Traveling Central America

[enthused]

Time to tap in to CP's wealth of knowledge!

As a graduation present to ourselves, a friend and I are headed down to Central America for a few months. We leave mid-February and come back at the end of April.

Our plans so far are pretty tentative. We fly into Guatemala City, and plan to make our way down to Panama (while stopping in all of the other countries too) before making our way back up to Guatemala to leave. We've dedicated our first 1-2 weeks to taking Spanish lessons in Antigua, but after that we're kind of open to anything.

Does anyone here have any recommendations of things to check out in any of the Central American countries? Must see places? Things that shouldn't be missed? Things to avoid? Tips?

Both my friend and I are female, so I'm not sure if that should play a factor in where we should and shouldn't go, and things we should and shouldn't do?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

[troutman]

I know Antigua is a popular destination. You will meet many "gringos" there.

Are you interested in Mayan ruins?

[Kybosh]

I've been all over Costa Rica but haven't gone to the other countries you listed (yet). Highlights of Costa Rica for me are Cahuita (small town on the caribbean side) and monteverde (kind of touristy but a neat place none the less). My only recommendation is to eat as many casados as you can. They are basically a "traditional" costa rican breakfast/lunch/dinner plate. They are typically much cheaper than other meal options and usually have plantains, rice and beans with an egg or meat depending.

[enthused]

Originally Posted by troutman

I know Antigua is a popular destination. You will meet many "gringos" there.

Are you interested in Mayan ruins?

Definitely!

[troutman]

If you don't have it already, get this book (saved the day many times for me in South America):

http://shop.lonelyplanet.com/Primary...=1264626942642

[IliketoPuck]

Costa Rica and Belize are amazing, I've been twice.

Couple things to see or areas to visit

1. Mount Arenal - amazing volcano and tourist area, lots of places to do river rafting, ziplining, etc

2. Ruins of Tikal - Just across the belizean border in guatemala is the ruins of Tikal, amazing Mayan ruins completely intact (They are the ruins you see in the Star Wars IV) But more importantly if you get a local guide it will provide you a ton of insight and historical context with regards to the mayan culture.

3. Sacrificial caverns in Belize. I can't remember the exact name of these caverns, but this is easily the top vacation moment i've had in my life. I had to hike a half hour through the jungle to a point where a stream/river exits a cave mouth and then hike up the stream (into the cave) about a kilometer....things get pitch black, and then you get to jump up about 10-15 feet into an underground area larger than a football field with a roof 100 feet high. Keep in mind the only light you have is a headlamp on your helmet. You then get to hike in another 100-200 metres to where the mayans used to sacrifice people to their gods. (caves are extremely holy places in the ancient mayan beliefs). You actually get to see the body of a princess that was sacrificed a thousand years ago and was preserved....it was incredible and I would highly recommend checking it out because words can't give it justice.

If you have some questions toss me a PM i've been to alot of different central american destinations

[enthused]

Originally Posted by troutman

If you don't have it already, get this book (saved they day many times for me in South America):

http://shop.lonelyplanet.com/Primary...=1264626942642

I do have that book, and have been reading it non-stop! Lots of good suggestions in it.

[red sky]

I was in Guatemala and Honduras a few years back. I did the backpacking thing. Let me first off say, get out of Guatemala City right away. Nothing to see there. Antigua is about a 40 minute taxi ride and it, like a poster previous mentioned, is infiltrated with Gringo's and is very safe. Whilst in Antigua, make sure you do a tour of Pacaya (Volcano). There have been known to be a few robberies while hiking the volcano so don’t bring anything too expensive… just in case.

The one recommendation that I have is to go to Lake Atitlan. It is beautiful! Take a boat off to San Pedro. It is a small bohemian town and there is a bar run by a few Gringo’s and it was a blast. There is a nice hike as well there called Indian Face, IRRC. I highly recommend that. I took Spanish classes in San Pedro and they were a lot of fun and relatively inexpensive.

Will you be traveling to Honduras?

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by enthused

Both my friend and I are female

Sup. I like your hair. You come to the internet often?

[troutman]

Maybe you'll return to Managua
You could go unnoticed in such a place

- F. Zappa

[enthused]

Originally Posted by red sky

I was in Guatemala and Honduras a few years back. I did the backpacking thing. Let me first off say, get out of Guatemala City right away. Nothing to see there. Antigua is about a 40 minute taxi ride and it, like a poster previous mentioned, is infiltrated with Gringo's and is very safe. Whilst in Antigua, make sure you do a tour of Pacaya (Volcano). There have been known to be a few robberies while hiking the volcano so don’t bring anything too expensive… just in case.

The one recommendation that I have is to go to Lake Atitlan. It is beautiful! Take a boat off to San Pedro. It is a small bohemian town and there is a bar run by a few Gringo’s and it was a blast. There is a nice hike as well there called Indian Face, IRRC. I highly recommend that. I took Spanish classes in San Pedro and they were a lot of fun and relatively inexpensive.

Will you be traveling to Honduras?

Yeah we plan to get out of Guatemala City as soon as we land, and head straight to Antigua. That seems to be the advice everyone has given me so far. Lake Atitlan sounds amazing, definitely somewhere I would like to check out.

And yes, we do plan to go through Honduras. Anywhere in particular you can recommend to go there?

[troutman]

http://www.mesoweb.com/

[red sky]

Originally Posted by enthused

Yeah we plan to get out of Guatemala City as soon as we land, and head straight to Antigua. That seems to be the advice everyone has given me so far. Lake Atitlan sounds amazing, definitely somewhere I would like to check out.

And yes, we do plan to go through Honduras. Anywhere in particular you can recommend to go there?

I wasn't in Honduras for as long as I was in Guat. I checked out La Ceiba but didn't really enjoy it too much so we took the ferry over to Roatan which is absolutely stunning. If you have enough time (& cash) then I definitely recommend going there. There is a bar called Sundowners that all the divers go to watch the sunset and enjoy cheap beer and beef jerky. It is run by some people in Ontario who are huge Leaf fans. I hear sometimes that they will pull out a screen and you can watch HNiC, sitting on the beach enjoying the sunset.

Pure bliss.

[Tron_fdc]

Meet local.

Say: ¿tiene las armas, el blanco contrabando?

Begin party.

[IliketoPuck]

^ do you have arms to party? the white contraband ones?

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

I'm gonna guess that's some sort of "Hookers and blow" reference.

[IliketoPuck]

Silly me and here I was thinking it wasn't about cheap hookers and cheap blow from a third world country. I guess I was just giving the benefit of the doubt that it would be about a guy with arms wanting to party with his white contraband shirt.

[Tron_fdc]

Arms, as in the ones that go bang!!!

hahaha you see where this is going. Forget the hookers, that's totally 2000. This decades all about guns and coke, baby. Guns. And. Coke.

[Huntingwhale]

I just went to Costa Rica and Nicaragua this summer. 2 very beautiful countries, yet quite different in terms of lifestyle/government. I found the pacific coast of Costa Rica to be the most beautiful place l have ever visited. There is a volcano called Arenal in the NW region and if you ever get the chance to see it, please do. It is about a 1-2 hours drive up a mountain, and you will eventually reach a town called New Arenal. Literally a village up in the mountains. Of course the beaches on the pacific side, especially in the province of Guanacaste are quite magestic. Sunsets are truely a sight to behold. The Costa Rican's do not have an army; all of the money that could be used for arms are set aside for roads and education. Therefore it is becoming quite the developed country. OF course they still have a ways to go, but the foundation is definetely in place.

Nicaragua is quite different, in that the country is much poorer. However the landscape is quite a site to behold. I was in the SW region, specifically Granada and Masaya. Didn't quite make it to Managua (the capital), but if you have the chance to visit Masaya National PArk volcano, do so!

Also, every single girl in Costa Rica is hot. Even the fat old ones are hot. I would say that Costa Rica has more hot women, but the hot Nicaraguan woman are hotter (if that makes sense).

[Table 5]

Take a bus. Sit at the front with the locals. Tell us what happens.