Five ways to keep safe in Guatemala City (and other high-crime areas)

Welcome to the second Blog Carnival of the Lonely Planet bloggers from the Blogsherpa program. This carnival centers around Travel Safety. The Carnival will be a traveling carnival that will be hosted on a different travel site every two weeks.

When I lived in Guatemala City, people constantly told me how dangerous it was. My friend who works for the United Nations told me when she got here, all she heard were warnings about street crime; she doesn’t walk on the streets. At all. Our landlady warned me about most places in the city except for the neighborhood we live in – Zona 9 and Zona 10. She was robbed in the city center, and doesn’t go there. My other friend had her cell phone stolen at knifepoint on the bus three times in six months.

I was not going to avoid going outside. Venturing out of the house was a fundamental part of my job. Plus, I’d go stir crazy. So, I did what I could, within reason, to be safe.

For example, one day, I had to meet my research assistant downtown to catch a bus to our interview in Zona 6. Unfortunately, I was twenty minutes early, and she was twenty minutes late. So, I had to stand outside at the corner of 9th avenue and 9th street in Zona 1 for forty minutes. A gringa standing outside on a corner in Zona 1 is something of a sitting duck. My strategy to avoid being robbed was first to try and stand near other people.

There was a bus stop on the corner, so I made my way over there, and stood between the other people waiting for the bus. I was constantly aware of my surroundings, although I tried not to appear too paranoid. When three fairly unsavory-looking characters crossed the street towards me, I walked a few yards down, and went into a store. I pretended to browse until they got on a bus and were off.

Once they were gone, I realized I could stand in the very large storefront door and that I was fairly safe there. After about twenty minutes of waiting, I began to let my guard down. There were plenty of people milling around, and there were lots of interesting things going on.

For example, two gay men walked by. One playfully jabbed the other, and then put his arm around him. It was nice to see that they felt comfortable expressing their sexuality in public.

Across from me, there was a large metal door. Every so often, people would approach the door and knock. Someone would open up a small opening and let people through. I have no idea what was going on inside, but it was easy to imagine all kinds of things that might be going on behind that large, metal, unmarked door.

Couples, mothers, children, families strolled by. Others waited for their bus and then were off. I noticed that almost all Guatemalan men use hair gel. Funny how I never noticed that before. I focused my attention on trying to find a man who didn’t. Finally, a hippie couple walked by that was gel-less. They were both super skinny. The girl had her dark brown hair in two plaits, and the guy had big, curly hair that clearly didn’t have an ounce of gel in it.

After forty minutes on the corner, my friend showed up and we got on Bus #3 to go to Mega 6 to meet an interviewee. This experience has me thinking about a few tips on how to keep safe while traveling in high-crime areas.

1) Always carry the least amount of valuables possible on your person.
2) Avoid carrying a purse or bag with valuables inside. Instead, keep valuables in a small bag inside your shirt or in a money belt.
3) Be attentive – do not wear earphones while walking down the street, for example.
4) Do your best not to be worried about what might happen. If you are noticeably scared, it will show and make you a more likely target.
5) If you really are scared and can’t hide it, sometimes it is best to just run. For example, if you accidentally come upon a dark street, one strategy is to just run down that street until you get somewhere that is well-lit.