Travel Articles: Central America & Mexico

Careli Tours Nicaraguarecently received the Central America Award to the Tourism Excellence Without Borders. The Minister of Tourism of Costa Rica, Wilhelm von Breymann, presented the award to Careliduring the American Travel Market Fair 2014. This event was held in San José, Costa Rica and brought togethertourism authorities of the region, …

Mexico has been the focus of news in recent years, and it has not all been positive. However, the U.S. Department of State updated its official travel warnings concerning international security concerns on January 9, 2014. This updated alert is more specific in pinpointing potentially dangerous areas, and popular travel destinations such as Los …

Castro's Discotheque is a classic Costa Rican dance club. Combining Latin flare with a bit of world techno, dancers are treated to a mixture of salsa, merengue, reggaeton, cumbia, swing criollo and more. Wallflowers are invited too. There are plenty of places to simply sit back and take in the sounds and sights. The club welcomes both experiences …

We're not the only ones who think Mexico travel is a great idea! Travel writer, Phil Marty, in the Chicago Tribune just featured Adventure Life Mexico tours as a way to explore Mexico by "getting away from the on-the-beach resort scene and experiencing the culture of the country off the beaten path, for instance, with trips to Chiapas and Copper …

Coinciding with All Saints' and All Souls' Day each November 1 and 2nd, The Day of the Dead (or El Dia de los Muertos) is one of Mexico's most significant holidays.

The hotel hosted two incredibly well done beach dinners- one tropical theme and the other with a Mexican theme. The tropical night had an incredible team of singers and dancers who demonstrated traditional dances from across the world of tropical destinations. There were dozens of food stalls and I barely made it halfway around.

Drinks were also …

February is prime whale time in the Bay of Banderas outside Puerto Vallarta. The humpback whales come to this bay to breed and nurse their young before heading north in late March to feed in the colder waters throughout the summer.

We headed out across in a speedy zodiac size boat with a capacity for about 20 people to see what we might find.

It …

Oh my! We had so many high quality leisurely dinners on this trip, that I'm not sure where to begin. The seafood was incredibly fresh, so much so that one day when mom and I ordered the 'catch of the day', the waiter explained that we had to go pick out our fish. We went over to the fish vendor who had several just caught whole fish on …

As the sun set over Puerto Vallarta, my husband and I set off across the Bay of Banderas for date night. There is an island where the 1964 film Night of the Iguana with Richard Burton and Ava Gardner was filmed. Now, the island is decorated with thousands of torches and lanterns for a special dinner evening. We took a rocky ship ride across the …

My typical vacation includes cramming as much activity as I can possibly fit into my window of time away, so it was a rare treat that I planned for down time on this trip. We found a nice gear rental shop on the beach that let us swap out boogie boards, kayaks, paddle boards, etc all week for one set price and headed out to enjoy the waves. After …

Today, we traveled into the jungle clad mountains outside Puerto Vallarta for a day of adventure activities. We started with a series of ziplines high in the canopy. I've always been an adventure enthusiast, but it was surprising to me how much more stressful it is to bring my kids on activities that I wouldn't think twice about doing …

It's a question I get nearly every time I mention Nicaragua to a prospective traveler "But is it safe?" Even as a 20-something when I think of Nicaragua, revolution immediately comes to mind - the countries recent history comes screaming to the forefront of our collective memory even though its been over 25 years since the fighting …

The beaches of Manuel Antonio aren't your typical beaches. They aren't full of sun bathers. volleyball courts, or snack vendors.They are natural looking, sometimes forest almost up to the water, and pristine.

Exploring these beaches give one the sense that they are discovering this place for the first time. The beaches almost seem a …

The Moneteverde Cloudforest is a magical place to explore. We were fortunate to arrive when there were very few people in the parks, so it felt as if we had the whole place to ourselves. Mist floats through the trees as birds flit around giving you only seconds to see their spectacular colors. Howler monkeys make a ruckus in the distance claiming …

"It’s a progressive culture, most of them travel by zipline." - Phil Dunphy, Modern Family

While this might not exactly be true, they do have some amazing ziplining courses! The Arenal Sky Adventures is 7 lines, with thelongest cableis 2493 ft (760 m) and the highest at656 ft. (200 m). The longest cable ride zips through a tunnel …

Costa Rica is teeming with animals big and small, from the cloud forest to the beach we were surrounded by creatures. Street signs even depict the numerous number of animals to keep an eye out for and the importance of taking it slow.

Some are teeny tiny....

Some are sneaky little buggers....

Others are peaceful guardians of the forests...

We were standing on a platform in a rainforest, in the rain. The fifty year old guy in line ahead of us was making jokes about how little kids do it and grandmas do it, trying to get me to smile. He thought that I was afraid of heights or something, that Pete had dragged me along against my will. He was wrong. Ziplining was my idea. It was the one …

Less than 10 days until we begin our adventure and I couldn't be more excited by the prospect. A little background as to why we chose this small country in Central America: we both wanted to go somewhere we had never been before! A couple years ago I lived in Costa Rica for two months through a Study Abroad program and fell utterly in love …

Left Omar at7 amfrom Mulege up the coast through Santa Rosalia and drove through San Ignacio to Guerrero Nero which is famous for the whales giving birth.

Was running a little late for my planned trip so could not go on a whale tour so pushed ahead. The next stage is 140 miles of dirt and I was a little concerned if I got a puncture but then it …

Left Panama City at8 am, leaving our friend Carlos from Venezuela who has become a Panamanian, and all it costs is $2400 including the lawyers fee's. Venezuela makes the rest of Central America look like a safe place. He said it is so dangerous there for any one, in Caracas they average 65 murders on the weekend and told us never to go there. …

Got up at5:20in my 8×8 ft A frame cabin and got going and Suzanne got me a cup of coffee which hit the spot and off I went to meet Tom in the downtown restaurant where we had a pancake and coffee.Tom mounted his bike only to discover that his GPS was missing, after searching his bags for a half hour and going back to his room it was gone …

Up at5:30cruising the beach was already warm and the poor turtles were stranded in all the wood washed up on the beach from high tide, about 5 of them then scurried back into the ocean.

Tom tightened up his steering bearing again and we then left our $40 a night room ,with pool and breakfast .Headed down to Quespa where Tom had lunch on a nice …

Had to have my damn Tivas fixed again and a haircut,not many choices so ended up with a 4 minute $3 haircut, the guy turns on the fan behind my balding head and the little hair I have left starts flapping and he just jabs away with the scissors, was unbelievable. I guess you get what you pay for and besides the hookers didn't even hit on me, …

Left Tuxtla Gutierrez at 8 am so we could get to Guatemala City by days end. Climbed high over a pass and was some spectacular scenery and 280 km later we were at the border at La Massilla and an hour later we were through the border . Another 290 km to go, and the road carves through huge mountains on either side of you for miles on end with …