Belize by bus

Riding the James Bus Line in Belize should be near the top of the list on how to integrate into the culture. It is quite an experience. First, you wait under the shade of a thatched roof bus stop with 17 other Belizean passengers all with patience equivalent to buddhist monks because of growing up on Belizean time schedule. Once aboard the brightly painted school bus you need to scan for a seat that has enough room for at least one of your butt cheeks... most of the time though the bus is already filled- it probably filled up on its first stop- so you stand. Standing would be fine if you didn't have an enormous backpack filled to the brim for the weekend adventures.

Next stop usually adds another 20 sweaty passengers, one of them is usually a farming Mennonite gent with an assortment of produce and dairy. Last trip the little man had 16 5 gallon jugs filled with aging cheese to load into the back of the bus- and it was Good Friday so there were only 2 buses running all day long, thus the bus was PACKED. The cheese was very.... well cheesey. The smell permeated the entire bus. He insisted on sitting on top of his buckets in the aisle, and fell into the lap of one of the innocent bystanders with every wild turn.

My least favorite of all the stops is a fisherman pickup. Here we load 8 burley men covered in fish guts onto the bus. Because it is standing room only they are practically in your lap, and their fishy shirts flap in your face.

You also will find at least one group of unruly teenagers drinking Belikin regardless of the time of day.

Finally to complete the trip, there is must be least one crying baby who is completely unconsolable the entire 5 hour ride.

I am sure the bus driver senses the passenger discomfort, and thus he is forced to drive 100 mph around the mountain roads slick with recent rain. The bus is on two wheels for most of the journey, and your heart is in your throat- but somehow you make it to your destination in one piece, and life seems just a little more sparkly and care-free.