BootsnAll Travel Community

Rarely are any tourists physically harmed or killed by the numerous criminals in Guatemala, but there are frequent armed robberies of tourists here. Please read this rare report!

Although there are several robberies of tourists in Guatemala each week, people usually only report these crimes to the tourist bureau. They don't bother to report anything to our ineffective police, unless they need an official statement to collect on their insurance. The tourist bureau doesn't make these figures generally known for obvious reasons.

Come enjoy this wonderful country, but be aware of the criminal element here.

....i agree with juan3, this was an amazing and sad report.

i wonder why they were traveling on this road after dark. everyone knows that is just not a good thing. who was their tour/guide/director, and WHAT was he thinking?

I want to say that when I was there, years ago, there were reports of armed robberies in Livingston, Antiqua(Man had an expensive camera in an earthquaqe ruin site) Antiqua, late late night, and climbing volcano Pacaya, either in a group with armed guards or especially alone. Guat city at night, Zone 1, naturally.

I personally never saw any trouble I never asked for except for once, and I managed to walk my way away from potential trouble. I didn't climb any volcanoes for this reason.

I never heard of any trouble in Panajachel or any of the Lago Atitlan communities, except on the roads around the town. When I walked one of those roads with a friend, I was later told it was a bad idea.

I never had or heard of trouble in Quetzaltenango among all my other language students or teachers.

Apparently, the armed robberies tend to happen only in very heavily touristed areas. which is a kind of depressing idea.
I've never heard of anyone actually HURT in any of these reports, though I did hear about robbers tying people on a Volcano Pacaya trip to trees and undressing them. It must be the same people moved to Coban.

Yet, and this needs to be said, if one is careful and doesn't go to the markedly dangerous areas, all should be well.

Well, we're driving down in a camper van in November and are wondering - without being on the backpacker circuit (my normal travel mode) how do you know the bad areas?

Globalhobo: Try to travel only by day - because of the chance of being robbed, but also because of visibility at night on roads that might not the best. Try to stay in populated sites - or well lighted places, for example newer and bigger gas stations. Ask the locals where it is safe to go.

Roque Mocan has some very good advice. I would emphasize, NEVER drive at night.

When at a service area, talk with the truckers about road conditions, areas of protests, and areas that have had problems with bandits recently. The truckers are a wealth of information and are usually quite happy to have someone to talk with. Also, ask them where they feel it is safe to pull off the road and sleep.

There is a reason that there are few to none night buses in Guatemala. Part of that reason is the lack of lighting on the roads and bad road conditions, both of which could delay or end your auto trip. The other is night bandits.