Central America

Two shiny new Ford transporter vans stop along the side of a white cement road and nearly 30 passengers pile out and reformulate into the small groups everyone came with. Dani and I stand off to the side and observe with some shock the other tourists in the group. A group of Brazilians (both female and male) in tank-tops, short-shorts and movie-star sunglasses and several girls in short-ish skirts. Before you start thinking Dani and I to be very prude (standing there in our long pants, closed toe shoes and jackets), we should explain that our tour was taking place in traditional Mayan villages outside of San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico. The agency had mentioned that we should wear appropriate clothes out of respect to the villagers – advice apparently very few of us chose to heed.

During this eight-month leg of our trip through Central America, we crossed paths with countless travelers coming up north as we headed down south, and listened to their tips and advice for places we had yet to visit. The only place that nobody could tell us much about was Honduras. It seems many people wonder whether it is safe or not to go there – here is our take.

The cooking course in Leon was not exactly what we expected, but turned out to be an unforgettable glimpse into Nicaraguan life. We wouldn’t have had it any other way. (No Indians, young or old, were harmed in the making of this meal).

Montezuma is easily one of Costa Rica’s most beautiful beaches, but my love affair effectively ended after spending three days there in February 2011. The Damn the Man attitude has been cast aside by the hippies who grew up, got jobs, and put Montezuma on the tourist map.

The long anticipated ‘luxury’ train ride from Panama City to Colon turned out to be quite different from what we had expected. Is it worth taking the train along the Canal?

This year has been a total beach for the two of us. Having spent over five months on the coast around the world, we share our top five beaches of the year in this post.

Want the detail on the best beaches to see across Central America? Here are some to try!

The Globetrottergirls love street food, and we spent our time hunting for the best veggie options in Guatemala. Read on for our best-of summary, and omnivores need not worry – we’ve included meat options too.

October 30th marked our 6-month travel anniversary, and the six-month marker seemed the right time to take a look at our expenses so far – including how much we have spent, where the money went, and what our average per day spend has been in each country.

We’ve spotted ‘exotic’ wildlife throughout Central America, but nothing like what we saw once we got to Costa Rica – check out our Wild Costa Rica photos!