Fortaleza de Santa Barbara, Colon Department, Honduras

4M J 5:00 PM Dec 13, 2014

Interesting Fort and Museum but everything in spanish
My husband and I arrived at Trujillo, Honduras by NCL cruise ship. We tendered from the ship to the mainland. There is a shopping area where we exited the life boat. We talked through the gated shopping area, out of the gated area then walked another half mile through the little town past little restaurants and businesses. There was a large police and military presents. We felt safe. At the point where we saw a large Coca-Cola sign, there were stairs and a road that lead up a hill to the town square. The fort is on one corner of the square. The cost is $3 to enter the fort. We enjoyed the fort, museum and views from inside the fort area. Everything was in Spanish (no English) in the museum. We walked on the beach back to the gated shopping area.

3Review-er-er_er 5:00 PM Nov 3, 2014

Pretty Average as Forts Go
Getting around the town was interesting. We were provided with a map by the ship, however there were no actual street signs, street names or much in the way of traffic lights/signs at all. There were no directional signs or signs pointing the way to the area attractions. There was very little to no English anywhere including at the attractions and very few in the way of English speakers. Walking through the port security gate and through the town was also interesting. There was the usual level of extreme poverty you’d expect in most third world countries and lots of staring at us. However, there was very little in the way of people trying to get you to buy anything (which was a nice change). They mostly just stared at you. I accidentally stumbled across the fact that “downtown” was actually uptown – literally. You had to either climb up a heavily inclined road or steps up a large hill to get to it. I only figured this out when I looked up and saw other tourists (who had gone on the tram tour which turned out to be mini busses instead) loitering near a very old looking wall. As I started to go up, other passengers saw and followed suit. For others so inclined to explore, simply go out the port security gate and straight down the dirt road. When you see the big hill with benches to your left and the Coca-Cola sign on your right, turn to your left and start climbing. At the elevated downtown, there was the fort and a pretty historic church. The entrance fee to the fort is $3 US per person. The fort was interesting though nothing was in English. Even a visit to the “Tourist Office” yielded pamphlets in Spanish. I would advise reading about the fort before or after your visit so you can truly grasp its significance because if you don’t read Spanish, nothing printed at the site will mean anything to you. William Walker was shot there. The best English site I’ve found so far for more info: http://thisishonduras.com/Colonnial_Forts.htm I noted with irony that the cannon on the wall facing the sea were pointed towards where our boat was docked. I’ve been to many forts etc so I will rate this as average in comparison. Of note were the chain ring on one of the pillars, the “graffiti” left by prisoners on the fort and the inscriptions that can actually still be seen on some of the cannon. As it is one of only a handful of attractions in the town, you have plenty of time to work it into your schedule.