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If you want to spend a year in Honduras,

Try Belize for your 90 day "extensions"

A combination of Government regulations and it's inherent "marginal dysfunction" makes it very difficult for many organizations that utilize international volunteers to obtain special visas for the vast majority of the long-term volunteers currently working in Honduras. A recent "free trade" treaty between Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador has directly affected the effective solutions to this situation which we have all been using for years. It will no longer work to simply have lunch in Guatemala or go shopping in the duty free at the Nicaragua border just outside of Danli. Even a week in Antigua doesn't extend your permission to visit Honduras. All long term volunteers who don't have a special annual visa will need to visit either Belize, Costa Rica or Mexico once every 90 days if they want to help people in Honduras for more than the initial three months they receive when they first arrived. I have chosen to dedicate this page to the most practical and easiest method especially for those people who are located in the northern part of Honduras. All you really need to do is take a short boat ride across the Bay of Honduras to town of Punta Gorda in Belize. I did it with a friend of mine last week and it was really easy and a lot of fun (yes I too, after 10 years in Honduras, still need to extend my visa every 90 days). I actually drove my car to the dock in Puerto Barrios, however the instructions listed here are for people who do not have access to a Honduran registered vehicle.

HERE'S HOW:

Catch the next bus back to Puerto Cortes and then home.

OCT 23 UPDATE
I have been informed by one of our teachers that the Belizean government has added a new tax of US$ 50.00 to the immigration proccedures in Punta Gorda.

	As you leave the the Puerto Barrios dock area you can see two mountains off in the distance. The town of Punta Gorda comes into view below the mountains about half way through the trip. The young man controlling the 400 horses of outboard power did a wonderful job of keeping our trip safe, dry and enjoyable.
	The coast line is never very far away and it seems much more like crossing a lake than the ocean.

There is also a Budget conscious one day option for those of us who own Honduran vehicles and can leave home early.

Get in your car and drive home.

Terry and I combined the car with an overnight in Punta Gorda last night and we only spent $150 each (including presents for the wife and kids) plus a tank full of gas in Puerto Barrios on my plastic.

The town of Punta Gorda is an attractive small coastal community and the gateway to the Toledo District of Belize.

And, for those of you who want to make sure that you have everything organized and confirmed before traveling; here are a few web sites, email addresses and phone numbers that may help you plan your trip. We found Tate's Guest House to be an excellent choice for about $30 per night for a double room.

For help while you are in Guatemala,
the Transportes "El Chino" shuttle bus driver, Roberto Gomez, can be exceptionally helpful as he not only found us a secure place to park the car overnight in Puerto Barrios but he also took care of all the Guatemalan Immigration details and found us some Belize currency at quite a good rate while we were enjoying a nice cold beer in a little cafe down by the dock. He proved to me that he is quite capable of taking care of any logistics difficulties that may occur and also truly understands the meaning of "giving good service at a reasonable price".
Roberto's phone numbers in Guatemala are 7948-3238 and 5410-0898.

I have lived here in Honduras as a permanent tourist since 1998 by various legally relevant adaptations of the above method ever since I decided it was much more enjoyable to take a short trip every 3 - 6 months than it was to keep giving money to lawyers who didn't seem to be getting very much done about my husband/father/investor residency permit. I also have over ten years experience at traveling back and forth between Honduras and Belize and would be happy to recommend some longer and more adventurous options if anyone is interested.

If you are currently volunteering in Honduras or if you plan to do so in the future, I hope this information helps make your time a little more enjoyable and trouble free. And, please feel free to come and visit our little school in Cofradia, Cortes at some time during your visit.

Happy Trails Ben

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