When volunteering to help out in Honduras it makes sense to go with a group that has gone before or with a group which has many folks who have previously gone before, as they know the ropes. Going alone is a really bad idea and is not recommended so please make a note of that. There are also several travel organizations that can assist in helping with itineraries and allow the volunteers to get some sight seeing in, along with their philanthropic work and desire to help the wonderful people and their children in Honduras. What are the airlines that most recommended, which fly to Honduras? These are the companies we heard most often;
Continental Airlines
Delta Airlines
Taca Airlines
Most all those who have gone before advise new folks that they must remember that they are in
another country and things do not work the same way. One volunteer said that they once had to reign in one of their volunteers for acting a little too arrogant and forgetting where he was, there is simply no place for that behavior while traveling in Honduras. Police are heavily armed and things are much different, something that most World Travelers are use to although it is a little intimidating for first time travelers to Honduras.
Remember of course first you have to get to Honduras and then after resting, after the flight, the real traveling begins, up and down mountains on dirt roads into the remote rural regions of beautiful Honduras. One volunteer notes;
"We landed in Tegucigualpa [capital city] and I learned afterwards this is one of the steepest landing patterns you can imagine. When we returned, we took off in Tegucigualpa and needed to land a couple of minutes later to refuel in the next city as we were not aloud to take-off with full fuel tanks in Tegucigualpa [due to the extra weight of the jet fuel] as the rise is too steep and if you miss, you get to meet the mountains face to face. It was exciting!"
Well that is a little insight into the flying part of your journey into and out of the Capital City of Honduras. If this sounds exciting to you also, then this is just the start of the fun, as the volunteer continues during our interview;
"Once we arrived at the airport, we had a long bus ride of about 8 hours on bumpy roads. Right outside the airport, people started jumping on us asking for money and gifts."
That is not really an issue at the airport itself, as the airport is heavily guarded by the Honduran Military to protect tourists, trade and prevent any problems. One medical volunteer stated that during her first mission in 2005;
"We went to Catacamas, at the airport we saw many other volunteer teams going in other parts of Honduras. Since every team has its specific t-shirts ours were 'yellow' it was kind of funny to see all the different group of people with colored t-shirts. I told my group: 'You think we are going on a medical mission but we are in a reality TV show! We are playing against the red, the blue and the green teams.' Everyone smiled"
Once out of the city things of course change drastically and the ground transportation is quite a bit slower than the interstates that those in the United States are use too. One medical mission volunteer recounts;
"Every morning we hop on the bus and ride through bumpy roads and get to where we are setting-up our clinic and most of the time we set-up our clinic in churches or schools. We are a team of doctors, dentists, nurses, translators and support help working at the pharmacy and crowd control."