Borders That I Have Crossed In Central America

Posted: November 2, 2024

Many travel bloggers love to quote:

“It’s all about the journey and not the destination”.

So why do most of them just bang on about the destination with little to no mention of the actual journey?

I love the journey more than the destination (I will have to delve much deeper into this idea)

I am one of the few pure travellers still out there. And on my blog, you can find many posts about the actual journey.

This is a follow-up post to my Border Crossings in Africa post and details the border crossings I have made between Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, Costa Rica and Panama.

Chicken bus at the las Manos Border on the Honduras side

I know Mexico is in North America, but for the purpose of this blog post, I will include it in Central America. The reason is that this post covers the borders between Mexico and Central America, not the borders to the USA.

All of these border crossings were done using local transport as opposed to using cross-border gringo shuttles. Bus to the border, walk across, get onward transport. This is my main modus operandi on all my travels.

Unlike my Africa Border Crossing post, I have blogged about all of these separately:

Quite a long journey this one. A bus from San Cristobal to Tuxtla, a night bus to Tapachula, a combi-van to the border, and 2 chicken buses on the Guatemalan side before finally resting up in Quetzaltenango.

I did this crossing during the pandemic. No dramas. No tourists. Just Nomadic Backpacker doing his thing.

From Flores/Santa Elena to Palenque. A tough day in the heat:

Minivan to Ceibo border crossing between Guatemala and Mexico

I wanted to avoid going through Honduras, so I took the boat from La Union (El Salvador) to Potosi (Nicaragua).

Although it was a great adventure, in hindsight, I wish I had gone through Honduras:

Nomadic Backpacker travelling by boat from El Salvador to Nicaragua

The border crossing between Nicaragua and Costa Rica at Los Chiles is a bit more adventurous than the main Peñas Blancas crossing. I was the only foreigner using this route:

Costa Rica to Panama, another day at the office. No dramas here. But I was happy to see less Americanisation of everything:

paying the departure tax to leave Costa Rica

The main border crossing between Panama and Costa Rica. The buses were full of migrants, all heading north in search of a better life. Had to blag my way onto a bus. I was given floor space for a fee:

Getting back into Nicaragua was again a slow and drawn-out process:

Nicaragua flag at Peñas Blancas border crossing

This was my favourite border crossing in that I was crossing into Honduras, one of the most dangerous countries in the world. The border crossing at Las Manos was easy, but getting transport to the capital was hard going because of all the migrants heading north. Not that they were an issue, per se, but all the buses were full.

I felt sad crossing the Honduras-Guatemala border at Corinto. I enjoyed Honduras, but thought I didn't give it enough time.

I am always excited to travel to a new country. Crossing into Belize, formerly British Honduras, at Melchor de Mencos:

Arriving at the Melchor de Mencos border crossing

The only border where the immigration officers gave me grief was from Belize to Mexico at Santa Elena:

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