Thewesternprovinceblog

Hola a todos! As I am transiting through from Panamá city to Colombia I am taking the time to write a little bit of a post mortem blog on the Centroamérica leg of this adventure to sum things up much like we did Mexico.

So to begin what to way about the countries we’ve been to? Firstly compared to Mexico they are all quite basic and rather similar in their nature and geography. Everywhere we passed through there is some volcano or another to be seen. 

On the history side it is quite interesting as you have a mixture of ancient ruins and the modern history of these places after the Spanish Conquest and what happened to these places after Spain’s empire collapsed. There is quite a bit to learn here.

People have been friendly enough although not as open as Mexico I’ve had decent conversations with locals and other travellers and even made a new best friend in our pal the metal man of Granada. 

Compared to western Europe it has been cheaper but prices vary very much by regions here with the most expensive places being Antigua and Panama city with the cheapest being El Salvador and parts of Nicaragua.

Overall this leg ends on a mixed note as we’ve had some good highs and a huge low and as I write I’m only just about back to equilibrium I would say. Below 👇 is a more in depth summary of each of the countries and places we have visited.

Adelante a Colombia 🇨🇴!

A summary of countries and places visited:

🇬🇹 Guatemala: 

Overall Guatemala was quite interesting and another place I could go back to and see more of if I am being honest since it feels I’ve not really seen much of it especially on the history side, there are ruin such as Tikal, Iximiche etc that are as amazing as the ones in México but we’re not easy to get to without diverting from this route. Also not having a great experience with fellow travellers here made me move on rather than hang round. Guatemala was probably also the most expensive of these places to live and feed yourself on this leg. That said there is plenty here I haven’t done and I could do a second trip here to tick them off. That said it has not been the easiest place to get around without your own wheels. Of the places I have done:

• Lake Atitlan: Lake Atitlan was a short stay but what I did see of it it was very basic although you have a stunning natural wonder in the lake itself and the surrounding volcanoes and there are some good trails you can do if you stay a while, during my short stay I did explore some of the towns in the lake and they are basic at best with some being complete dives. Overall though every port on this lake seems a bit run down from what I’ve seen. If I was to speculate this place ran off the tourist Dollar and took a big hit when COVID came and hasn’t really recovered.
• Antigua: I overall quite liked Antigua. It is a proper renaissance style city built in the style of a classical Roman city from the days of petruvio, the architect whose works inspired Da Vinci. My stay here was alright though probably didn’t do as much as I should have since again didn’t have the greatest experience when I arrived – See Bros and bully bois blog post. That said it was a chill enough place though prices were on the pricier side of the budget it was still manageable on the accomodation side, when it came to feeding yourself it massively varied with some places being very expensive while others were very reasonably cheap. One of those places you have to look around. Just maybe don’t do the Antigua bar crawl side quest on your first night here.

🇸🇻 El Salvador: El Salvador, what to say about this one, now I didn’t hate El Salvador but would I go back again? I don’t know. Overall the whole place just had a “pass through” vibe to it as it was very basic and everywhere I went there generally wasn’t a lot going on. That said it was probably the cheapest place on the trip so far by quite a bit though I don’t see it staying that way in the future. Another thing we have to remember is a few short years ago this country would have been a complete no go as it had the highest murder rate on the planet before Bukele Literally locked everyone up who had the slightest affiliation with a gang. Reading into it is somewhat controversial but regardless of whether you agree with his methods or not he is the brutal gardener – he was elected to get rid of the gang crime and he’s done it. Not been pretty but he’s did what he was elected to do. Can we say the same about our politicians back home? Right now El Salvador is trying to reinvent itself and attract foreign investment and become a tourist destination. If El Salvador doesn’t slide back into Gangland when he’s gone it probably will develop more into a tourist destination and not be as cheap in a few years time. One place that’s meant to be cool I didn’t get to was El Tunco on the coast by San Salvador so will have to check it out if I ever go back. On the places visited:

• Santa Ana: Basic all round but not a complete dive, the centre I stayed in is quite pretty and you have some reasonably priced bars and restaurants. Nearby you have Tazumal, half hour on the chicken bus away in Chalchuapa – the last major ancient ruin before Colombia which is another Mayan settlement that is worth the chicken bus excursion. Overall a decent place to stop for 2/3 nights but not really much else to see here.
• San Salvador: Salvador is a sprawled out capital city and as such I didn’t see much of it Escalón what I did see what small and sleepy apart from the world trade centre. It was decent and chill enough place though I think I didn’t spend enough time here to see all of it. Probably need 2/3 days to fully explore this city.
• San Miguel: Many blogs I’ve read refer to this place as the “Armpit of El Salvador” San Miguel is a dive, it is very hot here and not easy to get about here. What else? There is quite little to do round here or at least where I was. It was the only place in El Salvador that I felt quite unsafe walking around at night. Also watch your step on the sidewalks especially in the dark.
• La Unión: La Unión is the port town that serves the ferry between Nicaragua and El Salvador. La Unión is basic and quiet with not not much going on. There is no proper beach here either though it is a cheap place to chill for a few days but don’t stay as long as I did. If I went back here I would just do a one night here then get the ferry, if I was to hang around I would get a bus out to one or the beach towns nearby and stay there a few days.

🇳🇮 Nicaragua: Nicaragua surprised me if I am being honest and surprised me in a good way, after El Salvador expectations were rather low going into it but with it’s issues it actually was the best of these Centroamérica countries I found though that said it was not perfect. Like all the others it was pretty basic but cheap to stay and feed yourself generally. Nicaragua has an interesting modern history which can basically be summed up as 100 years of resisting the meddling of Uncle Sam’s special interests in Latin America – remember kids for one final time – It is totally NOT imperialism when Uncle Sam does it! Nicaragua also has some excellent natural beauty in its geography and while I have not seen that much of it I have generally liked and enjoyed my time here. It has grown on me quite a lot and could happily come back here for an extended holiday. To sum up places visited:

• León: León was a whistle stop tour so can’t really judge it that much. It is quite a bit of a party city though being on my own and only there for one night I didn’t go to the party places. It has some good histroic places in the centre and was quite cheap to go out I found. One thing though is it felt dangerous on the periphery, where I was staying. I had an early one and people were eyeing me up walking home and on the bus to Granada next day I heard these girls talking about people from their hostel getting mugged with knifes and being pinned against a wall coming back from a nightclub. 2nd hand info but confirms the general feel.
• Granada: Granada being the former capital during the colonial era is a very nice old town and colonial city I spend a long weekend here and found it to be a very chill sort of place. I met some Friendly people here as well, mostly locals or expats but still in my opinion Best place since San Cristobal, México so far. Granada has a lot of interesting things to see inside the city itself in terms of the history and outside you have the Lake Cocibolca which makes the place a bit cooler and gives you more access to nature – there are loads of little islands outside of it that you can do a cheap boat trip out to and if you feel go for a swim in the lake. Would highly recommend it Granada overall. It is also a good location to transit to other parts of the country.
• Isla Ometepe: amazing natural geography and a great place to learn to ride a motorbike and cut your teeth with driving on the right. Didn’t see as much of the natural beauty as I probably should have as was too much getting into cutting round on the bike and driving on the right for the first time in my life so I sort of ended up not doing any of the major sites here. Don’t regret it just the way things panned out with this one. Ometepe is an amazing island and despite having an accident that then lead to a rabies scare long story (see A Lonely Place blog) I would happily add a return to this place to the agenda if I came back here.

🇨🇷 Costa Rica: Hard to give a proper evaluation of Costa Rica given the mental freaks I was having through most of my time here, see (Lonely place and this is the end blogs). I only properly seen San Jose, the borders I came in and left at and some beach hotel places while waiting for buses. What was good and bad:

The good:

– The healthcare system or at least in San Jose as when I visited the hospital with my rabies scare I was seen to quickly and they were very helpful. I even did not get charged anything weather that was a clerical error on their part I don’t know but it was great to get seen to quickly.

– The people there were generally friendly and upbeat if I was not back to them so that has to count for something.

The bad:

– absolutely terrible border crossing between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Being kept in the no mans land for 5 hours, although that was due to a powercut most other travellers I’ve spoken to who have done the Peñas Blancas crossing say it was bad. Also having to do the metal detectors thing both sides is something I later found out because Nicaragua and Costa Rica don’t tend to get on too well so do it to each other at the border.

– Prices – while not absolutely eye wateringly expensive my short stay in San Jose notably put a dent in my budget.- roads – another gripe with Costa Rica was the roads, I spoke to many people who have said they are bad and having experienced that first hand with a nightmare bus journey to go with it. Seriously they could do with fixing them up a bit.I’m also sure there are some lovely beaches in Costa Rica but I never got there.

To sum up San Jose: To add to the general points above I got stuck there for 3 days as was no easy onward travel route to Panamá from there and San Jose looked a bit run down and a dive. It was not as bad as it looked after doing a walking tour but still it wasn’t the place you wanted to be out late at night.

🇵🇦 Panamá: Panamá, the final country on this Centroamérica leg and one of the nicer ones I would say from what I have seen of it. You have beaches, mountains a cool modern city and a decent bit of history to explore if your so inclined. To be fair I haven’t seen enough of Panama in my opinion and would keep it on the list for a possible revisit should I come back to Central América. So to sum up places visited:

• Bocas del Toro: This place is quite a cute little Carribbean island chain just off the northern coast of Panamá. I had not planned to come here but came here because it was literally my only way out of San José. The Island is a chill place with beaches and was quite reasonably priced everywhere. If you wanted there are plenty of things to do such as boat tours, snorkeling and beaches or cut around on a moped. My stay was short so didn’t do any of that but could recommend for a lazy beach holiday.
• Panamá City: The final stop before Colombia. I liked Panamá city quite a lot it was a big change after going through all these basic places to end up in Latin America’s Hong Kong or Dubai something of the like. Panamá city is quite interesting though I did not have time to go deep diving into the dirty laundry of governments and hedge funds it has that look of a place where a lot of dirty money passes through, that said I quite enjoyed it as it had a pretty chill vibe to it at least where I stayed in Bellavista. A few decent places to eat and drink but not much going on. Didn’t really meet anyone here either but was nice to chill for a few days before flying to Colombia.Panama city is quite on the pricier side for accommodation but you can eat and drink cheaply enough if you go to the right places. The old city of Panamá Viejo and the casco antiguo are well worth a visit to learn the history and spend time in a proper old colonial Spanish city. The canal is a must do and would highly recommend doing it with Monkey Island Tour. Their half day trip includes a boat trip up the canal and the various monkey islands on the route. It allows you to get up close to both the wildlife and the ships and also includes a nice short nature hike too.My only disservice to Panama city was not having enough time to do the San Blas islands tour I think as that looks amazing but is also a long day and probably not best to do the day before your flight out. One I will keep on my list if I ever find myself here again.

🇭🇳Honduras & 🇧🇿Belize: While I personally didn’t visit these this paragraph is a general summary of second hand accounts from various other travellers I spoke to who had been through one of both of them. I Didn’t visit Honduras on account of them making it that Brits need a visa a few years ago and getting one proved to be a non starter – from various 2nd hand accounts of people I spoken to while travelling through places around it I am not missing much – it’s very basic in the same way as el Salvador but much more dangerous to walk around at night though it does have one good Mayan ruin to visit. Belize feels very much the same from speaking to other travellers who had passed there; Good natural beauty some ruins but basic and dangerous. The only other thing to note is they speak English in Belize. Not to knock places I haven’t been to myself but things to keep in mind if you ever plan a trip out this way.