Traveling Central America

[drewboy12]

Watch this movie, it will get your travel blood flowing for central america. "The Art of Travel" One of my favorite travel movies, and it takes place all over central and south america.

[DrJ]

Peru was amazing - Most beautiful place I've ever been. (Granted I haven't travelled too much)

One thing I would recommend is that if you are planning to take Spanish lessons, take them at home and spend your time traveling instead. You cannot learn much in 1-2 weeks IMO and are better off spreading your studying at home.

[drewboy12]

Originally Posted by DrJ

Peru was amazing - Most beautiful place I've ever been. (Granted I haven't travelled too much)

One thing I would recommend is that if you are planning to take Spanish lessons, take them at home and spend your time traveling instead. You cannot learn much in 1-2 weeks IMO and are better off spreading your studying at home.

Couldn't agree more with this... Sounds like a huge waste of time. You will want to get out and see the country. Enough people will speak English, just learn your hellos, goodbyes, and thank you's before you go and you will be fine.

[Oil Stain]

Originally Posted by drewboy12

Couldn't agree more with this... Sounds like a huge waste of time. You will want to get out and see the country. Enough people will speak English, just learn your hellos, goodbyes, and thank you's before you go and you will be fine.

I disagree. Signing up for a 1-2 week immersion in Spanish could be invaluable for the trip.

If one is going to be there for a couple of months, then being able to have a rudimentary conversation is going to greatly enhance the experience.

[surferguy]

^^^ Yep I agree with this statement as well. I have travelled enough to understand that you DO NOT want to try and see everything. At least stay still for 20% of your trip in one spot. You get to know the lifestyle and if you stay with a family, you see that spot form the inside, not as a tourist. These experiances are so much more valuable.

Take a surf lesson in Tamrindo, then go to MAL PAIS/SANTA TERESA an dget pummeled by the ocean there. Costa Rica has the best surf, I've been twice and its been pumping the entire time for both trips.

Try renting a car in CR, it is quite easy to move around, just watch for potholes.

REMEMBER THIS - $5 bottles of Fluer De Cana will be your best friend try to get the aged 5 or 7 years. Big cola is a huge taste sealer.

Explore your own path, take all advice with a grain of salt, and if you like a place...stay there for a bit longer.

[troutman]

Read The Soccer War - it is about two Central American countries that nearly went to war over a soccer game.

Kapuscinski, Ryszard. The Soccer War. Translated William Brand. London: Granta Books, 1990.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_War

The "Football" War (La guerra del fútbol, in Spanish), also known as the Soccer War or 100-hours War, was a four-day war fought by El Salvador and Honduras in 1969. It was caused by political conflicts between Hondurans and Salvadorans, namely issues concerning immigration from El Salvador to Honduras. These existing tensions between the two countries coincided with the inflamed rioting during the second North Americanqualifying round for the 1970 FIFA World Cup. On 14 July 1969, the Salvadoran army launched an attack against Honduras. The Organization of American States negotiated a cease-fire which took effect on 20 July, with the Salvadoran troops withdrawn in early August.

[enthused]

Originally Posted by DrJ

Peru was amazing - Most beautiful place I've ever been. (Granted I haven't travelled too much)

One thing I would recommend is that if you are planning to take Spanish lessons, take them at home and spend your time traveling instead. You cannot learn much in 1-2 weeks IMO and are better off spreading your studying at home.

Peru is in South America, not Central.

And I completely disagree with your thoughts that spending a few weeks studying Spanish in a Spanish speaking country is a waste of time. Have you ever taken language classes? Being fully immersed in a place that speaks the language teaches you so much more than you can learn going to classes once or twice a week for an hour each time here. The lessons you can take in Antigua are for a few hours each morning, and then your teacher takes you on various tours and to see different sights. To me, it sounds like a great way to see a few things, while brushing up on my Spanish.

Also I think spending a few weeks in one place will be a good chance to really get to know the place, instead of just rushing off to see something new constantly.

Anyways, thanks to everyone for all of the advice and suggestions so far!

[troutman]

1-2 weeks in Spanish lessons is a good idea, given the amount of time you have. I went to South America in 1994 for five months. I took a spanish course before I left, and then daily lessons in Quito for nearly one month. Try to meet locals, and don't spend all of your time with gringos. I met the most amazing, generous people.

BTW, Macchu Picchu is plagued by mud-slides this week, and tourists are being evacuated by helicopter.

[FurnaceFace]

If you and your friend are comfortable in the water I recommend taking Scuba classes here and then in one of your first destinations do your open water dives and get certified (or if you're tough, do the dives up here). So much of Central America is water based it would be a shame to go there for that long and not get to dive.

Belize:
Ambergris Caye is pretty touristy but has some good beach
Caye Caulker is supposed to be more laid back
Placencia in the south is very laid back. Sleepy little fishing village which is just starting to discover the tourist dollars so it's still inexpensive
The Belize Zoo is good, we liked it.
We went to Xunantunich as we didn't have time for Tikal. It was a good Mayan site but Tikal is of course the big one so it might be disappointing if you went there after Tikal.

Costa Rica
We've just done 2 weeks in a resort in the Tamarindo area but if you get a chance to see the Leatherback Turtles laying their eggs, do it. Awesome experience and something which might not be around forever as their habitat and thus the turtles are threatened. (it's crazy the CR government allows a resort to put up tennis courts with big bright lights next to the beach where the turtles lay their eggs but that's another story)
Do all the rain forest, volcano, zip line, canopy tours you can fit in.

Honduras
The Bay Islands of Honduras have my heart. Excellent excellent diving here. Roatan is the most touristy - the West end is the most developed/touristy and as you get further East is chills out more, Utila is pretty quiet and Guanaja is the least developed. If you do decide you want to dive I have a couple of places I love.

I have not been to Panama but have heard many good things about Bocas del Toro.

Enjoy your trip.

[oly74]

I just came back from El Salvador (this was my third time there), and I recommend it if you are looking for something "off the beaten path", as it isn't a big tourist destination. Food is really good (try the pupusas in Olocuilta or Los Planes), beautiful volcanoes for hiking, some really cool historic towns along the Ruta de Los Flores, and beaches at Costa Del Sol, La Libertad, and Tamarindo (about a 2 hr bus ride from San Miguel). The people are very friendly and always willing to help tourists too.
Oh and it is a huge advantage to know some conversational Spanish.

[no_joke]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

I disagree. Signing up for a 1-2 week immersion in Spanish could be invaluable for the trip.

If one is going to be there for a couple of months, then being able to have a rudimentary conversation is going to greatly enhance the experience.

To the OP, don't be afraid to get a head start with studying Español at home before you leave for your trip. It really isn't that difficult and there are lots of good resources to do some self teaching to help you get ready for your classes in Antigua. You don't say how much Spanish experience you have but I would recommend Michel Thomas' lessons; 8 hours- tons.

[enthused]

Originally Posted by no_joke

To the OP, don't be afraid to get a head start with studying Español at home before you leave for your trip. It really isn't that difficult and there are lots of good resources to do some self teaching to help you get ready for your classes in Antigua. You don't say how much Spanish experience you have but I would recommend Michel Thomas' lessons; 8 hours- tons.

My degree is in French, but I took several Spanish classes in university. So I do have a bit of a base, but obviously I'd like to brush up on a lot of things as it has been a few years since taking those classes.

[IliketoPuck]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

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).

I can confirm this completely. The last time I was in San Jose for their carnival. I've never seen so many exotic and beautiful women in one place ever.

I actually got to party with some locals, and they were awesome! So hospitable, and very friendly. My friend and I went back to their place and played drinking games and then went down to this carnival for a few hours. It was amazing...they had constructed an enormous grandstand area that had thousands of people dancing to spanish pop music.

On the way home we got pulled over at a check stop, and the guy who was driving jabbered in spanish to his girlfriend, and had her jump into the drivers seat while the cops were walking to the car (class act right?). They were both over the limit, and she ended up blowing a .10....ya. Then the cops saw me and my buddy in the back and we showed them our Canadian passports and they let us go and just gave the girl the equivalent of a $100 warning. It was pretty wild being stopped on the side of a Costa Rican freeway at 4am by cops with machine pistols.

To be honest though, San Jose can be pretty shady in certain places, so make sure you don't go where you could put yourself in danger. (certain areas downtown mostly). With that said i'd highly recommend Costa Rica, friendly and a hell of a fun time.

[drewboy12]

Well you seem like you are 100% for the language classes. Nothing wrong with that, Its not my style, but everyone has their own style of travel which makes it unique and adds to their personal experience and story. Therefore I completely respect your decision and I am 100% for you to take them. You seem passionate about it, and I am glad therefore for you not agreeing with me.

First step in travelling, do what you want to do, not what other want you to do. You my never be back there again.

[Nage Waza]

I have spent several years in Central America, pretty much each country. They all have something interesting and they all have their dangers.

Antigua is a great place to be, especially if you are taking Spanish lessons. This is a must. Antigua is also a major back packer destination so you are going to learn a lot from other travelers about where to go. One thing I can say on a trip like you are taking is to keep your options open, you may change the course of your vacation from a simple conversation with a stranger. One minute you are headed one place, the next minute some place else.

I don't recall doing much of anything in El Salvador but I am sure there is stuff to do. I was there for mostly business and did not do much exploring.

Honduras has some hidden treasures but can be a little 'too much' for traveling. Lots of guns, so if you don't mind then go for it. There are some ruins (Copan) that I got a chance to explore before much of the area was developed. Driving can be very dangerous...there are buses to take to get around.

Nicaragua I know inside out, but I have not been there in about ten years. Not sure what it is like to travel there right now, but there are places to go. Many of the small towns have museums and things like that to show some cool stuff. The pacific side has a great resort (forget it's name at the moment) that cost about 30 bucks a day. Pretty sweet deal. You start getting into some desolate dangerous places once you hit Nicaragua. That is not to say the people are bad, just the roads are. A wrong turn and a pothole can destroy your car stranding you nowhere...a few mosquitoes and large reptiles can destroy your day fast.

Costa Rica is where I would go and spend my time. There is a whole country to visit, you really don't need our advice. Simply get there, go to a hostel and start doing your thing.

Panama also has a more cosmo feel to it, lots of big buildings and clubs. The country allows the construction of massive buildings because there are some Spanish ruins that are hundreds of years old, so they figure if those stand why can't a tall skyscraper? You can come to Panama city to shop and party, yet it won't have the feel of a little Costa Rican town like Jaco (where I used to frequent). If you choose to go to Panama, you will probably fly or bus to assorted places, Costa Rica is more set up to travel around. Do not rent a car in any of the countries, in my opinion.

If you want some real details, PM me or respond in the thread. Like others have suggested, grab a lonely planet and go for it. Make sure to understand the currency before you spend it, I had many bad credit card charges where someone tried to steal.

[driveway]

My favourite places in Central America, by Country:

El Salvador - Everywhere. Go here go here go here. La Libertad was fantastic as as La Union. Very few travelers seem to make the effort to get into this country, you should. Also, seemed to be the only country where you could get Papusas. Oh! Delicious Papusas, how I miss you!

Honduras - Learn to Scuba on Utila or Roatan. It's the best diving in the Western Hemisphere and the cheapest. Take a week, chill from traveling and spend some time getting to know your good friend Nitrogen Narcosis.

Nicaragua - SAN JUAN DEL SUR. Unbelievable place. Granada and Leon are also awseome. If you stay at the Bearded Monkey Hostel in Granada (no reason not to, it's great) take them up on their offer of a night in their cabin on the volcanic lagoon. And Finca Magdalena on the Ila Ometepe in the middle of the Lake. It's an Organic, Fair Trade coffee plantation/hostel, the forest surrounding it is full of petroglyphs and it's a great place to start a hike up to the crater.

Costa Rica - Mal Pais/Santa Theresa, been mentioned before and deserves to be again, best part of Costa Rica. Tiny gorgeous surf/beach town.

Costa Rica makes the best beer (Impereal) Nicaragua the best rum (Flor de Cana) and I thought El Salvador had the hottest women.

Have fun!