Guanaja - Chicken Bus? No Way!

Guanaja has captured our hearts! We will be heading back to this Caribbean paradise in a week, or at least we will be in Honduras by then. Once again we will be flying TACA from Miami to San Pedro Sula, but this time we will be taking our time on the mainland and maybe even spend the night there. We have the phone number of Miguel, a reliable taxi driver to take us to our hotel and then the bus station. Our plan is to take the "good" bus, no not the chicken bus, to La Ceiba.

For those of you who are unaware of the famous Central American "chicken bus," I have located a picture here. These "beasts" begin their lives taking small American children back and forth to school. In fact, in my younger years, I actually drove a school bus of middle school children ... little did I know then, that the daily crazy trips with hormonally charged pre-teens would come back to haunt my later years!

After the US determines that there is no life left in these big yellow and black buses,they are shipped them off to Central America where they start life all over again in the chicken bus circuit. They are painted up in garishly bright colors, chrome is added and a few king sized stereo speakers strapped in for musical entertainment. The "no vacancy" sign is removed as there is always room for just one more! The real kicker here is, that the chicken bus stops everywhere and while it is very inexpensive, it takes forever to get to your destination.

I have heard that it is very important to get on the correct bus at the depot because otherwise you might be trapped in a rolling nightmare with renditions of La Bamba booming in your ears!

My husband has assured me that the bus we are going to take will have air conditioning and a movie, in addition to the pleasant scenery. It should take about three hours to reach our destination in La Ceiba . I'll keep you posted!

Fortunately, Guanaja has no roads, therefore no chicken buses! Schucks!