Throughout this trip and on the blog, we have sung the praises of Mexico and Central America and defended the honor of many of these countries getting a bad rap in the international press. However, the sanctity and security we have experienced, taken comfort in, regaled and praised thus far into our trip, came to a screeching halt at the Honduran border. We had read stories of inconvenience and corruption prior to crossing and not only did they prove true, the behavior of the authorities was so predictable it seemed scripted.

We planned an ambitious day of crossing two borders, starting in San Salvador, passing through Honduras and ending up in Nicaragua. Several kilometers before reaching Honduras, border crossing assistants began aggressively pursuing the van. Upon reaching the exit gate of El Salvador we were surrounded by no less than a dozen potential aids. Realizing the process was potentially long, tedious and not especially systematic, we surrendered to a fluently English speaking Honduran chap. We passed through immigration rather simply thanks to the CA-4 agreement, but then the antics of vehicle import began. Our assistants (which had soon multiplied from one to four), told me to stay with the van to ward off beggars and potential thieves, while Rebekah travelled from line to line filing paperwork and paying fees to various customs officials, banks, photocopiers, police officers, taxmen and other authorities. While some of these fees were official, the last $45 was paid to a police officer for a fumigation and inspection that never happened and for not having a reflective safety triangle. After two and a half hours and fees totaling approximately $110 including the payoff to the transit cop, we were released from the border zone.

Having read that the safety triangle infraction is a favorite scam of the Honduran police, we tried to purchase this triangle rather than pay the bribe to the transit cop before leaving the border zone. Naturally, our border crossing assistant told us the triangle was not available nor would it present a further problem so, although doubtful, we went on our way. Not five minutes down the road, the national police (a group of four of them) pulled us over requesting our paper work, an inspection of the vehicle and, you guessed it, a safety triangle. Attempting to utilize the good cop – bad cop technique they inspected our vehicle en masse and demanded that Rebekah relinquish her driver’s license to be picked up a day later, fifty kilometers down the road. Upon refusal to give up her license and an emphatic explanation that we were simply passing through Honduras and needed to make it to Nicaragua that day, the officer in charge replied that if the license was not relinquished, he would seize our vehicle. Meanwhile, the various officers sat in and probed around the vehicle, all while verbally assuring us that the police were there to "protect us." To summarize a long, tedious and familiar story of misuse of authority, the very police who professed to be there to serve us ultimately settled for a forty-dollar bribe.

Unfortunately this was not the last we were to see of the Honduran police. Within the approximately 85 miles between borders, we encountered eight police check-points (some national police, some transit police). We were stopped four times, two without incident, once for the aforementioned bribe, and a final time 30 seconds from Nicaragua by the border police, again with the same spiel about a requisite reflective device. After much review of documents, vehicle, license and passport, the jefe (boss) was to be consulted as whether we would have to pay a third bribe for the same alleged infraction. At this point, the policemen pulled over a vehicle from El Salvador and proceeded to inspect them as well. The driver of the Salvadoran vehicle took the time to ask if everything was alright and we told him we did not have the required safety triangle. Without hesitation, this gentleman retrieved two triangles from his back seat and handed them directly to us, very much to the chagrin of the border police. The man from El Salvador made a brief comment to the officer, forced a handshake and unquestionably saved us a minimum of another half hour of confrontation and who knows how much in bribes. (Again, we love El Salvador!)

Now, one may say these incidents were our error for not travelling with the "requisite" triangle. But, the fact of the matter is it has nothing to do with the triangle. If it had not been the triangle, then it would have been a fire extinguisher, or a license plate issue, or any other fabrication. These cops are not interested in actually writing a ticket. They are looking for a payoff, period.

Regardless, we were thankful to be away from the aggressive and corrupt policemen, and crossed into Nicaragua with relatively little problems. However when Rebekah went to put on her sneakers the next day, she found them missing. In the first "inspection" of the vehicle, Rebekah and I had noticed one of the officers picking up the shoes and turning them over, which we both thought was odd. The fourth policeman's sermon about their purpose of "protecting" us was actually a simple distraction so the other officers could pass the shoes behind their backs. The Honduran police stole Rebekah's shoes! While a pair of shoes and $40 may seem small, the audacity of being ripped off by policemen who are verbally claiming to protect us is a huge affront. We feel violated, disappointed and saddened by this turn of events. If harassing tourists is the best Honduras has to offer in a police force, we will gladly not return. What a shame to drive away potential visitors, dollars and interest. We hope the Honduras government takes steps to correct these problems as they are a blight on the reputation of the entire country. Until then, we cannot recommend independent vehicle travel and caution tourists to take extra care when visiting Honduras.