Traveling in Central and South America

liffy

Jedi
Hey,
A friend and I are headed toward Yucatan in a few weeks time. We're getting a one-way ticket, so our schedule is quite open.

The main idea, though, is to start out with the Yucatan peninsula, and all that has to offer in terms of ruins, nature, scuba-dives, etc. I've read the thread giving tips in this area so I think I'm up to speed there.

After Yucatan, our plan is to head southward, through the countries of Central America, and eventually entering South America, ending up in Peru, or perhaps further southeast; we'll see how long my budget lasts.

The total duration will be approximately 3 months, if all goes as planned.

Any tips for exciting locations/cities/events, or anything along those lines is deeply appreciated. If there are warnings for places or actions to avoid, I'd certainly appreciate those too (We're both somewhat dense guys in the early 20's, and therefore not very obvious victims of assault crimes).

I can try to write a few updates in this post as a travelogue; as well as post a few pictures, if there is any interest in this.
 
I hope you guys make it here to Peru. If you get to come I would suggest you to visit the Nazca lines, Machu Pichu in Cuzco and to spend some time in Lima city! Also to visit the Titi Caca lake in puno, all amazing places!! :D
 
liffy said:
(We're both somewhat dense guys in the early 20's, and therefore not very obvious victims of assault crimes).

I wouldn't be heading out on a trip like that with that as an idée fixe! I'd be thinking the opposite.
 
Starmie: Thanks for the tips, Peru is a country we'll hopefully get to eventually. :)

Perceval: Good point, always staying on guard of course. It was more of a disclaimer, so that the readers wouldn't be excessively careful in suggesting places where there is a certain risk level that should be considered.

I got a tip from a friend about how to deal with potential robberies in a safe way; to keep an amount of local currency approximately equivalent to $200 easily available, so that if you encounter a situation, you'll give them that amount, and they'll probably be satisfied enough to leave, but without your debit cards, cell phone and so on.
 
Perceval said:
liffy said:
(We're both somewhat dense guys in the early 20's, and therefore not very obvious victims of assault crimes).

I wouldn't be heading out on a trip like that with that as an idée fixe! I'd be thinking the opposite.

liffy be very careful, don't trust clingy people. ;)
 
SolarMother said:
I would wear a money belt (hidden down in yor pants) as well! :cool:

Yes, I have this thingy that you attach to the belt on your pants, and then tuck in in front.
 
Hi liffy. It sounds like you might be traveling through Belize on your way south. Highly recommended!

Best to completely avoid Belize City though, it's very sketchy. San Ignacio is a funky little town with good food and places to stay. Lots of activities in the area. Ask about the river float through Blue Cave. Tikal is not too far away either.

One used to be able to take a boat from Punta Gorda to Livingston, Guatamala for a few bucks as a shortcut to countries further south. Otherwise it's a long bus ride through the Peten south of Tikal. Quite a few problems with road bandits holding up buses on this route too.

In Peru, as starmie mentioned, Cuzco is very interesting and exciting and a good base to day-trip from. Prices for lodging vary considerably so shop around. I payed about $15 usd the first night I was there but quickly moved into an equally nice place for $4! (years ago)

The Sacred Valley nearby is great exploring and the Inca Trail to Machu Piccu is incredible. I actually preferred the shorter 2-day hike to the longer 4-day(maybe something to do with that 15,000ft pass on the first day!). Arriving by foot above the ruins as the sun rises is very memorable.

Sounds like quite an adventure. Be safe liffy.
 
Thank you for your helpful reply, cholas. It's definitely going to be quite an adventure; but safety first :)
 
ooh ooh, I loved Central America, and have visited often for extended periods.
My top few places to check out would be

Mexico:
-Chacahua- awesome surf and a great little fishing community. You can navigate pretty easily from Puerto Escondido. Take enough cash for your stay. Although there is s small shop to buy basic supplies, no where to get cash out. Just rock up on the beach and follow the hand written signs until you find a local to stay with. They will feed you local caught fish every day too. Hire a dug out canoe and explore the mangroves. Often you will see black river dolphins jumping around in the river.

-Palenque- a mountainous village South of Escondido. Pretty artsy and a beautiful place to visit 'Agua Azul' and the temples nearby (I forget the name).

Mexico-Guatemala:
-Carribean Coast- You can fly over to Can Cun from Escondido with Mexico Air for pretty cheap. I'm not a fan of the party scene over there but if you head South to 'Chichen Itza' ruins across the border there are a few cool places to visit on the way including places to cave dive and other underground explorations.

Belize:
If you are already on the Caribbean Coast you can easily get over to the islands. Great snorkelling and a very cruisy beach scene. Check out www.ambergriscaye.com/ and from there you can visit some of the smaller islands.

Nicaragua:
One of the poorer CA countries... and some of the friendliest locals we came across. The obvious place to go is San Juan Del Sur, a beach community mix of locals and expats. Great place to spot macaws in the trees and smoke some freshly rolled cigars. And they make a very good Rum. YOu will find a host of other places to get to from there and its then only about a 30km taxi ride to the Costa Rican border.

Costa Rica:
Mai Pais.. a long way from any where really.An epic journey by bus and ferry will get you here. Stay on the beach and be woken by howler monkeys. Look out for sloths too. Does it get any better?? Def check out the mountains nearby.

I'm happy to share any other info... and am a little bit envious of your coming trip :P

Once you're on the road you'll be sure to meet some great people who will share their favourite places to go.
 
Thanks for all the tips, fisheye. Not sure if we'll get to the western coast of Mexico, but we'll see. I'll keep your tips at hand when we're travelling.

I'm planning to get a scuba diving certificate somewhere along the way, perhaps on Cozumel, or somewhere along the coast where they have a respectable diving education. My travel companion already has a certificate, so we'll be checking out our little fishy friends and their coral companions.

I'll try to keep a little log here with photos, so that you won't have to be envious; then again, that'll probably just increase the envy. :P
 
Time for a little update.

We have been traveling for 3 weeks now, and it's certainly starting to grow on me. Being in new places, interacting with locals and fellow travellers suits me quite well. I have my Kindle with me, that is loaded up with plenty books, so I get to do a bit of reading as well, which is good. The food thing is not as problematic as one might think, but they certainly could've had more fat on the meats, but butter does the trick, in such cases.

We started out heading around in Yucatan and visited a few nice villages, as well as several intriguing ruins. My favorite town was Tulum, which is a small community set on the beach along the pacific coast, with a breathtaking beach, and ruins to top it off.

Here's a photo from Tulum:

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The most stunning archeological site we visited in Yucatan was Chichen Itza, which had an exquisitely well preserved pyramid; most of you have probably seen it in photos, if not in real life.

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According to the guide, it was painted all over when the city was populated, as well as there being pavements all over the place; it must have been quite a sight.

After Yucatan, we went south to Palenque, which also was quite extraordinary.

At the moment we're in Lago De Atitlan, south in Guatemala, which is a big, beautiful lake, surrounded by volcanoes.

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Today we're heading toward a beach in El Salvador, where the plan is to learn how to surf, which I think will be a fun thing to do, as well as good exercise; not to mention the exquisite metaphor, in other words, riding the wave. :)

The people living in these countries are amazingly welcoming and well-tempered, even those that live lives that are considered to be extremely poor in terms of material necessities. It's not like they're out to get money from you either; most people help out as soon as you look rather lost.

There are of course some people who would like to trick you into letting go of somewhat big sums, but they seem to be rare, at least from what I've experienced so far.

One thing that's quite sad to observe when traveling in these countries, is to see how agriculture paves its way through the countryside. In some places the jungle has been cut down to make way for immense palm fields, for making the lovely oil, and it's destructive derivatives. Other places there are endless cornfields, that don't even seem to yield anything, because the plants are all dry and dying. I'm from Norway, so this is something that I don't see all that often, since our climate can handle this kind of stuff a lot better than most.

I'll post another update in a while; feel free to make suggestions for sights and sites in the countries ahead. :)
 
Beautiful liffy! :)

I'm planning on travelling and central/south America Is where I'd thought I might start that. Your pictures and experiences certainly encourage those thoughts! ;D
 
Thanks for the update and photos, liffy. I visited Tulum and Chichen Itza in 1993. It IS an interesting experience -- the ruins and the beautiful beach. :)
 
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