No one my age who had to ride the bus to school can deny the impact these hulking giants had on our lives.  We’d chase them when we woke up late, learn about social hierarchy up and down the rows of green seats, and time our jumps in the back with the bumps in the road to achieve maximum altitude.  I’ve never given a moment’s thought to what happened to these old busses when they’d reached the end of their useful lifespan of shuttling thousands of snot nosed kids from the local school bus stop to school.  Who knew how much more exciting their second life was?

Most of us know them as chicken busses.  These are the cheap busses that ferry thousands upon thousands of people around the Central America.  But don’t start thinking you are too good for a chicken bus.  These are in fact the same busses parents across the U.S.A. trust to get their kids to school five days a week.  The only difference?  Now they have hot rod paint jobs, modified semi-truck front ends, and chrome ladders and baggage racks.  It was my great pleasure to ride one of these refurbished behemoths to a small village outside Antigua, Guatemala.

I thought you might enjoy a few photos.  I think I found a piece of my own gum under the seat from circa 1984.

Antigua is a beautiful city and I had the chance to visit two very different social projects, my own SOS Children’s Village in San Cristobal, Guatemala, and another groups project in the hills around Antigua where the children of farm laborers can find food, tooth brushes, soap, and supplemental education on top of what the government can provide.  I am still thinking about the contrast between these two projects and how to reconcile the immense gap between the two.  More to come.  For now, I am flying back to Jargo on Roatan, Honduras and will begin prep for the next offshore jump near the end of the month.

Lee Winters
Phone: (281) 336-0855
Satellite Phone: 8816-316-59853

Web: www.SailingForSOS.com
Email: Lee.Winters@SailingForSOS.com