My friend and I are leaving for central america in 2 weeks, we are spending one month volunteering in Guatemala and then travelling for another few months around the rest of central amercia. if anyone has any advice or places they suggest going, basically any info you can give me would be great, thanks!
Reply to this hey, in guatemala be careful of who and what you photograph if you plan on taking pictures. we were with locals and we took a picture of a boat-shaped shopping mall in guatemala city and some soldiers from the army really gave us a hard time.
but yeah, be careful in guatemala city. 😊
good luck!!
Reply to this All depends on what you want to do and what you enjoy. Lots of great things in Central America for anything that interest you. With more specific information could perhaps give better advice.
Reply to this hi, well it's not really a famous destination, but Tobago and Trinidad are two beautiful Islands, I favor Tobago, because people are really friendly, and it has some really nice touring sites. My dad does a tour to a beautiful beach with snorkeling and stuff, and they have some really nice things there.... Guatemala is really nice though
Reply to this I was in Guatemala in August and September last year, Guatemala was one of my favourute places...I fell in love with it, be very careful in Guata cuty, esp if you are taking the bus there to transfer, its a cattle mart there, anywhere in Central and Sth America always be vigilant, it was the most amazing trip for me, I have info on Guatemal on my blog
Antigua-Coban-Semuc Champey you have to go to Semuc Champey and stay in a hostel called Elretiro, there is no website or telephone number but I have directions and what busses to get on the blog.
Antigua is also good, esp the hostel Black cats.
Best of luck
Brigette
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You need to each buy a different guide book, study them and take them along. Unless your volunteer work takes you all over the country, there will still be plenty to see there too.
Do you like: Museums? Climbing volcanoes? Jungle trips? Ruins? Cock fights? Dining? partying? Sailing? Snorkeling? hiking? Stamp collecting? Drugs?
All of the above?
Reply to this wow thanks for all the advice, we pretty much like to try everything, our faves would include ruins, snorkeling, hiking, volcanoes and that sort of thing though.
Reply to this snorkeling is excellent in Tobago, and they even have a couple of ruins here, and they also have some hiking trails to amazing waterfalls, in my blogg I have 2 pics of one of the wateralls, and area is really good for hiking....volcanoes, none, but I suppose Mont Serrat would be good if you wanna see volcanoes 😉 overal, most of the caribbean islands are really amazing, I think it'll be a hard choice, but best of luck to you.
Reply to this Jumanji, the question was specific to Central America, from which the Kristine would have to be impossibly dumb to accept your advice that would take her and friend on an expensive round trip flight just to see and snorkel at a couple of piddling little islands out in the Caribbean.
Kristine, the best guide books in my mind, especially for Guatemala and Central America, are Lonely Planet and Rough Guide. Get them and read them. You should have a great trip!
Reply to this hm....no one's forcing her to accept it....besides, no one asked you to comment my advice.....so why do you care so much about it??? and it is definitely not your place to call them piddling little islands, since they are far more than that, though only people who were actually there would know that.
Reply to this well thank you both for your advice, I don't think we need to argue in here, I did pick up the lonely planet and it seems great so far!
Reply to this Kristine, here is one last note before unsubscribing. Regarding Semuc Champey, the place is 2 hours by shuttle from Cobá, which is 4-5 hours by bus from Guatemala City. Check your LP guide and you will see that this is true. They would be real nice if they were, oh, a half hour from somewhere you will be at anyway, but you could be seriously disappointed to spend a lot of time to see some pools and a rapids after so much effort to get there. There is some hype involved, especially that BS "Seventh Wonder of the World" sign you would see on entry.
Jumanji, yours was not relevant to this question about Central America. Your islands are quite small compared to the wonders of Central America, but, no doubt, they come up rarely in questions unless you post them, so you feel the need to post elsewhere. As for me, I love Guatemala.
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For me it was definitely one of the highlights of Guata and worth every hour on the bus, Semuc Champey...it was a slice of heaven and esp Elretiro..spent 4 blissful days chilling out there.
B
Reply to this yea it looks amazing and worth the trip, I guess I'll have to decide when the time comes, thanks again!
Reply to this Hi Kristine,
Guatemala is a really great country, although of course, not everywhere save, but as long as you use your common sense that doesn't have to be a problem.
Anyway, the places in Central America where you want to spend as little time as possible are the capital city's (I've been in Guatemala city, Tegucigalpa, Managua and San Jose and I was happy to leave either one of those as soon as possible, especially Managua)
The places in Guatemala that you don't want to miss are of course Antigua, lago d'atitlan and Tikal. As for the rest of central America, I was pleasantly supprised by Nicaragua (among other places Leon, Granada and lake Nicaragua)
Anyway, enjoy yourselves.
Amber
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