Blogs from Central America Caribbean - page 14

Happy New Year! 2023. I have been unable to post updates of our time spent in Guatemala so they will unfortunately all come in all at once. I hope you find time to read about it or at least enjoy the photos. Don and I arrived in Guatemala New Year's eve night. A driver met us at the airport with a shuttle and he didn't speak ANY English. We decided to come to Guatemala for a Spanish Immersion program and it is starting immediately. A 1/2 hour later we were in Antiqua at our group house for students. Many questions went through our heads.. "Are we going to be the oldest students?", "Will anyone speak English?", "What have we gotten ourselves into?". The homeowners Anna (0% English) & Arturo (15% English) greeted us into their home ... read more

Great little adventure I just took, I highly recommend going someday to Baracoa if you ever have the chance. Let me tell you a little bit about the journey. It's one of those places in the world, so evocative, after you go there it will become part of you forever. As always, I never quite know I'm going to have time to travel until I do. About a month ago, I saw a window open up in my schedule. Things fell into place in a great way and I made it happen. I grew up in South Florida, went to school with many Cuban American kids, but had never been to Cuba. I guess I avoided it in the past because I thought it would be difficult to travel there solo, which is what I love ... read more

From Manuel Antonio, moved up north on the coast to Tarcoles. Didn't stay in the village itself, but rather in a jungle village along the Tarcolitos river. This place is splendid: little units among big trees covered in Ferns and other plants; the Tarcolitos river with its cool river from the mountains; very nice gardens and more. During the trip I was at the end of the rainy season. Some people told me that rainy season lasted longer this year and that interfered with some of animal behavior. Started in Osa peninsula, I really thought that it would be a good time for frogs...but no!! They were very hard to find. You know, reptiles and amphibians are my favorite animals, so I was a bit disappointed But this changed in Tarcoles, especially in the jungle village. ... read more

It's one of the classics of Costa Rica tourism: along with la Fortuna/Arenal and Monteverde, there's Manuel Antonio. It's the smallest national park, and it's very beautiful with forest, mangroves, beaches, islets and fauna. The road from Quepos (5km as crows fly), is filled with hotels, restaurants, and all sorts of activities, (zip lining, atv locations, horse riding, etc...). On the way, many wonderful views of little bays surrounded by greenery. Our hotel, was the last one before the park. We arrived on a Saturday, so the beach in front, (Espadilla), was full of tourist and locals. The day after, we visited the park. You need to reserve your ticket in advance online, to make sure you can enter as there's a maximum number of persons allowed per day. The park, is very well maintained. If ... read more

We arrived in Uvita. I visited that region 16 years ago. The village is much more developed than before, especially the new richer part. Land is being sold mainly to strangers all over the place. You can see signs about it all along the main road. Talked with a local about it. People from richer countries can afford to buy a very small piece of land for 50 000-100 000$ US dollars. But with more pieces of properties being sold to strangers, and big houses being constructed, the cost of living rise accordingly in the region, and some locals can't afford to live there anymore. That's a reality that can be seen all over the world. On one side, a quiet little paradise is hard to access to, with almost no infrastructure, but real cheap prices ... read more