Chicken buses

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The standard way the locals get around Guatemala, both locally and long distance, is by a so called Chicken bus. 

This is the bus station in Antigua. These buses are retired school buses. A local not for profit in Antigua, Niños de Guatemala, runs tours out to a local village. One of the things that they show you is a chicken bus workshop where the locals convert an American school bus to a chicken bus. 
However, to get to the village we take a chicken bus. The guide walks you down to the bus station where all the drivers are yelling their destinations. From here “Guate” is a popular destination. Short for Guatemala City. 

These buses are driven from the United States, through Mexico and into Guatemala. At that point they tent to cut off some of the back of the bus (roads are narrow here and corners tight) and remove any insulation and fire retardant material. There are no safety standards here – they are only concerned with packing as many people on as they can. 
They then give it a flashy paint job. This is to attract customers. After all, if the owner can pay for a paint job, he can pay for new brakes and suspension right?

Are they safe? Structurally they seem ok. However, there are a large amount of robberies that occur. The drivers are an easy target for theft and pickpockets are rife. Being a chicken bus driver is not exactly an ideal career choice, but so many people here don’t get much of a choice. 

Antigua coffee tour

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After a short shuttle ride from Guatemala City I arrived in Antigua, the old capital. Antigua is a fairly relaxed place with lots of coffee shops to sit down and people watch. What it also has those is a coffee plantation just North of town. 

I’m certainly a lover of coffee, but I have never visited a plantation. Filadelfia plantation is very old skool. The beans are hand picked by hundreds of workers. 
The plants are all started in compost before being relocated to the mountain side. These plants grow up to 2500m in elevation. 

When they are red, they are ready for picking. Workers are paid around 70c per pound of coffee beans that they pick. Considering the manual labour involved this seems very low. They are then taken down the mountain where the skins are removed manually and they are left to dry in the sun. 

I always thought most of this process was mechanical or automated. But, at least in Guatemala, it’s a very manual, labour intensive process. 

Of course I bought some beans to bring back. I still need to buy a good coffee grinder. 

One day in Guatemala City

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Sunday night, after a connection in Panama City, I arrived in Guatemala City. Pretty much everything I read told me to leave Guatemala City as soon as possible and head to Antigua. Guatemala City was dirty, dangerous, and there was very little to do. After spending most of my Monday there I’m not sure I totally agree. 
Certainly Guatemala City is not the safest place that you will ever visit, but most Central American capitals suffer from a high crime rate and a large amount of poverty. So I carried a minimal amount of cash and left anything too valuable at the hotel. 
I used Uber to get from zone 10 (where most hotels are located) to zone 1, the historic center. What I was not expecting was the architecture. It’s really lovely. Sure, some of it needs maintaining, but a lot of it is in really good condition. 
I spent some time walking around downtown. Old colonial architecture butts up against newly renovated coffee shops and restaurants which butt up against the poverty outside. It’s an interesting sight to see. 
Guatemala City operates some new buses called Transmetro. These buses are safer than the local chicken buses and cost GTQ1 or GTQ2 depending on the route. The only downside to the bus is that they are usually packed (although it still felt safe) so there are often long lines. It’s probably easier to use Uber, but the bus is an experience in itself. 

So my advice – if you land in GUA then you should not be afraid to spent a day to see the city. The friendly locals alone make it worth it. There is crime – so use common sense – but just as you would in any large city around the world.