Guatemalan Transportation

Hello all,

I had a great weekend meeting up with other volunteers at the Welcome Party in the department of Huehuetenango. Met volunteers from Huehuetenango and Quiche, a joint Welcome party. Not only was the party a memorable experience, but also was my ride out there on Friday and then returning on Sunday. It takes about three hours to get out to where the party was but for me it took a little longer.

As some of you know the main means of transportation for most Guatemalans and myself included are “Chicken Buses” or in Spanish, they are called camionetas. These are old retired US school buses, painted and stooped to Guatemalan standards. These buses travel all throughout Guatemala and can get you pretty close to where you need to go. Each bus has a driver or “chofer” and a helper or “ayudante” that collects the fare for the bus. Buses here carry many more people than you could ever imagine. It is standard that seats are filled with three people. This works for small school children, as I can remember in my bus riding days in elementary school, but it is a bit more difficult for grownups, though Guatemalans are much shorter than Americans. In addition to this, people can fill in the isles. Drivers fill their buses to the max in order to make the most money off of their trips. With so many people on the bus it makes it a little difficult to get off and you may end up getting closer to some people than you really wanted to. I am slowly getting accustomed to this but I feel it will take a little more time for me to be ok with someone that far into my personal space.

My ride out to Huehuetenango began first with catching a camioneta to the capital of my department. This has been a challenge for me because catching one involves me determining if it’s a bus that’s going to the capital and then waving my hand to alert the drive that I desire to get on. All of the buses have their destinations posted above the windshield. So I have to read the location quickly and wave my hand in enough time for the bus, that is usually barreling down the highway, to notice and stop. I have waved a few times without having the driver stop and I know the saw me. This can be a little frustrating because I know it’s probably because I am a gringa but such is the life of a PCV. I finally caught one to my desired destination and was in a bit of rush in order to catch the last bus for the day out to Huehuetenango from the capital of my department. The route to the capital involves some “curvas peligrosos” or dangerous curves but this doesn’t always phase the drivers. These are curves that turn back on themselves and are going uphill or down. Drivers of camionetas like to go fast so when they get stuck behind slower moving vehicles they are very apt to pass which is sometimes done blind. Blind passing is a very common thing and most drivers pay enough attention to avoid accidents of this fashion, but that’s a little more difficult on the curvas peligrosos. On my way out to the capital, when I was in a but of a rush, we come to a line up of cars within the area of dangerous curves. We sat there for a little while and people started getting off the bus to gawk (Guatemalans love to do this) and then the driver killed the engine and we ended up sitting there for about a half an hour. It turns out that a couple of blind passings had happened on the curves causing not one but two separate accidents. From my times traveling through this area on previous trips it seemed that it was only a matter of time before something like this were to happen. It was a relief that we started moving and I was able to catch the last bus out to Huehuetenango.

The ride to get from the capital of my department to the capital of Huehuetenango is on a microbus. These are about the size of a van and seat about 15 people plus the driver. The ride there was pretty uneventful with some beautiful scenery and the sun setting but the ride back was a different story. I was able to experience how full those micros can really get. Just when one would think that there is no more room, the driver stops to pick up more people. I was happy that we had gotten on at the beginning of the route and were able to secure a seat of our choice. Another interesting thing about Guatemalan transportation is what people transport. Anything and everything that people want to carry with them comes in or on top of the buses. A lady getting on the microbus was carrying two geese wrapped in a gunnysack with one head sticking out of one side and one from the other. I have seen many interesting things carried on the bus, mostly animals. I have seen a lady with live chickens in her apron, a lady with a puppy in a basket, and some guy with a woodworker. I am sure this is only the beginning of the crazy things I will see on the bus.

Until next time,
Kelsey