CenAmer

Central America Trip

In early 2008, I traveled for ten weeks in Central America. I flew to Panama City and worked my way north ultimately flying home from Guatemala City. Desiring a local experience, I used “chicken” buses for transportation. And yes, there are chickens on the buses; but then at some point, there are basically everything on the buses. I visited the countries of Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala. See Central America photo collection. See Central America Travelogue, below, for the complete, chronological listing of posts made in the field.

In Panama City, I studied Spanish at SpanishPanama School, visited the Panama Canal, went to the Pipeline Trail to see the birds, and enjoyed the conquistador historical sites in Panama Vieja. From there, I headed north to the highlands. I stayed in the cloud forest in Volan Baru and spotted the mythical quetzales, exotic birds with long teal tail-feathers and a red plumed chest. I visited coffee plantations, photographed hummingbirds and headed to the beaches at Bocas del Toro.

I walked across a railroad trestle over a river to enter Costa Rica, visited national marine parks and relaxed on the beaches. I traveled north in motorized long-boats running banana-plantation canals to Tortuguero. I did not see the famous turtles, but I did see lots of monkeys and poison miniature red frogs.

In Nicaragua I visited Granada and stayed in the old colonial Spanish center on the north end of Lago Nicaragua. I traveled by ferry to Isla de Ometepe and climbed one of the two volcanoes. Then I traveled to the mountainous area and stayed in La Selva Negra, a German-settled eco-park. Semana Santa in Esteli was a grand celebration of an old tradition.

In Honduras, I visited the capital, Tegucigalpa and then stayed at Lago de Yajoa. I went to the highlands and visited the indigenous area of Gracias and toured the Mayan ruins at Copan.

In Guatemala, I visited the colonial city of La Antigua and climbed a live volcano where I could poke a stick in lava and have it immediately catch fire. I enjoyed the scenery at Lago de Atitlan but was dismayed with the prevalaence of crime. The cave and waterfalls of Semuc Champey were unwordly. I visited a family of indigenous people and watched them mark chocolate. I enjoyed the architecture and jungle of Tikal. After ten weeks on the road, I was happy to be home in my nice bed with running hot, potable water, dishwashers and TVs!

Central America Travelogue, see the postings by country for Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and  Guatemala,

OR the day-by-day postings made in the field as I traveled:

Next Trip Scheduled — Central America
map Central America
on arrival
Panamanian attractions
Smithsonian
map, Panama
weigh-in
tropical
the Canal
Panama Vieja
Pipeline Road
SpanishPanama
School Days
Homestay with Paella
the Bus and the economy
Sunday, March 9, Costa Rica
Boquete
Cerro Punto
People on the Bus
Bastimentos
leaving Panama, arriving Costa Rica
map, Costa Rica
Manzanillo
Playa Bonita
Moin to Tortuguero
Tortuguero
San Jose
Granada
Isla de Ometepe
Matagalpa
La Selva Negra
Estelí
map, Honduras
Tegucigalpa
Lago de Yojoa
La Esperanza
Gracias
map, Guatemala
Friday, April 18–next stop, home
Copan
La Antigua
Lago de Atitlán
Semuc Champey
Making Chocolate
Tikal
Guatemala City