We were visiting Honduras to participate in a Habitat for Humanity build, and decided to arrive a day early to see some extra sights.

Unfortunately, we had not done our proper research and we arrived to discover that it was a 5 day national holiday, so almost everything was closed. The only research that we had done beforehand armed us with the singular knowledge that San Pedro Sula was the murder capital of the world.

We dropped our bags off at the Hilton Hotel  and hired a driver to drive us around to see some of the local sights.  All the roads leading up the hill were closed to the public, so we could not see the view of the city from the famous Coca Cola sign. We headed downtown to the main city square to see the San Pedro Sula Cathedral and Municipal Palace.

We did walk around briefly, after our driver cleared it with both the military and police that were stationed every few feet around the square.

As we were driving around we discovered an area that had a lot of graffiti. So we hopped out of the van to take a closer look and snap some photos.

I fell in love with the “Crazy Bird” and “the Face” in the background. Once back at the hotel, we researched the artists for the local graffiti scene. We discovered that the artist, Rei Blinky, started the urban art movement in Honduras as a way to give children options. Instead of joining gangs, the kids can stay off the street and learn about art. Incredible.

We did learn our lesson, and next time we will make sure that we are not staying over a national holiday, so we can shop their local markets and visit their cultural buildings.