Proper Footwear

With the nature of what our work was-walking around the village all day-rain or dust- climbing around in the coffee and cabbage farms, being in and out of people's houses all day-in the end we each had 3 pairs of shoes that were actually used on a regular basis.

A. Teva Sandals (or Chacos).

Tevas

Chacos


We had Tevas only because we couldn't afford Chacos at the time of our departure from the states. There are a number of different opinions on both brands of sandals and which is better. My Tevas cost me 50 dollars USD and lasted the entire 2 1/2 years.

1. They were easily washable with dish soap or any other kind of soap available, and dried rather quickly.

2. They were comfortable and never rubbed or left blisters on my feet from so much walking.

3. Easily adjustable.

4. The velcro never wore out.

5. They have a decently thick sole that I never felt rocks through-and they were great for playing in the ocean or waterfalls, rivers-or just mud.

They really were the most comfortable sandals I've ever had.

Chacos seemed to be even more popular than their Teva counterparts by travelers and volunteers of all types. I never own these, but they seemed just as nice, if not nicer than Tevas. Also, with Chacos the soles can be replaced if they go bad. The only drawback was this: If you plan to spend a long amount of time in Honduras and your sandals go bad and need replacement, you can send them back to company-but it will cost you half the price of the sandals to mail the package.

Especially if you aren't earning dollars.

Also, you have to wait to have them mailed back. Overall, communication won't be the easiest. Friends we had while in Honduras had their Chaco soles go bad, and basically gave up in the end and bought a new pair when they went home for Christmas, or had a friend or family member bring a new pair 3/4 of the way through their service/trip.

Both sandals are great and owning a pair is extremely handy and worth the money in the end.

B. Hiking Shoes or Good Tennis Shoes

Merrells

We both had a pair of Merrells, but they sometimes got a little heavy for me. And they also got really hot. It was nice that they were water-proof, but this didn't really help us much when stepping into a foot deep mud puddle. Having to wade through mini rivers in the forest was hard with hiking shoes, too. They were slippery on moss and rocks and hard to dry out later.

If you don't think you'll be doing too many hard core activities, you can probably not bring hiking boots and get away with just a good pair of sandals for a leisurely stroll through the forest or anything else for that matter. It will cost less, and be less for you to carry from Hostel to Hostel.

If you really plan to do some more heavy duty hiking and know you will be hiking in an area with scorpions or snakes or something, then closed toed shoes are a must. Also, if you plan to hike any volcanoes in neighboring Guatemala or Nicaragua, you will need shoes like this-there aren't many regulations to climb active volcanoes in Central America (as you can read in later posts) but this is their one rule and for good reason. Shoes or boots will protect your feet from getting burned.

C. Flip-flops

Flip-flops

These are cheap and plentiful in almost every Honduran or Central American village everywhere.

They will cost you a dollar, and are an absolute necessity for wearing in dirty hostel and hotel showers, for the beach or the pool, on the boat, in the back yard washing laundry, or even just for running down the street to buy breakfast from your nearest neighbor's pulperia (corner store).

Due to rocks and dusty floors and the general dirtiness of everything in the dry season AND the rainy season, having something on your feet most of the time is just smart considering the amount of parasites that can be caught from walking barefoot in the dirt.

Whether you bring them with you, or buy them when you get here, make sure to keep a couple pairs around.