Two Backpackers

KanBa River Caves of Guatemala

| by Aracely on March 8th, 2010 | 2 Comments » | Adventures, Central America, Guatemala

KanBa Caves courtesy of semucchampey.com

Like our visit to Semuc Champey, we had no idea what we were getting into prior to leaving for our tour.  This point is echoed throughout most of our Guatemalan journeys.  The KanBa Caves are only a short walk from the metal bridge that spans Cahabón River. (more…)

Peeing On A Sailboat

| by Aracely on January 15th, 2010 | 12 Comments » | Central America, Reflections

Aracely on Sailboat

The flushing mechanism of our sailboat bathroom was much too complicated for our crew to manage.  First, to flush the toilet two valves need to be opened by switching them from a 90 degree angle to a 45.  Then, a third valve needed to be changed from an upright position to a downward position depending on whether you wanted to fill the toilet bowl or drain it.  Once these three handles were correctly put in place, there was a lever that needed to be pumped at a consistent pace to flush the waste out to sea.  After the bowl was empty, all the three levers needed to be returned to their original position.  If they were not, the dirty water flowed back in and filled the toilet. (more…)

Discover Boquete Panama

| by Aracely on January 11th, 2010 | No Comments » | Central America, Panama

Caldera River

Boquete is located in the Province of Chiriqui, Panama’s most southwestern region.  Boquete lies 1,200 meters (4,000 feet) above sea level and it’s volcano, Baru, reaches an elevation of 4,000 meters. The Capital of the Chriqui Province is David, which is only a 45 minute drive from Boquete.  David is Panama’s third largest city (after Panama City and Santiago).  David has an international airport with flights to Panama City and San Jose, Costa Rica. (more…)

Costa Rica Caribbean Beaches

| by Aracely on December 30th, 2009 | 3 Comments » | Central America, Costa Rica

Beach and Reef at Rocking J

A 3.5 hour bus ride from San Jose takes you to the southern Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica.  This is a place where pristine beaches sneak out of the jungle creating the perfect setting for those who can entertain themselves with the ocean and walks into the forest.

During our stay we first visited Cahuita beach then made our way south to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca where we stayed in Rocking J’s Hostel, a good base location to visit beaches further south. (more…)

Discover Monteverde Cloud Forest of Costa Rica

| by Aracely on December 19th, 2009 | 13 Comments » | Central America, Costa Rica

Cloud Forest of Monteverde

Monteverde Cloud Forest is located 1,440 meters above sea level and has a humid, misty and cloudy climate during most of the year.  It is a rain forest reserve with more than 5 species of cats, 30 species of hummingbirds, and 420 types of orchids.  The area is highly praised as one of the most outstanding wildlife refuges in the New World Tropics. (more…)