7/8/2014 Taking Buses Through Latin America

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0205/buses.shtml 1/2
Home Work Abroad Teach Abroad Volunteer Abroad Study Abroad Living Abroad Travel Abroad High School Webzine

Search
As seen in Transitions Abroad Magazine May/June 2002
Related Topics
Independent Travel
Budget Travel
Related Articles
Overland Travel in
Central America
Overland Travel in South
America
Getting Around in Mexico
Bus Travel in Mexico
Taking Buses Through Latin America
The Best Way to Get to Know the Countries
By Craig Guillot
Traveling overland through Latin America is becoming easier and faster. Driving
your own car remains a challenge; bus transportation while cheap, fast, reliable, and
actually quite comfortable, is the best way to get to know Latin American countries.
Buses range in price and speed from the top-of-the-line ejecutivo (or deluxe) to the
rock-bottom chicken buses (second class). The middle range first class buses put
Greyhound to shame. With planning, one can make the journey from Laredo, Texas to
Panama City, Panama in as little as four days.
Juarez and Laredo to Mexico City: Omnibus de Mexico (www.omnibus.com.mx)
has two daily departures from Laredo.
From Mexico City you can either travel on to Chetumal and south to Belize or go
straight across Oaxaca and Chiapas to the Guatemalan border. ADO makes the 1,450-
kilometer, 24-hour trip between the Terminal Oriente in Mexico City and Chetumal on
the Belizian border. To Chiapas, the most direct route is to Tuxtla Guiterrez: 1,000
kilometers, 17 hours, with U.N.O. From there, several Mexican bus companies
including Ticabus have connecting buses to Tapachula (400-kilometers, seven hours)
on the Guatemalan border.
From Guatemala City the Ticabus (www.ticabus.com) runs all the way to Panama
City, connecting through all the capitals in between: San Salvador, Tegucigalpa,
Managua, and San Jose. You can break it down into different legs or make the whole
journey straight through with a couple of overnight stops in the capitals.
Melva International (3 Avenida 1-38, Zona 9, Guatemala City, 331-0874) makes the
268-kilometer trip between Guatemala City and San Salvador, El Salvador with eight
buses a day. The trip takes about five hours. From San Salvador to Tegucigalpa,
Honduras, King Quality (Bolv. Comunidad Economica Europea, Tel. 225-5415 in
Tegucigalpa) runs two daily ejecutivo buses for the 9-hour trip. From Tegucigalpa to
Managua, Nicaragua, or Ticabus remain the main modes of transportation, with
numerous daily departures which take. 8 1/2-hours.
Between Managua, Nicaragua and San Jose, Costa Rica, the Pan-American Highway
weaves around the shores of Lake Nicaragua, past breathtaking volcanoes and
roadside villages. The highway pushes on into the dry Guanacaste region of Costa
Rica before climbing higher into the mountains in the center of the country. The 450-
kilometer, 279-mile trip takes 11 hours one way with Ticabus or Panaline.
From San Jose the Pan-American Highway stretches 900 kilometers (558 miles) to
the Panamanian capital. Ticabus and Panaline (fascinationcostarica.com) both make
the trip. Once in Panama City, there are no regular routes or roads through the Darien
Gap. The most direct route to South America is a ferry from Colon to Cartegena,
Colombia from where buses lead to Bogota and the rest of the continent.
The Bus Station (www.busstation.net) is an excellent source of information with
transit-related links all over the world, including to Latin American bus companies. Bus
Explorer (www.busexplorer.com) is an interesting site with information and pictures of
different types and styles of buses around the world, including Latin America.
CRAIG GUILLOT is a freelance writer and photojournalist who currently lives in New
Orleans, LA.
7/8/2014 Taking Buses Through Latin America
http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0205/buses.shtml 2/2
TRANSITIONS ABROAD BECOME A CONTRIBUTOR TERMS AND CONDITIONS
About Us Submit an Article Transitons Abroad 1995-2014
Contact Us Student Travel Writing Contest Privacy
Archives Narrative Travel Writing Contest Terms of Service
Advertise Expatriate and Work Abroad Writing Contest
Add Programs
Join Our Email List
Constant Contact