Central America Recommendations and Raves

Shout out from the island of Ambergris Caye Belize great place to kick back.
Lots of diving and snorkeling available.
Great food - night life is an option.
Cheap lodging available at Pedro's Hotel.

Sorry have not been on the boards to check questions.

Regarding Aguateca lodging; I stayed at Chiminos Island where the family owns the island and the lodge is the only thing there besides some mayan ruins and lots of howler monkeys. For $100 per day you get a nice cabana and 3 good meals. It included my 2 hour boat ride out of Sayache too. I was by myself so you would save money as a family or couple. They are on a generator so bring a flash light.

I was in Caye Caulker, Belize this last January and stayed at Mara's Place which is the best deal next to the split swimming hole. I paid $45 per nite and it has tv, fan, kitchen downstairs. I am not going back to CC; its turning into another Ambergis Caye - too busy for me. This last trip to BZE, i loved Dangriga and staying at Ruthie's Cabanas. I also liked Placencia and staying at the Sea Spray hotel. Sea Spray has the best cafe too.

Hello all!

I'm flying into Guatemala City in February and I have a little under two weeks to travel. I plan on going a a day or two in Guate then heading to Antigua and on to Tikal.

What I really want to do, however, is make time to see a little of Belize City and El Salvador too. I've read some great recommendations, but I just want to see if people think it's feasible for me to see what I want to see of Guatemala and then be able to make time for those other countries as well.

What do you think? I appreciate any and all feedback so I can make the most of my time in Central America!

I think you need to move this to the main thread area. This is strictly for recomdations, not questions.

We'll talk to you there!!!

http://retirementdetectives.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52%3A101-exciting-things-to-do-in-panama&catid=47%3Apanama&Itemid=100 - 101 Exciting things to do in Panama, a great list for anyone thinking about visiting Panama. Check it out at the http://retirementdetectives.com/Retirement Detectives website.

If you are not sure whether you should travel to Costa Rica, let me eliminate any doubt with this list of my favourite things to visit here:

1. Volcan Arenal. Spectacularly amazing. A real life live volcano, with rumblings and mini eruptions most days and nights. Stay in a hotel in the village of El Castillo for incredible night time views of flowing lava. Then in the daytime, take a swim in a hot river (incredible! natural jacuzzi! leaves your skin so soft for days!), or go to the more official hot spring resort; and make sure you take a road trip around Lake Arenal for more breathtaking scenery.

2. Rio Celeste. In one of Costa Rica's many lush national parks is a river that is blue because of the minerals in it. I would suggest walking to the waterfalls and then further up to where you can see the river draw its colour from the earth.

3. Barra Honda. Caves hundreds of feet deep full of stalagmitey stalactitey stuff. Again in a national park bursting with flora and fauna.

4. Monteverde. One of the lushest of all the national parks, a good spot to do the zipwire through the jungle canopy, take a guided tour through the park to spot weird and wonderful creatures and plants (seriously, some trees are really interesting), and pop in to see some of the world's largest collections of insects and reptiles.

5. Near the border but in Panama - Bocas del Torro, especially Playa de Las Estrellas. The most picture perfect beach, deserted, except for hundreds of big starfish. Take a snorkel mask. Then you could go to red frog beach and scour the plants for the tiny weeny poison dart frog.

6. Caño Negro. Swamplands in the north. Billions of caymans and birds and stuff, seen by boat. Also if you want to see proper huge crocs, stop off at the bridge between Jacó and San Jose over Rio Tarcoles and peer over. Dozens of 'em just waiting for the neighbouring farmers' cows to get thirsty.

6. Obviously, Montezuma, where we live and have our business. For a list of reasons why THAT's amazing please see this page on our website: http://casascolibri.homestead.com/About-Montezuma.html.

ENJOY!!!

I highly recommend climbing Pacaya in Guatemala! I went twice in July 09. First time I went with a group of 4 adults and 4 kids (ages 2-8). Because we were travelling with kids we paid one of the more expensive companies (Old Town Outfitters-OTO) and ended up with a van to ourselves. We drove straight to the base of the mountain where there was a little cafe and restrooms. Our guide was super cool, spoke English and made us lunch and gave us marshmallow to roast. He even had good music on in the van....It was a real pleasant trip.

Second trip I made solo so I figured I didn't need the fancy (pricey) group to take me. I got my ticket with one of the random travel groups in Antigua for maybe $10 bucks. But you also have to pay a $5 entrance fee to the park. The van was rough and the driver kept getting out to bang on the outside like a piece of the van was falling apart. We stopped to pick up random folks on the road to take them up the mountain; one guy had a gun on him... We took a different-longer way to Pacaya to avoid toll roads. Once we got to Pacaya I was confused b/c we were starting in a different location than I had with OTO, a location with no bathroom. It turns out this cheaper group starts you out further down the mountain so that you will rent a horse from their homies who hang out there. The horse renters even follow you up the mountain asking you over and over and over if you want a horse every time you stop to catch your breath. Of the 7 women on the hike, only two of us didn't get a horse. I think the other women were capable but didn’t want to slow the group down. In reality, there is plenty of time to get up the volcano and in parts you get bottlenecked and have to wait. The guide didn't speak English but was very cool and helpful.

I think if I had done the cheapie trip first I wouldn't have thought much about it but after climbing Pacaya with OTO I felt ripped off even if it was cheaper. I think if you are looking for a cheap rough hike its fine... but if you are worried about the hike then the pressure to rent a horse is intense and you could end up spending more money than you would have on the fancy trip with OTO.

I really learned a lot of stuff on this thread. Thanks for sharing the information it really helps a lot.

There's so little information on El Salvador in English that I want to recommend a great website: www.wtf-elsalvador.com

ES gets such a bad reputation, undeserving as it's no more dangerous for tourists than any other Central American country, this website helps give accurate and up to date info about all the great things going on in the country!