Joe North and Lila Rose
Hello everyone! Joe and I are so excited to be blogging our way through Central America. And, you should be excited too! This is like facebook.com for the traveler! Get ready to hear about our exciting Central American adventures as they happen (or, more accurately, a bit after they've happened - the internet doesn't grow on trees down here). Also, be on the lookout for some amazing photos! THANNATOZnLILEOYTIS
So, whether we're climbing Mayan ruins in Mexico, enjoying a beer in Belize, exploring grutas (caves) in Guatemala, sleeping in hammocks in Honduras, experiencing Nicaraguan night-life, touring the jungle canopies of Costa Rica, or paddling down the Panama Canal you’ll be right there with us!
Our Route: Mexico - Belize - Guatemala - El Salvador - Honduras - Nicaragua - Costa Rica - Panama - Costa Rica (back again to fly home!)
Until We Fly Home
Travel Blog Posts
Tortuguero, Costa Rica
Published: August 20th 2006Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Limón » Tortuguero National Park
August 18th 2006
A Quick Note Regarding Pictures (or the lack thereof) Our hostel in San Jose rocks! It it huge... it has a swimming pool... a roof top bar/restaurant... and tons of computers with FREE internet. However, the internet is a bit to slow to load pictures. So, we gave up. Sorry about that. We'll post pictures for our Puerto Viejo, Puerto Limon, and Tortuguero entries this coming Monday or Tuesday evening when we are back in the land of COX High Speed Digital Cable. Sigh. I never thought we'd actually be glad to see COX. See you all soon! Intro to Tortuguero North of Puerto Limon, on a tiny slip of land between Tortuguero Canal and the Caribbean is the little village of Tortuguero, pleasantly situated on the northern tip of Parque Nacional Tortuguero in northeastern Costa ... read more
August 17th 2006
PSA Photos to be posted at a later date. We don't have good USB connections currently. Intro to Puerto Limon Under Construction. Our Experience It rained on the bus ride from Puerto Viejo to Puerto Limon. I tried to read, but I started to get sick because the bus had to swerve to avoid potholes every 50 feet. So, I gave up reading and just enjoyed the ride. When we arrived in Puerto Limon it was still raining. We got out of the bus, grabbed our luggage from the luggage compartment, and ran for a nearby awning. Joe's Note: Actually the bus had to swerve about every 5 inches. This was not the best road in the world. I'm impressed no one got sick. Under the awning we consulted our guidebook, but were eventually approached by ... read more
Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Costa Rica
Published: August 19th 2006Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Limón » Puerto Viejo de Talamanca
August 16th 2006
PSA Photos to be posted at a later date. Intro to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca Under Construction. Our Experience We arrived in Puerto Viejo in the early afternoon and immediately made our way to the cheapest hostel in town. They gave us a stand alone cabin/room with twin beds, a fan, and a light for $16 USD. The bathroom was a hop, skip, and a jump away in the main building. After settling in, we headed out for a late lunch. We found a local restaurant blaring reggae music and had ourselves a big Hawaiian pizza and mozzarella sticks. After a leisurely lunch, we walked around town. Puerto Viejo is smaller than we imagined. Really, it's just a little Caribbean village subsisting on tourism. Quaint, but in a cool, laid back way. Unfortunately, it was still ... read more
Bocas del Toros, Panama
Published: August 15th 2006Central America Caribbean » Panama » Bocas Del Toro
August 14th 2006
Intro to Archipielago de Bocas del Toros The Archipielago de Bocas del Toros, in the Laguan de Chiriqui, is just 32 kilometers from the Costa Rican border. The archipielago consists of six large, mostly forested islands and scores of smaller ones; and the Parque Nacional Marino Isla Bastimentos forms a good-size chunk of it. Isla Colon Isla Colon is by far the most visited and developed of the Bocas del Toros islands. At the southeastern tip of the island, the town of Bocas del Toros is where most of the archipielago's accommodations and restaurants are found. A slow-paced community made up mostly of English and patois-speaking people of West Indian ancestry, Bocas is a great place to hang out for a few days. The town's relaxed,... read more
August 12th 2006
Intro to Boquete Under Construction. Our Experience So, we arrived at Boquete after dark and it started to drizzle. Lovely. Additionally, Boquete is in the mountains so it was a cool drizzle. Extra lovely. We tried one hotel - full. We tried a second hotel (in the opposite direction) - full. We stood under an awning trying to find another hotel, and a lady in a pickup randomly drove up and asked us if we needed a nice hotel to stay at with a private bathroom for $7.00 USD per person. Um... yes, absolutely. Funny how things work out. Joe was just blown away at bad luck gone good luck. Joe's Note: Not only did this place work out for us at just the right time, this place turned out to be truly amazing in general. ... read more
August 11th 2006
Intro to Las Tablas Under Construction. Our Experience We had a pretty quiet trip to Las Tablas. The bus was air conditioned, and it didn't stop much until we neared Las Tablas. It did, however, take quite a while, and by the time we got to town it was very much nighttime. This wouldn't be all that bad, but this town is pretty small and our book only listed one hotel. Fortunately, an English-speaking woman (she sounded and looked American) who lives in Las Tablas told us about a good clean hotel and then even grabbed a cab for us. We got to the hotel just fine, and it turned out to be fairly reasonably priced and probably one of the best rooms we've stayed in. We thoroughly enjoyed our night in A/C-hot water bliss. The ... read more
Panama City and the Panama Canal, Panama
Published: August 13th 2006Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama City
August 9th 2006
Bienvenido a Panama Along the narrow isthmus bridging the Americas, the wildlife and terrain of two continents melt to form the striking contrasts of Panama. Ocean, forest, mountain and jungle set the stage for countless adventures. You can go whale-watching along the craggy Pacific coast, snorkel around tiny islands in the Caribbean or surf good breaks off either coast. If you have had enough of the heat, escape to the highlands and go rafting down class-five rapids, hike through cloud forests or bathe in crisp mountain streams. Panama's jungles are some of the least explored areas in the world. You can visit indigenous villages, marvel at some of the country's 940 bird species or wake at sunrise to the view of both oceans at your feet. Panama's diversity doesn't end in the countryside. With immigrants from ... read more
La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Published: August 8th 2006Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Alajuela » La Fortuna
August 5th 2006
Intro to La Fortuna La Fortuna is the nearest village to the spectacular Volcan Arenal, which looms 6 kilometers to the west. The volcano was dormant until 1968 when huge explosions triggered lava flows that killed nearly 80 people. It retains its almost perfect conical shape and the degree of activity varies from week to week, but nightfall can often offer an opportunity to watch red-hot lava flowing and incandescent rocks flying through the air. The town has also become a popular base for day trips to Refugio Nacional Cano Negro near the Nicaraguan border. Our Experience We weren't sure we were going to be able to make it to La Fortuna in one day because we'd have to catch three seperate buses (and the last bus we needed left at 12:30pm). If we missed our ... read more
![Lila Standing In Front of a Waterfall We\](http://photos.travelblog.org/Photos/16305/64045/s/488935-Lila-Standing-In-Front-of-a-Waterfall-We-0.jpg "Lila Standing In Front of a Waterfall We\")
August 2nd 2006
Note Pictures to be posted at a later date. Bienvenido a Costa Rica Surfer dudes, bird nerds, hiking fiends, mountain trekkers, back-to-the-land nature fanatics, beach bums and party animals all seem to have found something in common in Costa Rica. The waves are prime, the natural beauty is staggering, the pace of life slow, the beer plentiful and the locals friendly. A stronghold of peace in a region torn by strife, this tiny nation attracts a stream of more than a million eager visitors every year. The country stands apart from its Central American neighbors on various points. The first is that it has no army. Armed forces were abolished after the 1948 civil war, and Costa Rica has avoided to despotic, dictatorships, frequent military coups, ism and internal turmoil that have plagued other countries i ... read more
Isla Ometepe, Nicaragua
Published: August 3rd 2006Central America Caribbean » Nicaragua » Southern Pacific Coast » Isla de Ometepe
August 1st 2006
Intro to Isla Ometepe An ecological jewel, Isla Ometepe is still sparsely developed for tourism, making the island all the more attractive for those who like an unspoiled nature and don't mind expending extra effort to see it. Ometepe (meaning "between two hills" in Nahautl) is formed by two large volcanoes: Volcan Concepcion, which rises 1610 meters above the lake in an almost perfect cone, and Volcan Maderas (1394 meters). Lava flowing from the two volcanoes created an isthmus between them and united both in a single island. Concepcion is still active: its last major eruption was in 1957. With a population of 35,000, Ometepe is dotted by small coastal settlements where people live by fishing and farming - bananas, citrus fruits, maize, sesame, beans and other crops all flourish in the volcanic soil. Parts of ... read more
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