Interview with Travel Blogger Johnny Ward
Travel Blogger Johnny Ward visits Honduras!
2014 was a great year for us, and I had the personal experience of meeting some travel bloggers that ventured into Honduras and came through the Cangrejal River Valley and stayed at La Villa de Soledad. One of these mates is a young Irish man who officially lives in Thailand (he has been on the road for almost a year, so he has not really had a fixed residence in that time)
It is always a lot of fun to talk to talk to travelers that are on the road, and get their views on our destinations. Johnny Ward was kind enough to allow me interview him, and I am happy to share the interview with you all. Here are the straight forward and candid answers about traveling in Honduras:
JD (John Dupuis, myself): Good day Johnny! You have been on the road for almost a year this time around, living your dream of visiting every country in the World. This particular trip has brought you to Latin America, where you started out in Mexico City and have travelled down the continent through Central America into South America. One of the countries you travelled through is Honduras, that small country that has been getting really bad press over the years about being terribly dangerous and is now in the middle of the humanitarian crisis in the US. How was your experience traveling through Honduras?
JW (Johnny Ward): You know what John, it’s been absolutely amazing. I really, really have loved it. In a way the bad press has scared off a lot of the tourists, which selfishly made it even more of an amazing experience, as I felt I had vast chunks of the country to myself. The landscape is just breathtaking too, you guys have it all.
JD: You did most of your travel within Honduras using the public transportation system, did you ever feel threatened in Honduras, where you thought your life might be at risk or your belongings would be stolen from you?
JW: Not really. The only worries I carried were simply due to the fact that everyone kept telling me to be careful, so that had made me wary whereas in reality, once there, it was just a normal backpacking experience. Long bus journeys and smiling locals.
JD: IF you had to describe Honduras in three different words, what words would you use? Why?
JW: Wow, tough. Enchanting, picturesque and adventuresome. Enchanting due to the lack of tourism, it sucks you in and shows you the real central America. Picturesque – self explanatory but amazing mountains scenes, white water rivers, Caribbean coasts, world-class diving. And adventuresome because the tourism infrastructure only covers certain hotspots, so to access the rest, you have to earn it with local travel, and I love that.
JD: Obviously you have expectations for every country you visit. What were your expectations for Honduras? Where these met or did Honduras fall short of your expectations.
JW: Actually I was a bit wary, like I mentioned, from all the warnings. Public transport especially has an awful reputation and I spend a lot of my life on public transport! Lol I knew Utila/Roatan would be beautiful, and they certainly were, but I wasn’t expecting the mainland to be so lush – it was breathtakingly gorgeous.
JD: Johnny, if you were to give advice to someone about whether or not they should travel to Honduras, what would you tell them?
JW: I’d say ignore the western media. It’s true that Honduras has it’s problems, well documented ones at that, but the crime is hugely targeted stuff – gang on gang. Go and explore a place that hasn’t been altered by tourism like Costa Rica or Panama, it’s a real experience in an age when that’s hard to find.
JD: Although you only spent a few days in Honduras, and did not get to visit all of it, what sites did you like best and would recommend that should be included in any visit to Honduras?
JW: Internationally I’d say the Copan ruins are the most famous, along with the diving in Utila and Roatan in the north, and although I loved both I actually preferred my time in La Ceiba and Lake Yojoa even more, they are two spots that aren’t often hit up, and I couldn’t recommend them highly enough.
Johnny, thank you very much for taking the time to share with us your experience in Honduras. Most of all, I appreciate your being absolutely candid in your answers to my questions and your willingness to this short interview. I wish you all the luck in your quest to visit every country in the World and urge you to continue sharing your experiences via your travel blog www.onestep4ward.com Have a great day!
