I have seen a documentary about the worlds most violent gang.

It was formed by immigrants from countries such as El Salvador and after the police cracked down on them and deported them, they have become a severe problem in San Salvador.

From what i had seen, there seems to be a gang war going on over there.

El Salvador has always been in a state of unrest and there has always been lots of fighting between the Cuban and Venezuelan backed side and the US backed side. Somehow I doubt that it would make a good country for vacation.

I have planned to visit some of Central America myself, but so far I haven't had time for it yet (so I haven't done as much research as I have for other places).

A little of topic:

One of my favorite movies is Salvador with James woods. It's about the US lead coup in the 80ies and its about this photographer who gets caught in the unrest. Very well worth watching it.

Here is the Amazon Page

Andre

Travel Photography

Yeah, I have doubts about El Salvador.  But there are US gangs all over Central America.  Usually they are started by kids who were illegal immigrants along with their families.  They got into gangs, eventually were convicted of a crime, and were deported.  They brought gang culture with them.  I met a young Swiss woman in Belize who was waiting for her boyfriend to get out of jail.  It didn't seem to bother her, so I asked why.  She said that in Belize everyone had been to jail, and it was all political.  But then she said her boyfriend had also been in jail in the US, and I started to wonder.

 Which is also off topic?  Why do people suspend normal sensible judgement when they are in another country?  I know I do it.

I might, but it goes the opposite way for me. I am usually way more careful when I am on vacation. I would always carry my backpacks so that I can keep an arm on it while I am in a crowd.

Usually I am way more careful when I am in a foreign country.

Andre

Travel Photos

I'm much more careful about my stuff, but I'm much more likely to walk around at night, talk to strangers, or agree to go somewhere with some one I just met.  Backpackers tend to trust other backpackers, so I've been on a bus chatting to two strangers, and we'll all agree to share a room to save money.  I remember sharing a room in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia with a young man and a young woman.  None of us had ever seen each other until we got on the bus to go up the hill.

If you skip El Salvador you will miss out one of the most beautiful undiscovered countries in Central America. Everyone I know that has visited El Salvador has been struck by the extraordinary beauty of the land and especially its people.

Check out the website for this travel agency that focuses only on El Salvador vacations. It gives a pretty good idea of what you'll miss if you skip El Salvador.

If you think San Salvador might be a little too dicey for your taste, then I recommend traveling the more rural country. The scenery is spectacular and the generous hospitality of the Salvadorans is unforgettable.

Their interactive map also shows that there's A LOT more to El Salvador than just San Salvador.

Use common sense- no flashy jewerly, clothes, keep electronics stowed away, etc. Consult the tourism office or local guide and ask which areas to avoid. dont go out at night etc, and stay in the touresty area.  Common sense prevails, you'll be alright! be careful!

I arrived in Caye Caulker, Belize on 26 July 2008 with my family.  We rented a Golf Cart from C & N Golf Cart Rental for 11 days and paid cash in full.  Then on the morning of 1 August 2008 a local man took off in the golf cart without permission.  He did bring it back 45 minutes later but it was damaged.  We got an estimate of $600 BZ from another repair shop on the island before we took it over to C&N.  Nicholas told us the entire cost would be $1,400 BZ. When my husband argued that the hub and front fiberglass may not need to be replaced, Nicholas told him that he always replaces everything with new parts.  He told us we could have the broken parts we were paying for as proof that he did replace them. We paid him the $1,400 BZ and he gave us a receipt showing that the damage was paid in full and then he gave us another golf cart to drive reasonably asking only that our daughter not be allowed to drive anymore.  After we went to the police, a local island resident was arrested and to be charged with damage to property and theft in the Supreme Court. We later found out from another Justice of the Peace that he could face 5 years in prison if convicted.

The next morning we went to C & N to get the parts hoping to sell them and recover the salvage value of our loss. Nicholas was not there but Jaime Rosado his father-in-law was there and asked if he could help us with something. When we told him we were there to pick up the parts, he stated that Nicholas was in San Pedro picking up the new parts.  I saw the supposedly damaged golf cart and noticed that the parts underneath had already been replaced and it was in line with others to be rented.  The fiberglass front of the cart was not replaced but instead had been spray painted over a crude layer of Bondo.

I became upset as Jaime changed his story about what was being done two or three times and yelled thief.  Jaime came back quickly with a large wooden stick that looked like a bat or ax handle.  Cindy Lou Wade was with him and began to yell at us and told us that they never give parts to customers and that Nicholas would not have agreed to do that. When we tried to leave she demanded that we leave the golf cart there even though we had paid cash for another 5 days, because we had "disrespected the family."

When we tried to just leave she attacked me trying to take the keys.  Jaime then came rushing over with the bat and began to hit my husband with it repeatedly.  Cindy Lou than went over to my wife in the passenger seat and grabbed her upper arms and through her on the cement pad. Cindy Lou Wade told us to leave and when I told her my wife could not walk home because she was disabled she stated that she didn’t care “you can crawl.”  Her mother, Catalina Rosado, a Justice of the Peace on the island was there also keeping us from leaving. I and my husband had repeatedly asked them to call the police and wait for them to get there so we could resolve the problem.

Cindy Lou again told me to crawl home calling us “Gringos” and stating that we had no rights.  The local Sergeant finally arrived and convinced Cindy Lou to allow us to take the golf cart because we had a contract and had paid the damage in full.

Later, the police arrived and demanded that I go to the police station. Nicholas was there and he demanded the return of the golf cart. The Sergeant refused to support any right we had to get our payment back and when I told Nicholas that negative comments on the internet would cost him more money than he had charged us, Nicholas replied by threatening to shoot me and told us that we better leave the island that day. The Sergeant heard the death threat and took no action. 

My wife went to the police station to show them the bruises on her arms and legs from Cindy Lou.  The female police officer stated that if my wife pressed charges, I would also be arrested. So the bottom line is that on Caye Caulker don’t have too much to drink and ‘borrow’ a golf cart causing damage to it because if you do you will go to jail.  But it is OK to beat up a crippled woman and hit an unarmed man with a wooden bat after stealing from them.  It’s just business on Caye Caulker, I guess.

The police will support the theft and violence against innocent tourists who did the right thing, paid in full for the rental, paid in full for the damages, and only asked for the old parts to try to recover some of the money. Did I mention that Nicholas used to be a police officer?  So a drunken man does something stupid and faces 5 years in jail – while an abusive family steals and beats up crippled tourists and they walk away. Is this Belizean Justice? I hope not.  We went on the first water taxi to San Pedro today (Sunday) and spoke to an officer named Copper who directed tourist police to Caye Caulker to handle our situation in private confidentiality to protect the identity of the local witness who had identified himself to us.  We went back and the local sergeant would not permit the interview by the tourist policeman to be conducted in private saying that it was his jurisdiction and his orders were superior.  He asked me why privacy was important and when I stated that the female policewoman had passed Nicholas Wade facts contained in the theft statements and that I had heard that C&N loans carts to the police free of charge, the sergeant threatened me for defaming a police officer.   

          We then refused to give any formal report out of fear for our safety and that of the witnesses.  However, we wanted to drop the charges “in the interest of justice” because really, the local was just young and dumb and wanted to chase a young woman who had left the bar.  My wife showed the police the bruising on both arms where you can count in purple the fingers of Cindy Lou Wade.  You could also see the bat marks on my side.  The police took no photos and no medical forms were given to us to preserve this evidence.  The tourist policeman failed to interview any of the independent witnesses before we left the island on 6 Aug, 2008. STAY AWAY FROM C&N GOLF CART