Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
well. This allows my kids to meet other kids, usually from the country we are staying in. Overall, these have
been our best experiences so far!”
As in Southeast Asia, most of these guesthouses aren't located on large booking sites like Hotels.com
or Booking.com. The website TripAdvisor (tripadvisor.com) offers the most comprehensive list of family-
owned and small hotels in Central America. I remember going to Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, and finding only
seven places to stay on Hotels.com but finding more than seventy on TripAdvisor. You get a lot more op-
tions on TripAdvisor, and it's my go-to site for accommodations in Central America.
If the hotel is listed with one of TripAdvisor's booking partners, you can book online, but if it isn't, there
is usually a phone number or web address to contact.
Apartment Rentals
Apartment rentals aren't that common in this region of the world. A search for places revealed only a couple
hundred in all of Panama, which is the most developed country for this in the region. While you can find
apartments in most of the major cities, the selection is very small and the price higher than what you find
for small local hotels using TripAdvisor. I recommend skipping this option, as it's not very economical.
Camping
Camping can be done easily at hostels and in national parks. Most hostels have space where you can pitch
a tent or string up a hammock for $1-3 USD per night. National parks require camping fees that vary from
country to country. Many places will let you string up your own hammock if they don't have any there. The
same goes for tents. Some hostels will provide a tent, but if you have one with you, most any hostel outside
of the big cities (there's not a lot of room in buildings in San Salvador or San José!) will let you pitch your
own tent.
Everything is pretty easygoing in Central America, and if you want to string up a hammock or pitch a
tent on some empty beach, you aren't really going to encounter much resistance. I've seen many travelers
do it and I've never heard stories of problems.
Hospitality Exchange
While Couchsurfing.com is gaining popularity and you'll be able to find hosts in major cities, it's not that
widespread and your pool of available hosts is often very limited. It's something you can try, but you should
not count on it the way you can in other parts of the world. Servas and Hospitality Club also have good
networks in this area of the world and are often a better choice here in terms of availability.
All accommodations can be booked at the booking sites mentioned in Chapter 11 or listed in Appendix
A. Additionally, local tourist offices can help you secure accommodations.
FOOD
The cheapest places to eat are the roadside restaurants that dot this region. These restaurants tend to be small
family establishments without a large menu, and they tend to sell whatever the main type of local dish is
in the area. Eating at local restaurants, you can expect to pay around $4 USD for a two-course meal that
consists of chicken, rice, and beans.
Dani and Jessica of globetrottergirls.com spent a lot of time in this region of the world and say of their
experience eating: “For the most part, we would recommend eating street food, but stands in Central Amer-
ica offer up a lot of fried foods. They're great for quick snacks, but we'd also recommend eating in places
