It has come to my attention that when traveling to a foreign
country in the developing world, many people don’t have the foggiest notion on
how to do it. Let’s start with the
basics shall we?
Getting here:
Getting to Central America is quite simple. It pains me to say it but, FLY SPIRIT. I know Spirit is a budget airline that makes
you pay extra to bring things like “luggage” and charges you for services like
“water”. But there’s really no cheaper
way to get to Latin America with roundtrip tickets less than $500. Plus, the Fort Lauderdale Airport is a great
place to miss your connection flight, which let’s be honest, will happen on at
least one leg of your journey. If, in
your opinion, this hassle isn’t worth saving $200, by all means fly with a
different carrier.
For the truly cost conscious, there’s Tica Bus. Run by the Costa Ricans, Tica Bus has a fleet
of nice air-conditioned buses with bathrooms servicing southern Mexico to
Panama City, Panama. They’re safe and make
relatively few stops (4 or 5 stops per country).
Vaccinations:
Latin America is not a dangerous place disease wise. Therefore, if your HMO covers tetanus, the
Heps, typhoid and rabies by all means go for it (and should be done 6 weeks
prior to travel). If it’s too expensive,
don’t bother and just be smart. Malaria
is practically non-existent so I wouldn’t bother with that either and just load
up on the bug spray. What would be
worthwhile is 3 days worth of ciprofloxacin, a magical broad spectrum antibiotic
that will cure nearly any woe that may ail you during your street food eating
adventures.
Packing:
First let’s start with the suitcase. Por el
amor del dios, please don’t bring your top of the line rolling
suitcase. Odds are outside the airport you’re
not going to carry it more than 5ft so let’s leave it at home, ok? To make this manageable, PACK LIGHT. Generally I recommend gathering everything
you want to bring and then ditch 50% of it.
DO PACK:
Camera, trust me you want to record these memories. Your fancy DSLR is fine but be smart with it.
Sunscreen, obviously Hispanics don’t really get sunburn,
therefore, there is little reason sell sunblock domestically.
Swimsuit, hopefully your trip includes rafting, waterfalls
or the beach but swimsuit are still hard to find.
DO NOT PACK:
Rain jacket, odds are it IS going to rain during your
adventures. The thing is, when it rains
in Central America, IT RAINS. Your top
of the line North Face won’t keep you dry.
Most likely you’re not in a rush anyway so wait it out or take a taxi.
Shorts and flip flops, if you want a chance of not being
labeled a gringo, wear blue jeans and shoes / sandals. I know it’s crazy. Over 100 degrees and sunny and people are still
wearing jeans. Luckily at night it’ll
cool off and jeans are the formalwear of Hispanics so you’ll be ready for fine
dining and the discos.
Laptop, you don’t need it.
At most hotels there will be a computer for guests’ use. Bringing a Wi-Fi enabled device such a cell
phone will suffice.
Everything else is available in Latin America if you know
where to look. If you follow these
suggestions, you can easily get by with just a duffle for a weeklong trip. Which is conveniently enough to get by on
with Spirit Airlines without paying extra fees.
Lodging
Where you call it a night is completely up to your
budget. Central America has a wide
variety between hostels and all-inclusive resorts ranging from $4/night to
$160+/night. My best recommendation is
find a place with hot water, air-conditioning, Wi-Fi and free breakfast. Places like this start usually around
$40/night. Where you shouldn’t stay are
the Intercontinentals, Hiltons, Best Westerns and Holiday Inns which are undoubtedly
available in capital cities. They’re
filled with gringos and don’t offer
anything more except a higher price tag.
If you have questions or suggestions of your own, let me
know!
