The Bus Queen Goes to Central America, Public Transport through Belize, Honduras, El Salvador & Guatemala.

Part 1: Belize.

Part of the
beach in Placencia.

Recently I went on a quite crazy, fast moving trip around 4 countries of Central America. My tourist visa for Mexico was about to expire & I wanted to visit a chap I’d met in Merida who has bought some land in El Salvador. He needed some oregano oil capsules for his health & they were with a friend of his in Merida.

Tree that flowers in the rainy season don’t know the name.

Being the bus queen that I am went on so many I lost count! I didn’t have much was planned out, nor did I have much info on hand. I seem to have an addiction to travel ha ha. So I will attempt to explain how to travel ‘on the fly’ in Central America. I do have an advantage now in that my Spanish is reasonable enough for me to have conversations with people & that is a joy while travelling.

Luckily, to begin with I didn’t need to take a bus or van from Celestun because I got a lift to Merida in the car of a great friend. While there I caught up with Pedro, who’s the friend of Tom in El Salvador’s. He gave me the oregano capsules & some oregano oil. I an enjoyable afternoon in the city finalised with trying some good artisan beers. At 2300 I boarded an overnight Mayab bus to Chetumal which is 7 hours from Merida, on the Southern border of Mexico. From there I planned to cross into Belize. The bus wasn’t full when we left Merida so I got a window seat, it filled as we went along. People got on & off & were standing in the aisles while fortunately I slept off the beers under my soft blanket. Knowing that many buses have freezing cold air conditioning it’s a good idea to bring along a blanket. I was the only Westerner onboard. I saw very few Westerners on the whole trip really.

Chicken Bus that goes from Chetumal to Belize City.

Arriving in the cool early morning in Chetumal I needed some exercise so I chose to walk some distance to the “Old Market” where I’d read a Belizian bus departs for Belize City, driving through the border controls. I bought a good cheese & salad torta, it’s a filed bread roll in Mexico. After a few questions for directions I found myself at a cafe & met a Belize couple who were also waiting for the bus. They had done the trip regularly, they live in Belize City. They were able to relate the procedure. Coming from Belize they can enter into Mexico with their Belize passports & stay for 7 days without a visa. So they visit family in Mexico regularly but only for the week.

Palapas on the beach in Placencia.

When the huge ‘Chicken Bus’ arrived the driver said he’d be leaving in an hour, he was probably doing a return trip to Belize City. I changed some Mexican pesos into Belize dollars at a small window at the side of the cafe. A Rastafarian man from Belize came along while we waited & put his small bag in the bus, mine was with the couple’s luggage, underneath the bus. Putting a bag in the luggage compartment under a bus can be a little stressing for newbie travellers but I have to say even in way out places my bag is always where I put it so being comfortable with luggage under the bus is another travelling must. Overhead luggage racks I don’t trust at all, I’ve heard horror stories of stuff being stolen from up there. Occasionally I put my hat up there but check it regularly.

Now why these buses are called chicken buses I’m not sure but a few suggestions will be had on the way through this trip especially in Guatemala…. The brand is usually Blue Bird & in North America they are used as school buses that you may have seen in films, (or in real life if you are American) they are yellow up there. They are very sturdy buses. They are any or all colours in Central America. This one as you can see is British Red, White & Blue. Belize still being a part of the Commonwealth. The driver said the bus was 40 feet long! The bus left about 0900.

One thing that really blew me away about Belize was that everyone speaks English! It’s 6 years since I was in an English speaking country! The bus pulled up at the Mexican Immigration office. On exiting Mexico one has to pay a tax. The fee was 687 pesos. The immigration lady said she had no change when I handed her two 500 peso notes. I offered 660 pesos which she said was OK & she stamped me out of Mexico.

A young German couple who’d joined the bus before it left Chetumal had difficulties as they had no pesos left. They tried to pay with Euros or a credit card but neither would be accepted. Hence they left Mexico without an exit stamp which caused them problems after we had driven through the ‘no man’s land’ part of the border to the Belize Immigration. There Belize immigration weren’t happy about allowing the German couple into Belize as they didn’t have the Mexican exit stamp! Oh dear. I think finally the bus conductor persuaded immigration to allow the Germans in. They had already paid their bus fare to Belize City. A standard one month tourist visa was stamped into my passport. I also picked up a really good MAP from the tourist office at the border.

Map from tourist office at the frontier. You can see how close Balmopan is to the Guatemala border.

Although we were only half a dozen of so people crossing the border the bus soon began to fill as we headed to Belize City. Most people were a beautiful ebony black skinned, had tight curly hair, dreadlocks or many of the ladies had hair extensions in long plaits either hanging down their back or piled on top of their heads. Lots of reggae music was on the bus radio.

The countryside was sparse & houses basic but comfortable looking, mostly wooden. There were many churches of all sorts of denominations. All the shop signs were in English!! There’s no air-conditioning on chicken buses so when squalls of rain came the helpful conductor hurried up & down the aisles pulling up the window & then he helped to let them down again as we all stifled once the rain squall was over. Everyone smiled & was friendly without being inquisitive or asking anything of me. Young couples boarded the bus with gorgeous big eyed young children. I was laughing silently at the Caribbean accent everyone has, it was difficult to understand. I haven’t been in the Caribbean area before. Orange Walk Town was one place we passed. Many of the towns had English sounding names, Crooked Tree, Ladyville. I suppose I noticed it more as the names of towns in Mexico are mostly impossible to pronounce, many are Mayan names.

Courting Belize style. The lady is on other bench, you can see her hair blowing about.

Arriving into Belize City at around 1500 it was raining. The bus terminal was small & filled with people coming or going. People were friendly & there was lots of joking & laughter. The kiosks sold Meat Pies, they were very popular as each shop sold them. They reminded me of English Pork pies but I suspect they were beef?

It felt quite rustic in the terminal as the large seats were wooden but hard wearing & clean. The floor was wooden too. Outside was wet, muddy & overcast to rainy. I didn’t want to stay in the city. I asked about a bus to Balmopan, it’s in the West of the country, not far from the Guatemalan border. Thought I’d head there for the night. An ‘Express’ bus that cost a little more as rather plush, was scheduled to leave so I bought a ticket as the day was getting on & I wanted to find a bed before dark. It took an hour & half so as you see Belize is a small country. Again I got my blanket out of my bag as the ‘coach’ had reclining seats & cold air-conditioning. There weren’t many people onboard, it wasn’t as interesting, or as much fun as the Chicken bus. I watched the light rain & men working to set new lampposts up in a busy road. Soggy countryside slipped past as we drove away from the city.

Something not to be tripped over right outside the room!

In Balmopan it wasn’t raining. The terminal was very similar to the one in Belize City, the same wooden seats. It wasn’t as busy. An older man approached asking if I wanted a taxi. I asked him about a cheap hotel. He was in a private car & had to open the passenger door by leaning inside the window.. We arrived at El Hotelito where I took a room for B$30 for the night. It was very basic but any bed was better than the previous night on the bus. There were several hazards to avoid tripping over in front of room 7. A Belize dollar is worth 50c American & US$ could be used anywhere at that rate. Spanish was spoken by the lady who checked me in. ID needed but no receipt issued.

I had a shower & walked the same route the taxi had taken back into town. There didn’t seem to be anywhere close by to eat anything other than tortillas. I’d noted a restaurant that I thought probably served different meals in town as the bus had approached the terminal. The roads are wide, good footpaths mostly & although it was early evening there weren’t too many cars. There were some joggers & walkers, it was quite suburban. I knew I was in a British Commonwealth country when I passed a large cricket ground! (Apologies very slack on photos on this whole trip.) It would have been fun to watch a Sunday game of cricket there. At the restaurant close to the bus terminal I had a beer & a good meal. I perused the map of Belize while I ate. It was dark outside when I began to walk back to the hotel, then it began to rain & then to pour down. A very nice young couple gave me a lift back to the hotel.

Quite an obstacle to get to the loo & shower!

In the room I had another good look at the wonderful map, there were dotted routes of different ferry routes that left the Southern coast of Belize…umm very interesting. Seeing the chance of a boat trip instead of a road trip I was excited. Some departed for ports in Guatemala but one went to Honduras! I did a little research online, that particular ferry had weekly departures, on Fridays. It was Tuesday. So I planned a new route, deciding not to cross into Guatemala from Balmopan. I was in this for an adventure! I’d go down to the Southern coast. Online I read that the ferry departed from both Placencia &  Independence in Belize to Puerto Cortes in Honduras…THAT was the way I wanted to go! From Puerto Cortes I could travel down through Honduras & cross into Southern El Salvador, my destination. Then I would return to Mexico via Guatemala. I’d do a loop. Plus I’d see another country. Exciting!  A good spur of the moment decision.

Here you can see the dotted ferry route to Puerto Cortes in Honduras.

In the morning I wanted to walk into town again, I wasn’t in too much of a rush it wasn’t that far to Independence where I’d decided to go next. I took a different route to walk into town. A lady in a community veggie shop suggested I walk on the footpath that crossed a big grassed area with large trees to get to town. It was perfect. Squirrels in a tree were being chased by birds. Coming quickly into town I passed the police station, community hall & near to the mercado I sat & ate tortillas filed with cheese & beans. Cheap, filling & tasty with chilli sauce added. Again a mix of Spanish but mostly English was spoken by the locals eating there.

I noted an older chap wandering around & I followed him to a wooden rondel. He appeared pushing a wheelchair seated in which was a music case. I beckoned to him & he was keen for a chat. What a laugh, what a lovely tale he had. He is Australian so we had plenty to talk about. He’s 81 now & moved to Belmopan in 2005 when he met his future wife online. He came & married the lady & he’s been there ever since. He said he was going, with his harp, to busk near the market with the harp he had in the music case. 

Don Harper 81 from Melbourne, Australia. Lived in Belmopan since 2007.

I walked back on the same path & at the veggie shop got a great take away shake drink with Belize cacao, almond milk, dates & chia seeds. At the hotel they were keen for me to leave as they informed me check out time was 1000!! They didn’t tell me that when I checked in. Back in town I found Rod the Aussie, there he was sat in the wheelchair & playing his harp. I sat at the restaurant he was in front of & ordered a custard apple shake. I asked Rod to play Waltzing Matilda which he Said he hadn’t played for a very long time. It sounded good & I videoed him.

I caught a bus headed down the country with Independence as my destination. It would take 3 hours & cost B$14. The bus had come from Belize City so was half full when it pulled into Balmopan. People got off to buy food or drink as with all buses in Latin America when you get off briefly you usually leave something on the seat so no one sits there that’s just getting on. What ever you leave, a hat, a plastic bag, won’t be moved or touched.

Stuffed Jalapenos.

People got on to sell food & drinks. I sat next to a man who works on one of the fancy Island resorts off the coast in the North of the country. He was going to stay with his family in a small town that we came to a little before Independence called Maya Mopan. The Mayan culture ranged a very long way. Yucatan has many ruins & Belize has some too as does Guatemala & possibly Honduras?

It was a pleasant drive mostly flat land but quite tropical & lots of flowering bushes & trees. my neighbour chatted a bit more about the price it was costing him to travel this far. It cost B$75 to get off the island where he works to the mainland he said. Belize has a population of around half a million people. The bus went into Dangriga which looked like a big fishing & industrial port. A couple of very quiet Scandinavian looking girls got off the bus at the turn off for Hopkins which my fellow passenger told me is a big tourist stop as there are boats out to reefs & resorts from there.

On a fishermen’s pontoon looking towards Hokey Pokey Wharf.

When I got off the bus in Independence it seemed a small, sleepy town. I asked about reasonably priced accommodation from a young man on a motor bike selling fruit outside the bus terminal. He suggested I walk to Ursula’s Guest House, it wasn’t far he said. Opposite the petrol station where I had to turn left was a Chinese restaurant. I went in for a fish burger, B$17. At Ursula’s Guest House I met Shelly, Ursula’s daughter now running the guest house as Ursula had died a few years ago. It was a good clean place I was given an upstairs room at the back that had a balcony. B$50 a night.

Intending to withdraw some cash & find the beach I went for a walk. Umm I took the wrong road for the beach. It was a busy road to a wharf, lots of semi trailer trucks passed me as I walked. It wasn’t until I got quite far & asked a third time if this was the road to the beach that I was told it led to a big private wharf. So I gave up & headed back towards the room.

I passed a few shops, all seemed to be run by Chinese people. Shrewd business people the Chinese! I sat outside talking with an older man who was ‘taking air’ in the cool of the evening. I bought some beers & took them back t the room. Although there was a group of young men hanging around outside a house I didn’t feel threatened & called out ‘Good Evening’ & they replied. I don’t go out alone at night. I got back to the room a little after dark my preferred, safer way. Internet was free at the Guest House so I could catch up with friends online.

The next morning I first found a good breakfast on the main square, like a village green, I wondered if cricket is played there. There were 3 small places offering different breakfasts. One had tortillas & tacos, the other had pupusas which I’d had the morning before, the 3rd place was decorated very prettily & tempted me with scrambled eggs, homemade tomato sauce, beans, fried plantain & popped fried tortillas. A bottle of mamey drink was very tasty too. I’d already had 2 cups of tea in the room. Sated I walked quite some way to find Malacata Beach. Independence isn’t on the ocean as the peninsula where Placencia is situated shelters it. At the beach the water was calm & mud coloured, mangroves grew along the foreshore to the North & South.

Sign to the beach in Independence.

What I presume was a resort had fences right behind the narrow stretch of sand. From the beach you could see the peninsula that is Placencia.

Seats sponsored by town businesses. Placencia is across the water.

A barge carrying heavy machinery came over from the peninsula & entered up a creek or canal seemingly right on the foreshore. I peeked around the fence to see where it had gone but I couldn’t see far. Looking at the map I think it must have gone into Big Creek? A place marked on the map.

Barge looks like it is going aground but is going up a creek.

Some young men were cutting big pipes. They said they would be connected right the way over to the peninsular. It looked like the plan was to carry the pipes on the empty barge.

Then I waved down a passing taxi as I walked from the beach. The driver drove to pick up some pre booked passengers & we all went to Hokey Pokey Wharf. There I paid B$8 to catch a small ferry over to the ‘real Caribbean’! Had to laugh at the name of the wharf. 

Arriving in Placencia.

I disembarked to a different world entirely! I recognised what was the main road down this small peninsula. I crossed it & found a concrete tourist path that led past small shops selling local handcrafts etc. In a 2nd hand bookshop I chatted with an American expat who complained about the amount of new arrivals come to live in this pretty piece of Belize. He & his wife have been there 15 years. I asked where he thought would be a god place to have a beer & he suggested The Pickled Parrot Bar his favourite e said. He did give a few other suggestions but I chose to go there. It was hot & I’d walked quite a bit, well that’s my excuse for a cool beer in the middle of the day.

Ex Pats in the Pickled Parrot Bar, Placencia.

Well the bar was full of ex pats some already tipsy, getting pickled? Almost all were retirees & talked about either Biden or Trump. The chap sitting next to me had been in town 6 years others were more recent arrivals. He said they have Trivia nights, Wheel of Fortune & as he spoke a group of other men got up to sit at a table for their Poker game. Oh dear I’ve seen these ex pat gatherings in many places, just not my cup of tea & I’d soon drunk my beer & exited.

Poker Game starts.

Towards the end of the peninsula I came to a tourist office. There I picked up a local newspaper where many activities ex pats were up to. Helping to rebuild sea walls, a new bakery opened, volunteers needed for turtle patrol etc etc.

I could see the sea on both sides as the peninsula narrowed. It was very colourful & funny names like Big Titty Bar caught my eye.

At a jetty with small berths tour boats waited for customers.

I turned towards the open sea I could see thru the trees. Down another concrete path past more souvenir shops, a real estate office & small cafe I saw an opening & walked out to the beautiful beach. The area was surrounded by high class resorts but there didn’t seem to be any visitors. Some of the resorts had beach bars they too were empty.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

I sat on a big log & decided it was safe enough to leave everything & have a nice cooling dip in the blue blue sea.

Had a swim here, left my stuff on the log.

Yummy. A lady came along trying to sell woven baskets she had made. I asked her how many children she had, 2. She got a bit upset as she said the father of the children had left her & broken her heart. Oh dear. I gave her a hug & wished her luck as she continued along the empty beach.

I returned to the ferry wharf where a drunk man was having a loud conversation with anyone who wanted to listen. Although in the west he would have been called a nuisance & probably removed her he was tolerated although no one was that happy about his ranting. He was permitted the freedom to continue while the ferry arrived & we all piled on, he wasn’t causing any harm or trouble he’d just had a big day ha ha. I doubt he’d come from the Pickled Parrot but he’d had a few too many somewhere. The ferry was full as people were leaving work in Placencia to go home to Independence. It’s obviously much cheaper to live in Independence than Placencia. As the ferry pulled away from the wharf finally a man was gently helping the drunk man to ‘move along’.

The next morning I went up to the village green & ordered 3 pupusas filled with peas & cheese to take away. Also another bottle of the delicious mamey drink. Shelly rang a taxi for me & I was at Malacata Beach by 0830. I hadn’t needed to be there that early but I wanted to be sure of a place. The boat wasn’t that big. 2 marques had been set up beside the old barge I’d seen the day before.

Palapas are designed & made differently in different places. Malacata Beach Independence.

A lady was taking names & the fare, B$150 or US$75. I had to pay with some of both currencies as I was almost out of Belize $’s but that didn’t bother the lady as long as it added up. Next to her a man copied the names onto another list. My bag was taken & weighed & put onboard, below deck. When the Immigration staff arrived a tax of B$7.50 was payable to get an exit stamp, then i could board the ferry.

The ferry & a few passengers. Turned out we were 80 onboard!

There was a young Canadian lady onboard & I chose to sit beside her & we chatted. It was good to see another single lady travelling. She’d stayed in a hostel in Placencia & had fallen for a dive master from Colombia who was doing a visa run from Honduras where he worked at a famous resort. The Canadian had fallen for this chap & coincidentally was headed to the place where he taught diving. She was quite excited to be going to meet up with him. I gave her a few cautions about holiday romances without dampening her fervour too much.

A group of local school teachers were very excited school had just broken up for 8 weeks of holidays & they were going to Honduras for a few days to party. They all had pink t shirts on the read “I’m a Teacher – What’s your Superpower?”  They were good fun & offered each other lots of different packets of processed food, like they needed building up ha ha. At 1100 finally the ferry now very loaded left & motored into the channel & then out to open seas. It became a little wet but it was a great ferry ride. It took about 4 hours to cross the shallow part of the Caribbean sea. We passed but couldn’t see the coast of Guatemala. A container ship sailed behind crossing our path. There were some sea birds but not a lot, it was a little difficult to see much as spray was splashing up & in through closed gangways, especially while we were out on open water but then it calmed quickly & we were in the Gulf of Honduras, approaching the big port of Puerto Cortes in Honduras.

PART 2 TO FOLLOW, HONDURAS