BootsnAll Travel Community

Hi,

Im going to be traveling down CA in september, however we only have 2 months before we need to attend a wedding. Basically I need to know how many countries we should attempt to visit.
We are starting in Mexico and were planning to gradualy work our way down through Belize, Guatamala, El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica.
The problem being we strictly only have 2 months and we dont want to rush and miss things, but we have heard amazing things about Costa Rica.

Any help is much appreciated,

Chris

2 months is a nice, long vacation, but to explore all the countries you've named you'll have to take "gradually" out of the equation. You're naming 6 countries so that's only 10 days each. Also keep in mind that, though they look small, it takes a lot longer to get around in the countries down there than it does up here.

If you respond with your general budget category, how you plan to get around (public transport, some country-to-country flights, etc.) and what your main interests are (hiking, rafting, volcanoes, culture, markets, snorkeling, diving) we could provide better advice. Belize, Honduras, and Guatemala travelogues and photos below if you're interested. Happy trails!

Hi Hopefulist thanks for your reply, we have a moderate budget and will be staying in hostels and generally keeping things as cheap as possible by using buses and not flying.
We would love to see volcanos as niether of us have ever seen one. Rafting, snorkelling, and markets are also a huge attraction.

P.S great photos

Guatemala is the gem of CA, imo - fascinating culture, colorful markets. It combines well with Belize and Honduras, both of which have excellent snorkeling and diving. Guatemala is the only one of those 3 that has active volcanoes. Since you're not wanting to fly (intercountry flights are spendy in CA) you might want to consider focusing on a few countries and running through several, rather than basically running through all of them, which is what it would feel like imo if you try to "see" 6 countries in 60 days. Have a great trip, whatever you decide!

You are still leaving out important info. Since you don't seem to know a lot about the region we can't even tell if you have the beginning of a plan. "Moderate" is not a number. Do the math and comeback with a real number in dollars per day. If you think you are going to do it on $15 a day... shine it on. On the other hand, if to you the word moderate in your native language translates to $100 a day (a moderate budget for someone with experience in the US and the more decrepit parts of Europe) then you are in luck and can broaden your planning.

Second issue. You include the North American country of Mexico into your Central American plans. Where do you plan to start in Mexico and what areas do you want to see? Mexico is several times bigger than all of Central America and can blow both your time and budget. Start in say Tijuana and try to make it to Costa Rica... lots of blurry photos from bus windows and not much else. Even flying to Mexico City and just blowing through to the border is a couple days. If you are from the Brit Jersey and can skip most of Mexico a flight to Cancun might be your best deal. Before going any further.. everything you want to do can be done in Mexico. Again it comes down to your mythical budget. While Mexico is more expensive, the time saving could be worth it.

Where is the wedding? So far what you have expressed interest in is pretty easy to do in CA. You can climb a volcano on a half day hike out of Antigua, Guatemala for $10 US. Burn your shoes and cough your lungs. But unless someone in your party is a virgin and you are holding something back from them there isn't a lot else to do with volcanoes.

Snorkeling.. and even scuba.. Bay Islands of Honduras or Belize take care of that. Belize is expensive. Anything there that is a must see to you? If you are doing the boogie direct from DF gig than skipping Belize will save you time and money.

I see you are skipping El Salvador. Smart move. Contrary to what those with vested interests will tell you, it is mainly for surfers. When I worked there a back a piece, I would have been bored stiff if folks weren't occasionally shooting at me.

So for reef type activities I really vote for the Bay Islands. Beaches aren't the best. But right across on the mainland is La Ceiba. Charlie Meador runs a great little resort, Coco Pando, and can organize all sorts of cool stuff for you.

Costa Rica offers more upscale options. Once we have seen your budget we can see how much of that is for you. All countries have relatively cheap hotel options. CR has the most rafting options. That is an overpriced activity so you may be in for sticker shock. Keep in mind that CA is not the home to huge rivers so rafting may or may not be that big a thrill depending on your level of expertise.

Any other interests? An around the world party at the Del Rey is gonna run you a hell of a lot more than a night at Mario's Rooms in Pana. That might help tilt stuff one way or another. The more info you give the more detailed can be the help and you aren't stuck relying on the platitude posters.

To put stuff in perspective, amongst veteran travelers in the area, a Guat to Panama trip with time to see some major items in each country and not get whiplash from speeding buses, is considered to be a 5 month itinerary. So obviously you need to whack something off the plans.

Ok. For the moment I'm assuming that you have up to 40 dollars a day per person, or 50 for both on a tight budget, not counting travel costs.

Two months will get you the Yucatan temples, Tulum, sun and surf in mexico, then onto guatemala for a month, antiqua, Tikal, and maybe Copan Ruinas. For diving you can pop into Utila, which is interesting by itself, and then go home.

Livingston is said to be interesting and possibly dangerous, according to the latest on this board.

If you want to see an interesting mini volcano, Mexico has one in the Morelia district, called Volcan Paricutin. You sleep in the hostel there, and the next day take a 4 hour hike up and down the cinder cone. It was enough volcano for me, as small as it was. I saw lava cover half a church before the flow miraculously stopped. It was amazing. I was in Lago Atitlan, and could see an extinct cone from the lakeside. Never had the ambition to climb it,or the bigger ones in Guatemala. Really, its a one time deal unless you have a thing for it.

Heres a theoretical itinerary.Keep track of the time in each place. Its a good paced itinery, too fast for me, just right for others.

mexico city, 4 days.
1 day bus to Morelia district,
4 days morelia area.
1 day trip to Oaxaca
3 days in oaxaca.
1 day trip to San Cristobal.
3 days in san Cristobal
1 day trip to Yucatan
5 days in Yucatan, many pyramids there, swimming.
1 day trip to .....(pyramids not to be missed)
3 days there
1 day trip to Guatemala from there.

4 days in antiqua
1 day trip to lago atitlan
5 days lago atitlan (I like lago atitlan, you will too)
Back to antiqua
plane to Tikal
3 days tikal, minimum
1 day back antiqua
one day to copan(It may bepossible to do it from Tikal,don't remember exact details)
3 days copan Copan ruinas is quite nice as a town.
one day to town next to Utila
one night in utila
4 hours to Utila or roatan by vomit inducing ferry.
PLane costs more and is a much more pleasant way, I'm told.

5 days diving Utila/roatan.

Thats about it.

If you look for places you really want to be in,and follow this kind of timetable, you'll see quite a bit and NOT feel entirely rushed.

Note that I allowed one full day, not in hours. Travel in Central america and mexico is like that,and you have to figure that into your plans.

If you find the bus station early, and arrive 'early',then you have to spend the energy organising getting from the bus station, find lodging,eat something,etc, and then unwind from the trip. The cheaper the transport, the more stress you encounter, the longer the trip.

Thank you all for your replies, they have certainly helped us.
Sorry for not giving exact budgets, we are still tweaking these as Central America is only one leg of our journey which also takes us to South America, NZ, Aus and Asia.
At the moment we have budgeted around £800 for the 2 months in CA does this sound doable?
From your comments we have certainly relised we should limit the contries we visit in this time.
We are now thinking of doing 2-3 weeks in Mexico starting in Cancun, 2 weeks in Guatamala, and 2 weeks in Honduras before going to the wedding in Miami on the 1st of November and heading to SA.
Does this sound feisable to you guys on that budget?
The other question we had was if it is easy to get from Columbia up to Panama? We finish the SA leg of our journey there and as we are limited for time before the wedding we were thinking of returning to the Sothern part of Central America after the SA leg of our journey.

No, no, no! Don't start your trip in Cancun! Go to Oaxaca or even Mexico City instead. From your plans, it sounds like you'll get enough beach time later in your journey anyway, so you don't need Yucatan on your itinerary.

Also, that area is full of US tourists, so everything is more expensive. Your budget may be fine, but it will be more fine if you stick to places that are cheaper, like the Pacific side of Southern Mexico. Especially since it's even more interesting as well! Also, as long as you make sure you visit Tikal in Guatemala, and maybe Palenque in Mexico, you don't have to feel bad about not going to Chichen Itza.

Not going to Belize is also okay, as long as you replace it with cheaper time in Honduras and bigger/better/faster reefs in Australia.

Regarding volcanoes, Guatemala is definitely the place for it. You can hike up one of the dead ones next to Lake Atitlan (highly recommended on a sunny day!), and/or you can see a live one blurting out lazy chunks of lava on a day trip (half day, even) out of Antigua. However, you're not saying anything about your South America plans. If you're heading far south in Chile, there's some pretty exciting volcano stuff going on there right now, so maybe that's an option, too...

The last few years, everyone I have talked to who went to Costa Rica were disappointed. I'd go for some South American rain forests instead. Or even better; the Pantanal in Brazil. The rain forest is so thick that you see few animals (the same thing applies to most of Costa Rica). In the Pantanal, however, there are open plains, and you'll get to see lots and lots of animals.

Happy trails!

Bjørn

Thanks Bjorn,

That all sounds very resonable, unfortunatly we have no choice but to start our trails in Cancun. This was the cheapest flight available to us from england. Not to worry thou as we relise it is a very touristy place and has little in the way of real mexican culture and will be moving on to possibly merida and go to Chichen Itza if we can, do you think we will have time?
We are actually spending 6 months travelling the length of SA and will be visiting rain forest in both Brazil and Bolivia. and also going to Australia later in the year.
Thanks,

Chris

Ah. I see. Well, as soon as you get to Cancun, there'll be a bus straight to the bus station. Get on it! #8D) Take the bus to Valladolid and stay in one of the small guest houses there. Next morning pack your stuff and get going really early on a local bus to Chichen Itza. You can leave your bags at the ticket counter, they have lots of visitors who do. Spend as many hours as you like at the site, and then continue to Merida. You should be able to find transportation quite easily, just ask around. (I take it you speak a little bit of Spanish, since you're going to bouth Central and South America? If not, try to learn some, or at least spend a week for instance by Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, where there are lots of good and cheap Spanish courses.)

Spend a day in Merida if you want, although it's not that spectacular. You CAN go and see thousands and thousands of flamingos on a day trip out of there, though.

Then you can get on a night bus to for instance Villahermosa, and from there you have enough time to cover the triangle between there, Oaxaca and San Cristobal de las Casas before you leave for Guatemala.

Good luck!

Bjørn

Thanks Bjorn,

Yeah we planned on getting out of Cancun as soon as possible really. I speak a very small amount of spanish but should be just enough to get by.
Do you know exactly where the Flamingos are? my girlfriend is a huge fan of them so would be a nice trip. Do you think our budget is about right for that length of trip?
Thanks again,

Chris

I'm not really sure what you've budgeted for what periods of time now, and if the amount mentioned was per person or combined, so I can't really say. Because of the distances and the good buses, transport in Mexico can be sort of costly. In the countries further south, however, getting around is very cheap, and also very slow. It is possible everywhere to sleep and eat VERY cheaply, but then you have to be prepared for basic food and basic lodging, often without hot water in the showers. So you can probably stretch your money very far, the question is whether that is what you want. The longer you stay in cheaper areas, the more you get for your money, it's as simple as that.

Regarding the flamingos, it's not possible for me to say exactly where you'll find them. When I was in the region, the fishermen who took tourists out to see the flamingos told me that lately the birds had changed their behavior, and they blamed the climate change/droughts for that. Anyway, in the middle of the summer you will probably find the birds in Rio Lagartos, which you can reach from Valladolid via Tizimin. The rest of the year they'll be around Celestun, which you can reach from Merida. But ask around before you go either place, in case they're not following the usual pattern...

The best way to see the flamingos is if you can get together a group of 6 people and share the costs of having someone take you by boat. There are some tour operators that can help you, but you can usually get it cheaper by arranging everything on your own, dealing directly with some fishermen.

Bjørn

Essentially what you have done is an entirely different post. Not sure what to believe. Your budget isn't moderate. Unless you grew up in Bangladesh it is downright skint. 800 pounds for 60 days each in CA. Again, you seem to insist in believing that Mexico is in CA so I'm guessing that budget includes Mexico.

People have been posting a lot of stuff that doesn't apply to you based on bad info. Your budget comes out to not quite $28 a day in real money. I assume that your ticket to Miami isn't in that source. Given the three absolute basics.. food, lodging and transportation.. which do you plan to do without? In the Yucatan you can afford 2 out of 3 and no, you can't camp for free.

The flamingos BTW are in Celestun.. other side of the penninsula. That is a super long day bus ride. Seems to me prime nesting is Dec.-Jan. That is when the huge flocks are there. Rest of the time..you will see some. Double check those dates in a guide book. Something to consider..since you are going to South America. In Bolivia there is a stop on the Salar de Uyuni tour where there are lots of flamingos. That is one tour you can afford.

As to buses. They are excellent in Mexico, a general bargain, and run at night so you can save on a hotel (those days you can plan on eating). As far as ruins go, you pass right by Chitzen Itza and if you stop in Merida you can take the one day Puuc route tour which should fill you up on ruins. Tulum is on the way to Belize. BTW.. it's tiny and has one really great view.

Belize.. my suggestion would be to blow through in about 2 days on the bus. Buy a sandwich and a coke.

$28 is OK in Guat. and Honduras. You can do all three of the main activities. Even eat twice a day. Scuba diving is out of the question. Rafting... try Honduras.

Is getting from Colombia to Panama easy? Sure... got to airport, buy ticket, take big silver bird. What budget are you paying this from?

Overland... there is a way that I periodically suggest to people but there is only one person on this board I'd give those directions to and that is because I don't like them.

About 1/2 of 1% take a sailboat trip. If you have to wait a few days for the boat you burn up an savings. Most of the boats are more or less legit. The others are hauling goodies. Depending on how wimpy you seem they may or may not cut your throat and throw the bodies overboard and keep your stuff. Survivors say it is a pretty sail.

Now.. though you haven't asked.. what about South America? If on the same budget you can afford Peru and Bolivia. Distances are huge, especially for Brits. Even though buses are relative cheap in a dollar per mile basis, tickets are still going to eat up buko money.

Part of your problem is that you are doing a lot of zig zagging. Unless you have some rich relative paying for plane tickets then I guess it's all coming out of the same pool. I'm concerned that you may have under bugeted for much of the rest of your trip too.

Suggestion.. to save money and time. Postpone the trip. Work double shifts at Starbucks.. shake the tip jar at the customers. Tell them what you are saving for. Visit all your friends. Ask them to feed you. The weight you put on will come in handy. Consider stealing their nicer and more flogable possesions.

Then start your trip in Miami. You should be able to find a cheap fare from England. Take ziploc bags and fill them at the wedding reception with as much food as possible. Miami to Cancun or better yet Merida is another potentially cheap flight.

Now you do your Mexico/CA leg. Go as far south as you can and fly to South America. Better ask some questions on that. Unless you are holding back other info, eliminating the zig zagging should save a few hundred dollars from the overall budget. Where you go after SA might determine where you want to end up.