is a bribe. If you get pushed around by a cop or something to that effect, easiest way out of it is to just ask "is there a way we can figure this out?" and the cop will usually respond "well how much cash do you have on you?"
This is usually all they are after. Although once again, as I mentioned before, be careful, use common sense and dont travel alone, dont travel late at night drunk, and dont wave your purse around to let others know you have cash. Be smart an youll be just fine.***

I wish the person that originally asked the questions would reply with her experience to let the knew ones know exactly how it went. Reply to this

quoting nightshadow ***Colombia, Guatemala, possibly Nicaragua and El Salvador are the countries which I would be most careful in but when I say this, its geared more towards people that tend to travel into the jungles by themselves and stumble upon guerrillas or this sort of thing. Average tourist that stay in populated areas usually have nothing to worry about.***

f...that dude....... there is no guerilla in guatemala... maybe you should think and read before saying or posting somethig like that
other thing if u dont like it dont come..... simple.....
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It is dangerous in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and very much so in my own city, Dallas. Is Central America dangerous? It may be a little dangerous. If it was Europe, you wouldn't be able to get through the tourist lines, so in my opinion maybe it is a good thing that it has been touted as dangerous and we should thank the federal websites for the write ups warning against instant death because their effort is certainly helping keep tourism down.

I know it was strange for me, being in my mid 50's and invited to my parent’s home when I announced I would be traveling to Central America for an extended tour. The looks on their faces reeked of this being our family's "last supper". I told my wife that this family dinner felt like a funeral, my own and it made me think how few people get to take notes as they attend their own funeral. As I sat there, the long faces were saying goodbye to me with looks saying it was the last time they would ever see me.

During my driving tour through Mexico, certain things stuck in my mind. How quickly all my pre-conceived notions of Mexico melted away. Strangely, I somehow felt "at home" here. There was such a warm feeling from the people of Mexico. Mexico had changed. There were no "lazy guys" in sombreros leaning on street-side shacks but instead a very westernized society of people moving at a rapid pace, and in fact honking at the slow-driving guy in the old truck and at the same time giving me wide birth to reduce the possibility of my old truck scratching their shinny new cars. The restaurants were full of louder cell phone conversations than I had ever remembered back home. But as different as “normal” Mexico was from “Mexico by the beach” and as much as it wasn't what I had imagined at all, I still fell in love with it.

I still remember the lady who leaned down and whispered in my ear at the flamenco guitar concert in San Miguel de Allende, "hon, my friend had a friend who got shot in Antigua; I'd skip Guatemala if I were you". What a great thing to say to a stranger who had just announced plans to attend a Xela Spanish school and a great thing to begin a highly anticipated concert. I can't remember much of that concert.

I continued my driving tour south while all the time the memory of those horrible words lingered in my mind. Then the day finally arrived when I hit the southern tip of Mexico and it was time to make my next move. All the warnings and all the thoughts raced through my brain as I saw the signs "Fronteria Guatemala" straight up ahead. I thought of turning back several times but then my creed from the book of Buffet came through. And sadly I can’t even remember the name of the song by Jimmy but the lyric goes “I’d rather die while I’m living than live while I’m dead!”. My motto in life! So I squinted, took a deep breath and pushed down on the gas pedal as I crawled through the tiny Mexican border town into Guatemala.

Alas, I crossed into the fearful unknown and land of reported banditos on every corner with surprisingly little effort. To complicate matters and in my confusion at the border on the Guatemala side, my anxiety and absent mindedness had caused me to leave my windows down with my video and still camera lying on the front seat. This happened as I was unexpectedly asked to come inside the building rather than handle business as everyone else was on the outside counter directly in front of my parked car. When I walked out of the Guatemala car permit office it hit me as I saw about 5 people standing around my car, peering into it. Oh, no, the windows are down! But not one of them had touched my exposed and available cameras resting on the front seat of my car. I mentally kicked myself for being so stupid but let out a sigh of relief that the banditos I had been warned of must be hiding on this day. I was relieved to say the least. As I continued to drive into the countryside of Guatemala, I slowly started to relax. Everyone in Mexico had warned me of the imminent danger of this place. I could only imagine I must have somehow missed what they were talking about on this single day. For three months I stayed there and never saw the banditos. At sun-down they rolled in the sidewalks and I got the feeling that Guatemala was a country “running scared”. The banditos that I and everyone seemed to fear never appeared. Was it luck or was it just old memories of the revolution being retold? I never found out.

Next month I would cross into Honduras. Ah, Honduras; the land of the “real” banditos, or so the Guatemalan’s say. Too soon it would be another anxiety laden border crossing but as I later found out, just another day.
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Yea, I think Howard Hughes was working on the antidote for danger but the grim reaper still dropped by for a visit ;-). Reply to this

donjaune, why ask me? Read all the posts, and then build a consensus. Reply to this