Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB - Central America MUST see?

Hola Roberto y Daniella,

En la primavera de 2010 hice un viaje en moto y visite todos los paises en America Central.

In the spring of 2010 I did a motorcycle trip and visited all the Central American countries.

I like mostly quiet natural places and these were my favourites.

Panama:

Panama Canal.

Northern Highlands. From near Volcan you can actually cross into Costa Rica via a beautifully paved, winding two lane road going through coffee growing areas. Once you cross into Costa Rica at a very relaxed little border crossing (8:00am to 4:00pm only) you'll be on about 8km's of bumpy dirt road. The rains had already started when I went through and I experienced no mud. When I went through there was no Aduana on the Costa Rica side but I remember reading on the HUBB that this has now changed.

Costa Rica:

Pacific Coast. Splendid beaches and very good, albeit relatively expensive tourist infrastructure.

Pan American Highway north to San Jose. Runs through the highlands and twists and turns through long stretches of rain forest.

The highlands around Lago Arenal. Quiet pastoral areas and splendid views of Lago Arenal.

Nicaragua:

Isla Ometepe. Mostly very bad dirt roads but it does have a good little stretch of about 20km's of interlocking brick road ...pretty cool.

Lago de Appoyo. Coolest and cleanest swimming lake in Nicaragua ...so they say. It's a crater lake surrounded mostly by jungle but also has lots of little guest accommodations and retreats.

Volcan Masaya. One of only two "drive up" volcanoes in the world. Drive the bike right to the rim of the active volcano crater. You can hike around the area and look right down into the sulfur emitting crater from the upper viewpoint.

Las Penitas. Small fishing village west of Leon. It's a bit of a backpacker/surfer spot but much wilder and much more low key and natural (In my opinion) than San Juan del Sur, which I found to be way to touristy for my taste.

Selva Negra. The pine forests in the north are cool and refreshing and reminded me quite a bit of my BC home.

Honduras:

The highlands just outside of Tegucigalpa near Valle de Angeles. More lonely, twisty roads in cool pine forests. Tegucigalpa itself is an absolute dump (my apologies to all who live there) but it's pretty hard to avoid it while going through Honduras.

Lago Yojoa area. Beautiful lake (google it for pictures). Also check out "www.ddbrewery.com", a microbrewery near the lake. It seems to be in the middle of nowhere and they offer cheap camping as well as reasonably priced rooms.

Copan Ruinas. Sprawling area of Maya ruins with great carvings, minus the hordes of tour buses one normally encounters at some other ruins.

Guatemala:

North side of Lago Izabal, Guatemala's largest lake. Finca Paraiso is right by the lake for a nice relaxing time. Just above that are the amazing hot springs waterfalls. There's a small fee to visit since it's on private land. The road had about 3km's of gravel towards the end but they had just finished paving the majority of it. It might be paved all the way by now.

North side of Lago Atitlan. I stayed in San Marcos. It's a bit new agey but it is pretty cool. The "tourist" part is all pedestrian paths connecting various inns and restaurants. A water taxi takes you to other communities on this beautiful lake surrounded by volcanoes. The road into San Marcos is very narrow, steep and twisty and full of major potholes (in 2010). But it's entirely passable in any vehicle.

Antigua. Very touristy and gringoish. But still very awe inspiring with volcanoes all over. The architecture is simply splendid and there's a reason for the fact that it's so popular.

Thursday and Sunday market at Chichicastenango. Even though the market seems to have evolved into a tourist attraction, the original purpose of the market is still there. Head right into the core and into the large tents and permanent structures where you'll see all the dried fish, spices and other local stuff on display.

Fuentes Georgina near Xela (Quetzaltenango). A narrow, twisty road takes you up into the farming hills. There was a strong smell of freshly harvested onions in the air as I drove up to the hot springs. It was shrouded in low lying clouds and was frequented almost entirely by local people.

Tikal. Yes it's swamped by hordes of "turistus autobus" but the site is absolutely stupendous. Camp overnight just by the gate or stay in one of the expensive lodges so you can walk around first thing in the morning or in the late afternoon or early evening so you can enjoy it before the "turistus autobus obnoxius" have arrived or after they've left.

Yaxha. Another Maya ruin on the way to Belize. Much more recently restored than Tikal (they were very actively working on it in 2010) and not very accessible by large buses on the 11km dirt access road ...at least not in 2010. I was able to camp in some elevated camping platforms above the lake. Very peaceful compared to Tikal.

El Salvador:

Ruta de las Flores. Very nicely paved 2 lane road weaving through the coffee producing hills. Well marked with pullouts and recently built viewing platforms. Not a lot of people up there and pretty quiet. I believe it's one of El Salvador's attempts at reviving a tourist industry after the horrors of what happened there not all that long ago.

Belize:

A very small country with tons of sights. You either love it or hate it. It's also probably one of the most culturally diverse countries in Central America. Maya, Spanish descent, East Indian, Chinese, Creole, Garifuna, North American and European expats, etc. Makes for some very eclectic music.

Caracol ruins. Yup! more Maya ruins. Set in the jungle 80km's from the main highway along a bumpy all weather dirt road. Not very touristed. You can camp at the almost ghost town of Douglas D'Silva, a forestry town abandoned after the pine beetle devastated the surrounding pine forests. From there it's 32km's to the ruins. Strangely enough the "final" 16km's are paved. There is a military checkpoint at Douglas D'Silva and they escort vehicles in at about 9:00am and back out mid afternoon due to some armed robberies years ago. In 2010 the escort was not mandatory and I went through by myself at 7:00am to avoid being in a cloud of dust and to have the place to myself before the small gaggle of escorted tour groups arrived. I wandered around for 2 hours listening to the jungle sounds and not really wanting to leave anymore.

On the way up to Douglas D'Silva there are the Rio On Pools. A series of cascading pools of crystal clear cold water and swimming holes. A great rest stop on a hot day. On weekends the local people head up there with their families for barbecues and some frolicking in the water.
Blue hole caves and cenote. Great swimming into a cave.

Snorkeling or diving pretty much anywhere along the coast. Southern Mexico and Belize is protected by the second largest barrier reef in the world and the sea life there is amazing.

Mexico is just way to big to get into but if you have specific questions please just ask and I'd be happy to share my experiences. It's incredibly diverse, friendly and amazingly scenic.

...Michelle
www.scrabblebiker.com (my very neglected blog)