Honduras vs. El Salvador vs. Panama vs. Costa Rica

[Legitikick]

I need your help, quick!

I'm trying to figure out where in Central America I should fly into. I'll have 17 days to roam to Leon, Nicaragua where I'll be working for two months, I'll be flying out from Nicaragua. So which neighboring country should I fly into? Its down to Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Panama.

Panama looks awesome, but the cost of going through Costa Rica worries me. Or maybe its not so bad and I should just do Costa Rica? Or maybe Honduras and/or El Salvador? All flights would cost roughly the same.

I really need to book these tickets . . .

[MolsonGirl]

I've flown into Costa Rica... not bad at all.. San Jose is a little dirty (and by a little I mean a lot) but still fine.

[freespiritz]

I had fun in Costa Rica even though I was initially skeptical...I spent about a week and a half there. Get out of San Jose fast though! If it doesn't float your boat, just head up and check out southern Nicaragua on the way up to Leon, there's some fun stuff there!

[Legitikick]

Okay, I'm flying into San Jose, Costa Rica, and flying out from Tegucigalpa, Honduras. That was the cheapest ticket I could find, and it makes for a little variety of locations.

[Legitikick]

I'm flying to Costa Rica on Wednesday, have to be in Leon, Nicaragua by the 1st, working for QuetzalTrekkers for two months, and then a few weeks to do whatever, probably hit the coast of Honduras for some diving, and then flying out of Tegucigalpa on the 15th of August. So who's gonna be in the area? Join me!

Yeah, another adventure is about to begin!

[The Sasquatch]

Interested to hear how the quetzaltrekkers is. Sounds very interesting.

[Legitikick]

Well I'm back

I had an incredible summer. Living in Leon and working for Quetzal Trekkers was amazing, worked with great people, learned so much about the country and people, ahh it was so cool. I can't wait to get back down there . . . and thinking about maybe not coming back next time

Oh ya, also spent a week on Utila, off the coast of Honduras, diving, did the advanced course, and partied way too much. Holy poop that island is insane, nothing at all like mainland Honduras.

[simply_angelic]

Wow, I just looked up this Quetzal Trekkers thing and it looks amazing! I would love to do something like that! Was it difficult to apply?

[Legitikick]

Nope, super easy if you tell them in advance and you have at least two months to give. I highly recommend it, it was really an amazing, surreal two months. Lots of work, but we made it so much fun. It really is run completely by volunteers, there's is a director thats barely paid, but we could have even decided to get rid of him, volunteers really control the whole thing.

[freespiritz]

Yay, I'm glad you had a kickass time, I was wondering how things went!! :D Hope you had fun times on Telica for me.

[Legitikick]

Lots of fun time up there on Telica . . . caught in storms, crazy drunk/stoned arguments over how to roast marshmallows, circled the crater one time and was almost attacked by those African killer bees, sick customers that had to be rushed back down, group getting split up and lost because our Nicaraguan intern was an idiot, full moon hike with a storm on top and I almost fell in the crater . . . ahhh man I want to go back! And there's a new route up Telica now, up the back side and down the way you went up and down, its WAY cooler now, much more wildlife. So you'll have to go back.

[freespiritz]

Damn! Sounds like a mighty fine party....I'd love to go back; we should meet there and maybe share a storm together (although I think one was enough for me). And the killer beers are all yours, I want no share in them. I'm pretty jealous you got to go to Utila as well!