My sister and her husband took a San Francisco to Seattle trip on the Green Tortoise once, many years ago, and thought the experience interesting. I remember her description of a restroom stop where the driver pulled into a shopping mall and said, “Alright guys, fan out, be inconspicuous.”
So they’re apparently still operating. I’m thinking about a little vacation jaunt with them. Probably not the Central America run.
Anybody have experience with 'em?
I did the same run, Seattle to San Fran. I loved it. 'Course, I was a hippy boy, so be forewarned.
Best part was stopping by a river in Oregon for a salmon-bake dinner followed by a skinny-dip. Had the Green Tortoise sauna been working (not on the bus, but on the site where we stopped), it woulda been even better.
Daniel
I’ve been on the Yosemite trip and the Yucatan trip.
First comes the warnings. The Green Tortoise is not luxery. You will be spending at least a couple nights sleeping on a loud, crowded bus. If it is a full trip, you will be wedged between some likely smelly people. You will bath in rivers, lakes, and if you are lucky some funky showers. You may eat dinner on a curb on the side of some highway somewhere. You will be expected to set up, prepare, cook, and wash dishes for communal meals. You may need to help push the bus out of a rut in the road, or help carry fresh drinking water. Your tour may get yelled at by park rangers, searched by federales, run out of food, run out of gas, get sidetracked as the driver follows a pretty girl, or otherwise disrupted. The drivers provide knowledge, transportation, and will of course help out, but it is a communal experience and they arn’t going to do a lot for you.
Phew…
The Green Tortoise is a hell of a lot of fun!
The Tortoise attracts some fun people. Lots of Europeans and Australians on vacation. People make pretty fast friends- I know more than one long term relationship that has bloomed on the tortoise. It’s great for people traveling alone (most people will be) and there is a wide age range so if you are able-bodied but older, you won’t be the only one.
Because it’s not a traditional tour situation, and very flexible, the tortoise can do some stuff that you might not know to do on your own and that a more traditional tour company wouldn’t go near. I remember hiking on bandit-infested trails to find a legendary waterfall, spending the night on top of a Mayan pyramid, walking through a jungle full of scorpians monekeys and spiders (and lord knows what else) with just a flashlight, drinking rum and hitting a pinata with the locals, resting up in hot springs in the middle of the desert at three am while listening to a cowboy party miles away whooping it up, and sitting around a campfire telling stories with the drivers and watching the stars.
The food is great and plentiful. You have to help out in preparing it. But it’s really really good.
The activities are mostly outdoor based. Lots of hiking, swimming and the like. The go to some pretty amazing places. You will either sleep on the bus or camp under the stars. I bought a hammock and slept on that every night and it worked out great- I really reccomend bringing a hammock if you are going to do it.
I really recommend the Green Tortoise. It’s easier than completly roughing it yourself, but it doesn’t sacrifice much of the adventure.
I took the GT from Seattle to SF once also. It was fun and cheap, which were my primary goals when younger. We stopped at a hot spring and bathed. I sat next to a crazy guy who muttered to himself the whole way. I tried to ditch him when we reboarded, but the other riders made me sit next to him again. There was also a German girl who had no arms and did everything with her feet. She was amazingly adept.
Upon arrival in SF, I checked my stuff in at the hostel and took off for the day. When I got back to my bunk later, I noticed the whole room stank-just like the GT bus and the hot springs. Imagine my surprise when I realized the source of the extremely funky odor was me! A thorough scrubbing of myself and everything I owned solved the problem.
Would I do it again? Sure. I don’t think my husband and kids would enjoy it much, though.