Messages: 130,026 - Threads: 21,333
19-Jun-2008 15:30
Irene_Adler
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23-Dec-2008 10:00
Irene_Adler
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Welcome to the Thorn Tree's Central America branch.
We hope you find plenty of useful information about travelling to Central America here. It is highly recommended that new users check out the Central America FAQ thread before posting a new thread; you may find many of the answers you seek there, and the FAQ thread has been updated as of December 2008! It also contains helpful information about how to search the forum and advice for how to post your questions. If you are a returning user or a Central America guru, please help us keep the FAQ thread up-to-date by adding important information which is absent, or pointing out information which is no longer being represented accurately.
Choosing a country to post to:
When you make a post and choose a country from the drop down menu, your post will...
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23-Jun-2005 22:17
juan3
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07-Feb-2010 18:35
paulschmidtart
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Here are some tips to help you find the information you want and need about Central America:
1. Have a good look around the Thorn Tree before asking your question - quite often your question (or one very similar to it) will have been asked and answered before. Some of the most frequently asked questions are included in this thread below.
2. Research before asking a question and make your question as specific to your situation as possible. It will help you get better, more detailed and useful answers from the community. Invest some preliminary time and our knowledgeable community will help you fill in the gaps.
3. Explore Lonely Planet's Destinations, an online resource which has a wealth of key info and tips.
4. When you're ready to ask a question, choose the relevant country from the drop down menu to ensure the most rel...
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10-Feb-2010 07:27
lmt2010
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10-Feb-2010 08:07
qwovadis
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location: Costa Rica
Hello,
Hopefully I can get some advice here :-)
I will be arriving late Friday night in San Jose planning to head out towards Quepos area Saturday afternoon (this Friday/Saturday). Guidebooks suggest that one book bus tickets for this area in advance but is that really neccesary and where and how do one do so??? Are there any specific bus companies that one should prefer?
Thank you for any advise you can provide me :-)
10-Feb-2010 05:39
worldtramper
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10-Feb-2010 08:07
worldtramper
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location: Costa Rica
Hi
I'm off to Costa Rica soon on a organized tour taking in most, if not all the national parks we can in a 16 day period.
My question is - At the end of the trip we are set to visit Quepos and the Manuel Antonio national park for a two day period (then back to San Jose to finish the trip) and are driving from Monteverde which I believe is higher than San Jose.
What I would like to do is not visit Quepos and the Manuel Antonio national park and head north from Monteverde upto Nicaragua. Would I be missing out if I cut Quepos and the Manuel Antonio national park out and went north instead to Granada in Nicaragua for 4 days????
Hope that makes sense.
Alan : )
10-Feb-2010 05:35
mike182uk
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10-Feb-2010 08:23
hopefulist
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I have booked flights to Cancun Mexico for the 19th May and returning on the 14th July. My plan was to travel down to Costa Rica within this time and fly back from San Jose. Does anyone know if this is feasible? I have looked into flights back from Costa Rica and including taxes they are about $300 so thats not to bad and i would fly back to Cancun on Monday 12th July. Any help here would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Mike
10-Feb-2010 05:02
parachute07
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10-Feb-2010 08:26
hopefulist
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location: Honduras
Thanks so much for all of the help so far on this board.
I am wondering if anyone knows any other way to get from Roatan to Utila besides with Captain Vern. Are there others with boats who make any sort of trip across? Where would find such people precisely? We don't have much time in the Bay Islands and we'd like to sneak in one dive from Utlia before we have to return home.....so we would be looking to get from Roatan to Utila next Tuesday (February 16th). There are two of us. I'd rather not pay $50 each to go a rather short distance (and then take 4 hours sailing it). I'm wondering if there are other options.
By the way -- is there any particular reason that no business has set up shop doing a regular ferry from one island to the other? Is there really not much demand to get from one to the other?
10-Feb-2010 02:50
sazmashiz
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10-Feb-2010 04:59
hopefulist
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Hi everyone,
I'm in the very early planning stages of a trip to Central America this summer. I'm a History student, and I'm planning on writing my final year thesis on the colonisation/Christianisation of Central America and I want to be able to experience the country and culture for myself before my head gets lost in the books!! I'm planning on joining an archaelogical dig (I've found a couple of possible ones in Belize) for a couple of weeks and then travelling around for probably another month - 6 weeks. If the dig plan falls through then I was considering maybe doing a Spanish language course somewhere.
Does anyone know where in this region is most interesting to visit from a historical point of view? Or where the Mayan culture is still most intact, or perhaps the less touristy ruins? I am also interested in hiking and generally exploring Central America - any suggested 'must s...
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10-Feb-2010 01:16
Vlntn
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10-Feb-2010 06:42
patywolf
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location: Guatemala
Hi folks,
In July and August I'll stay in Antigua Guatemala for almost 2 months. Does anyone know some cheap places to stay in or around Antigua? I'd prefer a apartment or studio room or so with private bathroom. Last year, I spent some time in a cheap hotellish place. I paid 30Q/night for a private room with shared bathroom. I'm looking for something in that price range (maybe up to 50 or 70Q/night). Would be great if anyone could give me some information about renting a small apartment or so :)!
Something else: The 2 months I'll be staying there, I'd like to have a job to practice my Spanish. (I had a lot of Spanish classes last year, so now I just want to practice instead of taking more lessons!) Does anyone know if it is difficult to get a job? I remember seeing some personnel-wanted signs at the Monoloco. And has anyone got experience with working in Antigua??
Hope someo...
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09-Feb-2010 16:15
hisurfer
last reply
10-Feb-2010 07:29
hisurfer
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location: Guatemala
I'm in the early stages of planning a two-week trip, my first to Central America, and the big question is whether to set my ass down & take a very intensive week of language classes, or to travel and explore the country a bit more.
For background: I've never formally studied Spanish, but have stumbled through trips to Mexico and Argentina & did ok. I am not a natural at languages, but have learned a few through hard study and travel. So: I know what it takes & am willing to go through the grind and the headache.
I'm wondering how people who've done a serious week feel - did you make a great deal of progress? Or is a week just not enough & you would have learned just as much through solo travel?
What I'm trying to balance is this: the school that catches my eye is the Cooperativa in San Pedro, but a week there would only leave me with a quick visit to Antigua, there'd...
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09-Feb-2010 15:55
aishagomez
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09-Feb-2010 23:17
qwovadis
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location: Panama
how screwed am I??
I have a last minute opportunity to travel to Panama this Thursday. I know it's carnaval and I obviously have no accomodations I am flying into Panama City, I'll be getting there around ten and have never been to Panama before but I do speak Spanish. I am just starting to contact hotels to see if I can find a place to stay that first night so I don't have to hustle to find one late. If I do have to hustle should I head to Casco Viejo or is there somewhere less touristy where there are a lot of hotels that I can go to try to find one? Any advice is appreciated and as I say I'll be doing a bit more research and getting a book but just wondered if anyone could give me a sense of how the holiday traffic will be vis a vis hotels in the city.
Thanks,
Aisha
09-Feb-2010 11:01
bigbossman72
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10-Feb-2010 08:23
bigbossman72
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location: Panama
Landing in Panama City in a few days, two questions on my mind ...
09-Feb-2010 09:53
Chels_GH
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10-Feb-2010 09:33
xiuhcoatl
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location: Panama
Dear past, present and future travellers to Panama,
A recent boat trip from Bocas Del Toros was one of the worst examples of destructive tourism that we have personally encountered. Please spread this message to inform others in the hope that this negative power of tourism can be reversed into a positive for both the surrounding marine ecosystem and local community.
The boat trip we took was a run of the mill day trip offered by most of the street tour peddlers and other companies in Bocas Del Toro town. It consisted of dolphin 'watching', snorkelling, lunch and a beach visit.
The dolphin 'watching' was nothing short of dolphin harassment with around 10 boats chasing dolphins, circling them in an attempt to "contain" them near the tourists and almost running over them. The snorkelling trip was to a very shallow reef where no instructions were given by the boat crew, and man...
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Anyone know what's a good price for a hammock (one if those colorful woven ones)? Should I buy here in Copan or wait until Guatemala?
09-Feb-2010 06:47
berkeleyKLW
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09-Feb-2010 06:47
berkeleyKLW
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location: Guatemala
I just read a review of Eco Aldeas Lagunita on Trip Advisor. It's a community owned and operated hotel/restaurant located in Lagunita Salvador, the only village within the boundaries of the Manatee Reserve outside of Rio Dulce. Does anyone have first hand knowledge/experience of this place and/or how to make arrangements to stay here? The website listed on the review is a dead end as is google. Thx.
09-Feb-2010 06:42
skicrazy72
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10-Feb-2010 03:35
skicrazy72
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location: Belize
Hi,
have been reading all the great advice but have a couple of real quick questions.
is the water drinkable on caye caulker and in the cayo, have read mixed reviews? i prefer not to use plastic water bottles for environmental reasons and would be willing to use purification tablets.
we are looking to get from belize city to san ignacio by bus, but i can't find how far from the water taxi's terminal to the bus terminal. how far and how much by taxi?
are there any company's that run fishing day tours for fun of caulker. i'm not a huge fisherman but thought it might be fun, can anyone recommend a good company.
We will be in belize during US/Canada march break and are 'winging' it for reservations on caye caulker, is that ok if we're looking in the $20-60 range.
thanks for the help
Vs
PS Lan thank you so much for all the writeups you do and your belizefirst.com we...
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09-Feb-2010 05:57
maria6004
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09-Feb-2010 11:03
maria6004
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location: Costa Rica
I have been to Puntarenas once and found it to be a more tico experience. I would like to spend a night at the Tioga Hotel- probably a weekend when there are more ticos and go to the disco. I walked by and heard music playing. Does anyone know if this is a good place to do salsa and meringue and if people actually dance. I don't want to go and find it's just a bunch of people sitting around getting drunk.
09-Feb-2010 05:22
storyseller
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09-Feb-2010 05:22
storyseller
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Been travelling for a while but now I feel like staying in one place for a while.
Been looking into working at a hostel, seems nice enough as long as I can stay without wasting much of my budget. Guess the best would be somewhere I could get food and lodging paid, and maybe a small sum of money a day for expenses.
This is what I'm looking for...
Setting near a beach (1 hour away max)
Good party possibility
Not only gringos but also locals or domestic tourists
Ability to stay afloat without wasting much or if possible any of my budget
A bar and/or restaurant in the hostel would be cool, busy place would be cool as well.
This is what I got...
Advanced level C1 in Spanish, not fluent but can work in a solo Spanish environment without issues.
Very good English
Swedish
Good references
Ability to work hard
Been looking into the following places, comments and tips on wher...
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Posted By: VenessaP -- 28-Jan-2010 15:01
Posted By: VenessaP -- 09-Dec-2009 17:01
Central America: Destination information
The seven nations of Central America occupy a land area about a quarter of the size of Mexico. Despite its diminutive size, this narrow strip is a remarkably varied slice of the globe boasting an arra... more »
Central America on a Shoestring
Scale Mayan pyramids, worship the sun on palm-fringed shores and chill out in the shade of a smoldering volcano. buy it »
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