the local bus

So we hop on this bus at the station. You can tell that it started its career in some San Antonio school district circa 1964. Certainly was taken out of service long before I hit grade school. it's not too crowded, meaning that there is one seat left with only two people on it. I take this one and hang out for roughly an hour while locals pile on and the bus idles in the sun.
It's 87 degrees outside, and a man is standing in the front of the bus selling some sort of miracle cure at full volume.

Once enough people are aboard that nobody can move anymore, the bus starts moving. It stops a few more times to cram more folks aboard, then one last time so that a guy in a pickup truck can throw a bunch of mail packages in the windows and fill up any additional space.

We continue to pick up passengers along the way, sometimes stopping twice in 50 feet. After about half an hour, I give up my seat to a woman, her baby, her son, and their chicken. I'll be standing for the rest of the trip, 2 more hours to the border. The bus is packed tight enough now that I can no longer fall over. I even manage to fall asleep standing up for a while. Then the pavement ends.

2 1/2 hours, 60 miles, $1.25. In short, a pretty typical bus ride down here. It usually takes about three of them to get from one place to the next.

written by  Jason Kester on February 22, 2002 from Dangriga, Belize
from the travel blog: Central America
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