Traveling from Guatemala to South America

Greetings -

I'm currently planning a trip which will start with a month-plus of language school in Guate - probably some time in Xela and some time at Lago Atitlan. I'm wondering about how I might get from Guate down to South America, and what a good itenerary might be to do so. I'm trying to get to Lima at one point, and also to Cuenca, Ecuador. And of course many other places :)

My itenerary is pretty flexible, as I have 3 or 4 months to travel at the minimum.

Is it reasonable to plan a trip around this journey? How much time should I leave for the trip? And what are my options in terms of comfort, i.e. chicken busses, shuttles, etc. I'd be very open to hearing people's stories about bus travel along this route and ho wI might make it the most enjoyable. Thanks for your help!

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Josh
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Fly from Costa Rica to San Andrés, and then on to Cartagena in Colombia?

Thanks for the suggestion. As far as air travel, can anyone suggest airlines for cheap (but still safe) air travel.

Also, I'm still very interested to hear people's suggestions about bus travel along this route.

Thanks!

Hey there, Spirit Airlines www.spiritair.com flies to Guatemala and Lima out of Fort Lauderdale. Hopefully you can get a good deal if you combine your flights taking advantage of the super fares run all the time.. Otherwise TACA and Copa have daily flights from guatemala to South America via San Jose or Panama. Good luck.

Thanks again. Please elaborate on 'combining' flights? Are you suggesting connecting flights with a 1.5 month time gap in the middle?

Still interested in hearing about bus travel, but I guess a fair question to ask here as well is: Should I always assume that a flight from Central to South America will cost between $350 - $500? That's generally what I'm seeing. If this is the case, is bus travel more economical? Just trying to get a hold on what travel options are.

Thanks!

Tica bus is a good alternative as far as Costa Rica, from where you could sail or fly to Cartagena, and continue from there. Not sure of the total cost as i did it in stages, but definitely much cheaper than flying the whole way, and more chances to take in the countries. Actually we started our trip the same, with spanish classes in Antigua. To begin with though, we went with the El Roble guys to El Salvador(http://elrobleelsalvador.blogspot.com) They have a great package, including transport, breakfast and a tour of the capital over 2 nights/3 days. They´ll drop you at Tica bus in the city if you want and give you a whole load of other ideas on how to continue. Darren has been in Central America some years and his girlfriend is Salvadoran. Couldnt hope to meet a nicer couple.
Good luck and safe journeying

There is no bus travel, as there is no road, a slight obstacle is in the way..its is called the Darien Gap.

You need to either fly the route above speaks about, or fly from San Jose Costa Rica or Panama City Panama. It has been about $200 oneway recently, maybe less, maybe more. Try Kayak.com for various airline and route options.

You can take a sailboat charter, from Panama, its about $250 as well to Colombia, and is about 3-4 days at sea, and also allow a few days to over a week, for a sailboat to organize the passengers for the trip. The hostels in Panama can help, like Purple House.

You can cross the Darien Gap, via foot trails, a series of boats, and local guides, but its a no mans land of sorts, is a risk for both malaria, and also security, as bandits, para military, and narco drug traffickers, mixed in with ethnic feuding and touchy border patrols makes it a pain in many respects. You can tour the darien though thru Lodges and guides on the Panama side, and its a huge national park.

Colombia is a new tourist frontier though, and if you can spend some time there I am sure you will enjoy it. Of course, allow a lot more time in South America, as all of Centro America, 5 countries, fit into the size of Colombia, so its a lot more time via busses and boats and taxis shares.

In regards to getting from Guatemala to Costa Rica/Panama, there is Tica bus, among others, that connect all the Capitols via the Pan Am 1. You could easily spend 4-6 weeks just exploring the rest of the CA region via bus, or figure 4 days of bus travel between the two points.

To fly into Guatemala from North America, try Spirit Airlines, as Delmonte said. They are the cheapest. Otherwise, there are many options, don't know where you're flying from but I'm sure you'll find a good option.

In Central America, you can travel by bus all the way to Panama. To go on in South America, I suggest you to fly from Panama City to Colombia, Peru or Ecuador, depending on where you decide to go and where the cheaper airfares are. If you don't want to see Colombia, I'd fly straight into Quito or Guayaquil and bus it down from there until reaching Peru, and fly back home from Lima. Otherwise, I'd fly to Cartagena in Colombia and bus it down from there.

I am considering the same trip this winter. Please post up to date info on how to get from Panama to Colombia when you get there.