Bus Travel in Central America

A land of deep, steamy jungles full of exotic wildlife,
white sand beaches, smoking volcanoes, clear ocean waters, amazing surf and
plenty of delicious food all at an amazingly inexpensive prices, Central America is a dream backpacker/budget traveler destination.

Not only will you be able to see and experience amazing scenery and cultures,
but you can also eat huge plates of beans, rice and chicken for less than $3
and find a place to sleep for less than $10. Palm fringed beaches and delicious
meals for under $5? Sounds like my version of paradise.

While many Central American countries experienced decades of
civil unrest, military dictatorships and violent civil war in the past, there
are currently no armed conflicts in Central America,
which has made traveling in and through these countries much safer and easier than
it was in the past. While you still should exercise caution (and keep your
valuables hidden or securely on you), traveling around Central
America via public transportation is definitely not only a cheap
way to get around, but also a safe one.

Because far fewer people own cars in Central
America compared to their neighbors to the north, bus travel is an
important and integral form of transportation not only for travelers, but also
for locals. While it is not always fastest or most comfortable way to get around,
it definitely provides a travel experience all in itself. If you want to see scenery
from high above through an airplane window or fast moving tour bus, then local
bus travel is probably not for you. However, if you want to be surrounded by
the local culture on all sides (sometimes even sharing a bus with chickens as
passengers), these buses are definitely the way to go.

As many locals use buses as a primary form of transportation
(and when traveling it’s always good to do as the locals do), bus travel in
Central America can not only be a cheap way to get from Point A to Point B, but
will also enhance your travel experience. Some of my favorite stories from my
month-long trip through Panama
last summer happened on the long bus rides we took. With a little patience,
some preparation and a readiness for confusion and/or the unexpected, bus
travel is a great way to get around Central America.

Tour/Tourist Buses versus Local Buses

Local Buses at Panama City’s Albrook Bus Terminal

While it is much safer to travel through Central
America today than it was a decade ago, there are definitely still
instances of robbery and highjackings today (though these are rare for the most
part). Traveling by local bus rather than larger tourist buses can actually be
safer because you are traveling with locals rather than “rich” tourists—making it
far less likely to have the whole bus stopped and robbed by highway men.

Types of Buses

Although bus travel varies slightly from country to country
in Central America, it is fairly uniform from Mexico
to Panama.
Here is a run-down on the three main types of buses you will find in Central America:

International Buses

The international travel route leads mostly on the Pacific (west) side of
Central America, along the Pan-American highway.
You should check specifically where it is safe to take a bus across borders and
be prepared for delays on the borders when you will have your passport checked
and you may have to pay an entrance fee.

The Pan American highway starts south in Panama City,
crosses on the Pacific side into Costa Rica, passes by San Jose
crosses again at the Pacific coast into Nicaragua.
It is possible to cross the Costa Rican / Panamanian border at the Caribbean coast but it takes longer and the border is
just open during the day. Between Costa Rica and Nicaragua are two official borders. The more frequented one is "Penas
Blancas" at the Pacific side and the other one is between Los Chiles and San Carlos, Nicaragua.

Between Nicaragua
and Honduras exist three border-crossings. Honduras and El Salvador share various border-crossings as
well as Honduras and Gautemala and El Salvador and Guatemala.

If you are traveling overland from Mexico,
it can be tricky to cross the border via bus into Guatemala.

Tica Bus and King Quality buses run long distance routes from Panama City to Mexico.

Coach or “Luxury” Buses

A Tica Coach or Luxury Bus

I put luxury in quotation marks because this is definitely a
relative term. These buses tend to be larger, coach-type buses (think
Greyhound) and tend to be the buses used on longer trips. As a budget traveler
in Panama
(my friend and I were on about a $20/day budget), we hesitated before getting
on any form of transportation that had the word “luxury” associated with it.
However, while these buses are certainly luxurious compared to some of the
local chicken buses or guagas you will find in Central
America, they are certainly affordable.

You will often find these coach-style buses on longer
journeys and/or on international trips (like from Panama
to Costa Rica
for example). Most of these coach-style buses are modern and air-conditioned
with fairly comfortable seats (if you are lucky you’ll even get one that
reclines). Some even have televisions that will play budget music videos and/or
dubbed American movies to temper the longer journeys.

Inter-City Buses

Toyota Coaster buses often run between cities and towns

When traveling shorter distances or between two non-hub cities
or towns in Central America you will often
find these smaller, less comfortable buses. In much of Latin
America, these bus lines are served by Toyota Coasters, which are
kind of a cross between an obese passenger van and a squashed bus. They tend to
connect most towns and cities to each other and to major hub cities (capitals
like Panama City, San Jose, and Tegucigalpa etc.).

I never ceased to be amazed at the number of people that
could be crammed onto these buses. Don’t even begin to think that if every seat
is full the bus will not continue to stop and pick up more people. In fact,
these buses keep collecting passengers until every seat, aisle and lap is full.
Extra folding seats seem to come out of every spare spot and be prepared to
have them throw your backpack on the roof (I always wondered if I’d ever see my
backpack again, but it always seemed to make the journey).

Local Buses (Guagas, Chicken Buses and Diablo Rojos)

A colorful Panamanian Diablo Rojo

These buses usually serve as the mode of transportation for
intra-city and intra-town travel, though you will also see these buses serving
routes between smaller cities and towns in many countries.

These buses are sometimes called “Diablo Rojos” (Red Devils)
and are usually refurbished American school buses that are outlandishly painted
and covered in murals (which sometimes feature bad renderings of semi-naked
women and/or cartoonish versions of Jesus). While these are certainly not the
most comfortable mode of transportation, they certainly do the trick.

Tips for Bus Travel in Central America

1. Understand you will probably stand out

Forget trying to blend in. You won’t

When traveling in Panama I invented a new verb: to
freakshow. This is what my travel partner and I did across most of Central America. We were white; females and traveling
with big backpacks on—all things which would make you stand out on their own in
Central America. Combine them, and we got a
lot of looks, especially in smaller communities not accustomed to seeing many
tourists, the stares we would get made it clear we were not a normal sight in Panama. Lindsey
and I freakshowed our way around Panama. But it was fine. Yes, we
had a man with a pair of women’s panties hanging from his back pocket come talk
to us on the bus. Yes, we were once surrounded by local boys on a dock while waiting
for a boat taxi who called us “sweet as white sugar,” but that’s ok. Accept the
fact you’ll get stares and stand out.

We were often the only foreign travelers on the “chicken
buses.” You will stand out. You will get stared at. You will get approached and
hassled for tips and money (the assumption is that if you are a gringo you are
loaded). Accept it as part of the experience.

2. Redefine your idea of personal space

Get cozy with your neighbor

As a fourth person slides next to you (on a seat made for 2)
with a child on her lap and an enormous sack of potatoes in the aisle, you’ll
start to realize what you are in for. Buses in Central
America will rarely leave someone on the roadside, even when the
bus is seemingly already full. There always seems to be room for a few more.
While making this kind of full-body contact wouldn’t fly in the U.S., this is definitely acceptable in Central America. Accept the fact that you’ll be crammed
into these buses and sitting on top of perfect strangers.

If you are lucky enough to get on the bus early on, try to
grab a window seat. Not only will this allow you to see the countryside pass by
outside (which is often stunning), but you’ll also only have people crammed up
next to you on one side.

3. Ask for Help/Make Friends with the Ayudante

This guy is called the "helper" for a reason

My Spanish is not great. I can say “no comprendo, “una
cerveza,” “cuanto?” and then my Spanish
skills pretty much end there. This did not stop me from getting around Central America successfully on the bus. Don’t hesitate
to ask someone where the bus is going. If you can’t put together a full
sentence, repeating the name of where you are trying to go usually gets the
point across just fine and someone will point you in the right direction.

There will be a man who stands by the front door of most
buses in Central America called an ayudante (I
say man because I never once saw a woman doing this job). It is his job to collect
fares, cram people on the bus, and handle the luggage (which sometimes means
you’ll have him put someone else’s bag on your lap). I was always amazed that
he seemed to not only remember how long each passenger had been riding (which
determines the fare), but also which bags belonged to whom.

4. Tell the Ayudante where you want to get off

This guy will tell you when you’ve arrived at your destination

As you’d imagine, it’s also important to know where you are
getting off. Since I always found it impossible to understand anything the
ayudante was saying over the chatter and blasting salsa music, I would always
make sure to tell him where I wanted to get off as soon as I stepped on the
bus. Then I would stay seated stop after stop until the man would look right at
me (remember, I stood out) and would say “hola chica”. This way I knew I was
getting off in the right spot. It’s usually pretty obvious you aren’t a local,
so people on the bus tend to be helpful in making sure you get where you are
trying to go.

5. Accept the fact the system is there is no system

People waiting for a bus on a road in Guatemala

I spent the better part of a month trying to figure out the
system the buses used for knowing when to pick up/drop off people until I
finally came to the conclusion that there is no real system. There are no bus
stops, per se. People just stand on the side of the road and wave their arms to
get on the bus and holler when they want to get off.

Most buses also don’t run on a strict schedule, so it can be
a crap shoot knowing when a bus will come by sometimes. In much of Central America, buses work on a decentralized system in
which a liscense is issued for a route and then driver’s purchase and maintain
their own bus. Sometimes several routes and buses are license by one operator
who then hires several driver/conductor teams. Because there is no real
centralized system, however, the system can vary from place to place, route to
route, which can be confusing for the outsider traveler. Accept this and go
with the flow.

6. You will be overwhelmed

The hectic Albrook bus terminal in Panama City

Anytime I found myself in a large bus terminal in Central America, I inevitably would end up confused,
overwhelmed and not entirely sure where I needed to go. Because buses are a
main mode of transportation for so many people in Central America, bus
terminals like the Albrook Bus Terminal in Panama City tend to be packed and hectic. It
can be difficult to figure out which bus leaves when and where it goes. Take a
deep breath, don’t be afraid to ask for help and expect to feel a little
confused.

I found that people were almost always helpful in helping point you the right direction in Central America. Even if your Spanish skills aren’t great, don’t be afraid to simply repeat the name of where you are trying to go. With a little patience you’ll eventually get on the right bus.

7. You usually pay when you get off

While this is not always true on the bigger coach-style
buses that travel longer distances (you often buy these tickets at the bus
terminal before departure), you will almost always pay your bus fare when you
get off the bus. Bus fares will depend on where you got on and where you get
off the bus. The ayudante amazingly seems to know when everyone got on the bus
and how much to charge them. Have cash handy (the smaller the bills the better)
and be ready to pay when you arrive at your destination.

About the Author

BootsnAll staff writer Julie Blakley thinks heaven is a place where you can eat giant street empanadas for $2, which probably explains why she left her heart in Central America long ago. When she’s not dreaming up her next adventure in Latin America, she is busy writing about her other favorite place for the France Travel Guide.

Photo Credits: Tica Bus; Inside Bus; waiting for bus

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Anonymous

15 April 2009

Sean Keener

04 April 2009

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06 April 2009

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