General Central Amercia thread - the must see and do things
Discussion
ollie j said:
We used Cancun for the cheap flight but wanted to start the trip in Belize.
In the mean time, I will just answer about visas etc for the countries.
Entering Mexico: No visa required. You're given a tourist card when you arrive. Keep it!
Departing Mexico into Belize: Costs 25 USD and this is when you hand back your tourist card
If you've flown into Mexico then you've already paid your 25 USD tourist tax and do NOT need to pay it on exiting.In the mean time, I will just answer about visas etc for the countries.
Entering Mexico: No visa required. You're given a tourist card when you arrive. Keep it!
Departing Mexico into Belize: Costs 25 USD and this is when you hand back your tourist card
The border guards are banking on you not knowing this and point to the text on the back of your tourist card. Plenty of bumpf on the internet about it.
It's the reason they often drag you in one by one or couple by couple and shut the door. If you can show a break down of your flight costs showing some fees then you don't have to pay. We brought up our itinerary on our iPad and pointed at some fees, kept a straight poker face (3am in the morning and the wife can look very serious) and the bloke let us through.
We crossed into Belize last week on the overnight ADO to Belize city and did 4 nights in Caye Caulker (much recommended) and are now in San Ignacio.
P.S. Everything else Ollie has said is absolutely spot on by the way - I'm following his advice as much as anyone!
You still alive Simon?
Bit confused on visas here in the CA4 area. Entered Guatemala from Belize on 12 Feb, I thought this automatically meant 90 days for the 4 countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. On crossing into El Salvador the border official points out I was only given 30 days (biro scribbled '30' I hadn't noticed, all the other backpackers had a '90') and therefore need to be out the lot by 13 Mar.
Entered Nicaragua yesterday and their entry stamp is on a separate tourist card placed inside passport and gives me 30 days i.e. until the end of the month which would be handy Which takes precedence?
I'm visiting Costa Rica and then due to re-enter Nicaragua to go back up on the Caribbean Coast.
Bit confused on visas here in the CA4 area. Entered Guatemala from Belize on 12 Feb, I thought this automatically meant 90 days for the 4 countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. On crossing into El Salvador the border official points out I was only given 30 days (biro scribbled '30' I hadn't noticed, all the other backpackers had a '90') and therefore need to be out the lot by 13 Mar.
Entered Nicaragua yesterday and their entry stamp is on a separate tourist card placed inside passport and gives me 30 days i.e. until the end of the month which would be handy Which takes precedence?
I'm visiting Costa Rica and then due to re-enter Nicaragua to go back up on the Caribbean Coast.
Yep, still alive !!
I haven't been moving very quickly so i'm still in Guatemala and think i'll stay here for the next two weeks.
I would have only managed Mexico, Belize and Guat in about 7 weeks.
Just had a look at my passport and it is scribbled with a '90' on it, didn't pay any attention at the time, just got the stamp which sounded like the most important as sometimes they don't stamp and then fine you 100 USD when you leave !. Did you pay you 20 Guatemalan Grouchos when you entered ?
I haven't been moving very quickly so i'm still in Guatemala and think i'll stay here for the next two weeks.
I would have only managed Mexico, Belize and Guat in about 7 weeks.
Just had a look at my passport and it is scribbled with a '90' on it, didn't pay any attention at the time, just got the stamp which sounded like the most important as sometimes they don't stamp and then fine you 100 USD when you leave !. Did you pay you 20 Guatemalan Grouchos when you entered ?
Not sure what we paid to get into Guatemala now, done too many border crossings! I think it was fairly small so 20Q sounds about right.
El Salvador was free to get in but I was mainly captivated by the "bird s
t car" sat at the border presumably owned by someone who was hauled into custody many moons ago. El Salvador seems the most keen on actually checking the dates etc. Honduras is $3 to get in and Nicaragua $15 so not bad.
We've got two options to get back to Europe depending on news from home. First is to go back up through them all to the States (so correctly stamped passport sort of handy) or fly / sail to South America from Costa Rica or Panama.
Volcano overload here as we missed the good one (Acatanago? next to Fuego that's currently going off) near Antigua in Guatemala. Climbing Ticla this evening and moonlight "surfing" it tomorrow night. Feeling a bit old!
El Salvador was free to get in but I was mainly captivated by the "bird s
t car" sat at the border presumably owned by someone who was hauled into custody many moons ago. El Salvador seems the most keen on actually checking the dates etc. Honduras is $3 to get in and Nicaragua $15 so not bad.We've got two options to get back to Europe depending on news from home. First is to go back up through them all to the States (so correctly stamped passport sort of handy) or fly / sail to South America from Costa Rica or Panama.
Volcano overload here as we missed the good one (Acatanago? next to Fuego that's currently going off) near Antigua in Guatemala. Climbing Ticla this evening and moonlight "surfing" it tomorrow night. Feeling a bit old!
Amazing part of the world - I spent 6 months travelling from Mexico down to Panama, some truely amazing places and people there.
Guatemala, Mexico and Nicaragua were probably my favorites for different reasons.
If you're passing by Nicaragua, don't miss little Corn Island off the east coast and if you're going overland to the coast to catch a boat - be careful in Bluefields.
Guatemala, Mexico and Nicaragua were probably my favorites for different reasons.
If you're passing by Nicaragua, don't miss little Corn Island off the east coast and if you're going overland to the coast to catch a boat - be careful in Bluefields.
I'm in Antigua right now but all quiet on the volcano front, it went off 3 weeks ago but nothing since. I like it here, very relaxing and not too expensive if you know where to eat.
Off to Lake Atitlan next for a few days.
Feeling a little old too, these backpackers have become very young all of a sudden !!
Off to Lake Atitlan next for a few days.
Feeling a little old too, these backpackers have become very young all of a sudden !!
moto_traxport said:
ollie j said:
We used Cancun for the cheap flight but wanted to start the trip in Belize.
In the mean time, I will just answer about visas etc for the countries.
Entering Mexico: No visa required. You're given a tourist card when you arrive. Keep it!
Departing Mexico into Belize: Costs 25 USD and this is when you hand back your tourist card
If you've flown into Mexico then you've already paid your 25 USD tourist tax and do NOT need to pay it on exiting.In the mean time, I will just answer about visas etc for the countries.
Entering Mexico: No visa required. You're given a tourist card when you arrive. Keep it!
Departing Mexico into Belize: Costs 25 USD and this is when you hand back your tourist card
The border guards are banking on you not knowing this and point to the text on the back of your tourist card. Plenty of bumpf on the internet about it.
It's the reason they often drag you in one by one or couple by couple and shut the door. If you can show a break down of your flight costs showing some fees then you don't have to pay. We brought up our itinerary on our iPad and pointed at some fees, kept a straight poker face (3am in the morning and the wife can look very serious) and the bloke let us through.
We crossed into Belize last week on the overnight ADO to Belize city and did 4 nights in Caye Caulker (much recommended) and are now in San Ignacio.
P.S. Everything else Ollie has said is absolutely spot on by the way - I'm following his advice as much as anyone!
http://www.roamingaroundtheworld.com/how-to-beat-t...
And to quote from the above article:
"Documents Needed to Avoid Paying the Mexico Exit Tax
If you have flown to Mexico and are now exiting by a land border, instead of paying, you simply need two documents:
1) Your FMM card you received upon arrival, and
2) An itemized receipt from your flight purchase showing the Tourism Tax"
We did not have number 2 so had to pay so I should have mentioned that on this thread in the first place. Sorry about that! But I've linked it now so people can see in the future.
As for this conundrum:
moto_traxport said:
Bit confused on visas here in the CA4 area. Entered Guatemala from Belize on 12 Feb, I thought this automatically meant 90 days for the 4 countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. On crossing into El Salvador the border official points out I was only given 30 days (biro scribbled '30' I hadn't noticed, all the other backpackers had a '90') and therefore need to be out the lot by 13 Mar.
Entered Nicaragua yesterday and their entry stamp is on a separate tourist card placed inside passport and gives me 30 days i.e. until the end of the month which would be handy Which takes precedence?
I'm visiting Costa Rica and then due to re-enter Nicaragua to go back up on the Caribbean Coast.
Can you elaborate a little please? For now all I can tell you is that for many countries across the world even if one is entitled to stay for up to 90 days (or 30,60 etc), the officials will stamp a lesser time in your passport such as 30 days by default for an unknown reason. Off the top of my head this has happened to me in Malawi and at least one Central American country. This DOES NOT mean that that country has changed its policy, but simply the onus is on you, the tourist, to request your max entitlement of days if you really do want it.Entered Nicaragua yesterday and their entry stamp is on a separate tourist card placed inside passport and gives me 30 days i.e. until the end of the month which would be handy Which takes precedence?
I'm visiting Costa Rica and then due to re-enter Nicaragua to go back up on the Caribbean Coast.
But please elaborate and maybe I can help.
PS: as for the volcano, do you mean Acatenango? I hope to go back and climb it with the aforementioned company OX adventures based in Antigua de Guatemala: http://guatemalavolcano.com/AcatenangoVolcanoHike....
SimonV8ster said:
I'm in Antigua right now but all quiet on the volcano front, it went off 3 weeks ago but nothing since. I like it here, very relaxing and not too expensive if you know where to eat.
Off to Lake Atitlan next for a few days.
Feeling a little old too, these backpackers have become very young all of a sudden !!
I think the volcano overlooking Antigua is Agua and is currently dormant. As you say Fuego gave a proper "burp" about 3 weeks ago and covered Antigua in ash. It does go off all the time however throwing clouds of ash a couple of hundred feet in the air (this is "normal"). Climbing it's neighbour Acatenango (8 hour killer climb) and you can watch Fuego do its stuff - pictures from the youngsters who did it were absolutely awesome!Off to Lake Atitlan next for a few days.
Feeling a little old too, these backpackers have become very young all of a sudden !!
When you're in Lake Atitlan try and do the sunrise climb up the Indian's Nose, which is a ridge overlooking the lake. Easy climb, excellent views and you get to look at 3 volcanos overlooking the lake itself and those around Antigua, 30 odd miles away - even from here you'll see Fuego puffing away.
If you stay at Hostel Fe in San Pedro la Laguna in Atitlan bring earplugs, lots of them!
Meanwhile in Nicaragua I've just peered into a crater and looked at lava tonight, most good!!
moto_traxport said:
I think the volcano overlooking Antigua is Agua and is currently dormant. As you say Fuego gave a proper "burp" about 3 weeks ago and covered Antigua in ash. It does go off all the time however throwing clouds of ash a couple of hundred feet in the air (this is "normal"). Climbing it's neighbour Acatenango (8 hour killer climb) and you can watch Fuego do its stuff - pictures from the youngsters who did it were absolutely awesome!
When you're in Lake Atitlan try and do the sunrise climb up the Indian's Nose, which is a ridge overlooking the lake. Easy climb, excellent views and you get to look at 3 volcanos overlooking the lake itself and those around Antigua, 30 odd miles away - even from here you'll see Fuego puffing away.
If you stay at Hostel Fe in San Pedro la Laguna in Atitlan bring earplugs, lots of them!
Meanwhile in Nicaragua I've just peered into a crater and looked at lava tonight, most good!!
Is that Masaya? I climbed up Mombacho, well walked actually as it wasn't a tough climb, and then slid down it on an ash board - great fun!When you're in Lake Atitlan try and do the sunrise climb up the Indian's Nose, which is a ridge overlooking the lake. Easy climb, excellent views and you get to look at 3 volcanos overlooking the lake itself and those around Antigua, 30 odd miles away - even from here you'll see Fuego puffing away.
If you stay at Hostel Fe in San Pedro la Laguna in Atitlan bring earplugs, lots of them!
Meanwhile in Nicaragua I've just peered into a crater and looked at lava tonight, most good!!
BrabusMog said:
moto_traxport said:
Meanwhile in Nicaragua I've just peered into a crater and looked at lava tonight, most good!!
Is that Masaya? I climbed up Mombacho, well walked actually as it wasn't a tough climb, and then slid down it on an ash board - great fun!Well I heard from a barmen last night that one of them could be seen the night before spilling lava from its sides so I'll have to watch out for that.
I've been up Mt Etna and saw large pool of lava oozing from its sides so unsure if I want to do another just yet.
Thanks for the info about Atitlan, not sure which hostel I've booked but think it was little out of town so might be lucky !!
There's some crazy prosessions going on here right now, hundreds of people in the streets carrying statues of Christ and all sorts. Gets bigger the nearer it is to Easter.
I've been up Mt Etna and saw large pool of lava oozing from its sides so unsure if I want to do another just yet.
Thanks for the info about Atitlan, not sure which hostel I've booked but think it was little out of town so might be lucky !!
There's some crazy prosessions going on here right now, hundreds of people in the streets carrying statues of Christ and all sorts. Gets bigger the nearer it is to Easter.
Just stumbled on this thread and now in complete mind overload. I'm going to Costa Rica in May and spending a month in Montezuma. I'm leaving my job before I go so I'm planning on travelling as long as I can on the money I have.
So far from Montezuma I was going to head on round the cost to Samara. I'l be travelling solo so the backpacker areas are perfect for myself to meet people and swap stories. I wasn't sure from there which way to head. Either north and up through central america and into america before heading to OZ/AsaI/India or south. I will now spend hours going through the recommendations on this thread.
Please keep this updated as It may be invaluable.
So far from Montezuma I was going to head on round the cost to Samara. I'l be travelling solo so the backpacker areas are perfect for myself to meet people and swap stories. I wasn't sure from there which way to head. Either north and up through central america and into america before heading to OZ/AsaI/India or south. I will now spend hours going through the recommendations on this thread.
Please keep this updated as It may be invaluable.
Had a great time in Antigua, was there when the Easter celebrations had started. Only gets bigger as it gets nearer Easter.
There were thousands of people in the streets but when it becomes the easter weekend there hundreds of thousands as its the biggest Easter celebration in thd world ! Totally unexpected as i hadn't done any research as to what was happening. Back there next weekend so should be even bigger.
Antigua is a nice place by itself to visit without the celebrations -
Currently at Lake Atitlan, just about to go on a tour around the lake to visit some of the more local villages. Has a very cool backdrop this place with volcanos everywhere !!
I've been keeping a blog going of where i've been so if you're interested pop over to www.simonthesailor.com !!
There were thousands of people in the streets but when it becomes the easter weekend there hundreds of thousands as its the biggest Easter celebration in thd world ! Totally unexpected as i hadn't done any research as to what was happening. Back there next weekend so should be even bigger.
Antigua is a nice place by itself to visit without the celebrations -
Currently at Lake Atitlan, just about to go on a tour around the lake to visit some of the more local villages. Has a very cool backdrop this place with volcanos everywhere !!
I've been keeping a blog going of where i've been so if you're interested pop over to www.simonthesailor.com !!
Do you have any recommendations for a route heading up form Costa Rica. Il be in Montezuma for the whole of may, I was then going to head on round coast to Samara. From there Id like to head up through Nicaragua and then Guatemala. Id like to end up on an island off the coast of Belize to get my Padi qualification and enjoy some diving before heading to Mexico city.
Final border crossing for me from Nicaragua into Costa Rica.
Slightly odd that a chap sells you the scrap of paper you need to fill out to exit Nicaragua but borders are borders! 2000 colones so not much, then it's a dollar to exit the state and 2 dollars to exit the country then free to get into Costa Rica. They X-Ray your luggage in an airport style. Tons of people selling tickets on the Nica Bus to most places in Costa Rica for $12. We didn't actually get tickets so I think it was an unrecorded sale - no problem getting on the bus though.
Guatemala was my favourite country South of Mexico and you can either go North through Semuc Champey to Flores and Tikal and enter Belize at a San Ignacio or go across to Rio Dulce, Livingston and enter by boat.
Currently freezing in Monteverde in Costa Rica and just done a 1km zip line so not sure what I'm shaking from more! Will be in Montezuma in a couple of days to warm up. I cannot believe there's enough there to occupy a month but there you go (quite literally).
Slightly odd that a chap sells you the scrap of paper you need to fill out to exit Nicaragua but borders are borders! 2000 colones so not much, then it's a dollar to exit the state and 2 dollars to exit the country then free to get into Costa Rica. They X-Ray your luggage in an airport style. Tons of people selling tickets on the Nica Bus to most places in Costa Rica for $12. We didn't actually get tickets so I think it was an unrecorded sale - no problem getting on the bus though.
dave0010 said:
Do you have any recommendations for a route heading up form Costa Rica. Il be in Montezuma for the whole of may, I was then going to head on round coast to Samara. From there Id like to head up through Nicaragua and then Guatemala. Id like to end up on an island off the coast of Belize to get my Padi qualification and enjoy some diving before heading to Mexico city.
The 'standard' backpacker route would be San Juan del Sur (party / surfing) then Ometepe island (hiking / hire motorbikes / quiet) then Granada (ho hum) Leon (volcanos to hike up and surf down), then El Tunco (more surfing style) in El Savador, then Antigua (pretty) Lago di Atitlan (pretty / hiking / yoga). This is the reverse of what I've just done following the gringo trail - there are upsides and downsides to this! Very easy to organise and you will keep bumping into the same people as you leap frog each other.Guatemala was my favourite country South of Mexico and you can either go North through Semuc Champey to Flores and Tikal and enter Belize at a San Ignacio or go across to Rio Dulce, Livingston and enter by boat.
Currently freezing in Monteverde in Costa Rica and just done a 1km zip line so not sure what I'm shaking from more! Will be in Montezuma in a couple of days to warm up. I cannot believe there's enough there to occupy a month but there you go (quite literally).
Oh! Final note on visas - Nicaragua couldn't give a stuff when you entered the CA4 area, all they look for is their bit of paper with your entry into Nicaragua, they then stamp your exit date on your passport proper.
Costa Rica weren't massively interested in checking your confirmed flight out of the country either which can be another worry if your overlanding.
Costa Rica weren't massively interested in checking your confirmed flight out of the country either which can be another worry if your overlanding.
Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff