BootsnAll Travel Community

Hi there,

a friend and i are planning a 5 week trip to CA this june/july. We know its only a short time so want to get the most out of it and visit the best places...

so......if any of you had 5 weeks to spare in CA - where would you go????????????

Please help!!!!
Thanks!

Guatemala with a week or so at the end in either Honduras or Belize for blue water time - photos and travelogues linked below if you're interested. Have a great trip and be sure to tell us all about it!

Well, I'm going down there for about the same length of time as you- and here's what I'm doing.

I'm working my way down, from Guatemala to Costa Rica.
I'm staying a minimum of five days in each locale I travel to. I'm surfing, doing tours, I'm going to semuc champey when in Guate. Tikal if I find I have time- side trip to Copan, from Coban, if I can't. I'm also sitting around Lake Atitlan for a few days to set the pace of my trip
The only thing I'm doing in El Salvador is surfing, surfing, surfing. People don't recommend El Salvador, cause it's dangerous- but my spanish is good enough that I doubt I'll have a problem. I feel that the less touristy it is, the more I will get out of it.
Nicaragua? I'm doing Leon and Granada- surfing (some more), hiking, volcano tour, bike tour, etc. etc. I'm also visiting plantations, and an organic farm. I got in with a group down there, interested in sustainable agriculture.
Costa Rica- I meet my mother in law down at the San Jose bus station. She's down there teaching spanish. So, I'll be taking spanish, going to Tabacon (for free :P ), doing Arenal, going to the teatro nacional, and horsebackriding in Monteverde. The Guanacaste region is supposed to be incredible.
My trip is composed of lots of surfing, photography, restauranteering, and perhaps getting in on something raw- maybe a football game... (dangerous for gringos caught up in the football violence, but I plan on it if I can go).
Find out what things really interest you, and expound upon them for your trip. This is where doing research on the regions you are considering travel to makes all the difference.

If you're comfortable travelling and your spanish is at least passable then youve got to check out El Salvador - its awesome.

thanks for the advice. Thinking we will head starting in either belize/guatemala to costa rica, skipping out el salvador-just hoping 5 weeks will be enough and we will not be too rushed!!

is it easy to catch buses etc?? I have done a great deal of traveling in asia etc and i catch buses everywhere there so wandering if it will be the same??

also, we are very into scuba diving.....any recommendations for the best places???

Thanks!!

very comfortable traveller but spanish is....lets just say...limited. (hoping to learn basics before i go though!)
what is really good in el salvador then??

If you have no probs with busses in asia you shouldnt in CA either - but the further from the beaten track you go the more you will need spanish when using public transport. That said, theres always a way to communicate when needs must!

As for el salvador, the history and the politics are incredinbly interesting (if a little dark), the smaller villages and towns are great to explore. The juayua (sp?) food fair each weekend kicks ass, adventures around 'el impossible' national park near tacuba are second to none. (google my article 'wetter and wilder: impossible thrills in el salvador' to learn more about that! ) and friendliness - El Salvadorans aren't sick of gringoes (yet). We were going to spend a week there and ended up spending over a month.

For scuba diving, either costa rica or Honduras are pretty good. I went over to Utila (Honduran Bay Island) with the intention of diving for a few days and ended up living there for 3 months and divemastering. Its a great palce to kick back for a while.

If you want any more info on that just PM me and ill give you the links to all this stuff on ubertramp.

Cheers