Over spring break, a group of Kent State students and a professor went to Honduras on a trip coordinated through the geography department.

On March 27, on their way to Tela, Honduras, they were stopped by a group of government protesters along the main highway in Honduras, said Andrew Smeltzer, senior pre-business major.

The protesters, armed with sticks, rocks and some with guns, wouldn’t let them through. When they tried to turn around, the protesters began beating on the bus.

One of the group’s tour guides, who is from Honduras, arranged shelter for them in the safety of a villager’s home nearby. They had to spend the night there, sleeping on a concrete floor.

They were able to arrange a way to buy their way out of the protest, Smeltzer said. It took them an hour of walking to reach the front of the protest where a charter bus was waiting for them.

No one was harmed and they returned safely to Ohio early Monday morning.

— Abbey Swank