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I didn't go to Costa Rica, just Panama, but from what I've heard they are quite similar except that Panama is cheaper. There's lots of active sports, wildlife, beaches, cloud forests, etc. I had a great time going to coffee plantations, rafting, ziplining, horse riding, dolphin watching. I also wanted to see the Panama Canal which is one reason I went there over Costa Rica. I don't know details of San Blas but heard from various travellers it was great and easy enough to do. Lady Gaza fucked around with this message at 13:01 on Oct 22, 2015 |
# ? Oct 22, 2015 12:58 |
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# ? Jun 3, 2024 23:58 |
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Funny Bunny posted:- How comparable are Costa Rica and Panama? I have a feeling both are relatively similar in the "a nice city or two, jungle and beautiful islands and beaches" aspect. The more comparable they are, the easier it would be to visit both, as there would be less of a "need" to fully explore them both. In that same vein: how much of a good idea is it to try and fit Costa Rica and Panama in 2.5 weeks? Similar. Panama has everything Costa Rica offers at similar (sometimes a bit lower) prices, but without the tourist hordes they have in Costa Rica. Costa Rica really is Latin America-lite. Panama is a bit more Americanized than CR (long US presence in the Canal Zone), but has a diverse economy and a capital city worth visiting. quote:- If I decide against visiting Costa Rica I might consider going from Colombia to Panama by boat via the San Blas islands (otherwise, fly from Colombia to Costa Rica and bus my way down to Panama City). Can anyone tell me anything about this trip? Such as, how long does it take, how much time will you spend on a boat (and what kind of boat) and how much on the islands, is it a pretty common route to take by backpackers, etc? It's a rugged trip by sea from Colombia, but very rewarding. I did this trip, Medellín - Turbo - Capurganá - Puerto Obaldía - Miramar - Colón - Panama City in 2010, using a different transport for every leg. If you do it this way, you need a lot of time (it took me eight days, although I stopped in Capurganá to unwind for three), patience, and functional Spanish at the very least. Another option is to take a sailboat from Cartagena to Portobelo, in Panama. There are a few boat owners that take backpackers on this trip, through Kuna Yala (San Blas). It usually takes four to five days and costs $400-500. Do your research on the sailboat and its captain, as there are some characters out there. I've heard good things about Tony, whose boat is called the Andiamo. Casa Viena in Cartagena is a guesthouse where captains usually post openings on their boats for the trip to Panama. quote:I'm still completely in the early planning phase of my trip. Haven't read any guidebooks yet, haven't booked tickets yet, nothing. I'm not planning on doing too much preparation beyond reading my guidebooks and taking in stories and advice from friends who have been there before and book a hostel for the first night or two, maybe a ticket to Costa Rica.. But if there's anything highly recommended in any of these countries that do need planning, I'd love to hear about it. Familiarize yourself with routes from Colombia to Panama, as it takes time, and you are not going to walk across the Darién Gap unless insane. Get your yellow fever immunization in Colombia, since Panama requires it for entry from Colombia. Anything else you can take care of on the ground.
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# ? Oct 22, 2015 17:08 |
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I posted about a sailing trip going the other way round here, which is the more expensive option. San Blas was pretty cool. Does anyone have any tips for stuff around Rio? I'm visiting a friend there for new year's eve and have about two weeks to kill after that. Most of the touristy stuff in Rio I've seen before and I've been to Isla Grande. Right now I'm thinking of visiting Salvador for a few days.
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# ? Oct 22, 2015 17:34 |
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Pvt Dancer posted:I posted about a sailing trip going the other way round here, which is the more expensive option. San Blas was pretty cool. You realize that Salvador is well over 24 hours on a bus from Rio, don't you? You could hit the Porto Seguro/Arraial d'Ajuda/Trancoso (beach party central) area on the way up, if you choose Bahia. Personally, I think Florianópolis is paradise on earth, but that's also a long trip on the bus. There's a lot of stuff to see in Minas Gerais, like Ouro Preto, and Belo Horizonte isn't a bad place to kill time.
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# ? Oct 22, 2015 19:37 |
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I do and I'd be taking a flight, I now realize that might make 'around Rio' poor wording I'll check out Florianopolis.
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# ? Oct 22, 2015 21:13 |
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Funny Bunny posted:I'll be going to Central America for 6.5 weeks from December to mid-January. The current plan is to fly into Bogota and fly home from Panama City. Several friends of mine have each visited Colombia on separate occasions and have without exception returned with very good stories and much enthusiasm. Hence, my plan is to spend 4 weeks in Colombia and the remainder elsewhere. My initial plan was to limit my trip to just Colombia and Panama. I'll be traveling solo for my first time ever (with the exception of one week in Chile) so on one hand I'd prefer going about it in a relaxed way. On the other hand, I always enjoy country-hopping a bit and I feel like three countries should definitely be manageable in 6.5 weeks. 2. There were advertisements for that everywhere and I've heard of a decent few people doing the trip. It depends on what boat you decide to take but there seems to be many options to choose from ranging from 3 to 6 days. Otherwise I know nothing about it. Try and visit the Kuna Yala people, especially if you speak Spanish. They rock. (Brief history, they won their autonomy from the Panamanian government 90 years ago and are the only indigenous group to do so in Panama. They have their poo poo together and are hardworking prideful people.) I'd also suggest looking into flights to/from David otherwise it's lots of buses, there is an overnight bus you can take David <-> Panama City though. If you could manage to Push your trip back a month, you could celebrate both Carnival and the Kuna Yala's autonomy celebration. Both of which are pure madness and so so so much fun.
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# ? Oct 23, 2015 01:06 |
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I know no one replied to this before, but holy poo poo San Pedro de Atacama is so much better with a rental car than with the total rip-off tours. I don't know why 99.9% of the tourists who go there don't rent cars/trucks, because you see so much more and have so much more freedom, and then everywhere you go it's private, instead of shared with the other 30 people on your bus.
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# ? Oct 23, 2015 11:32 |
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I might have asked this before and forgotten the answer, but is there any reasonable way to buy one-way international flights in South America, particularly Peru and Colombia, e.g. Lima to Bogota? Like a one-way flight from Cusco to Lima is exactly half the cost of a two-way ($150/$300), but a flight from Lima to Bogota is $583 one-way or $237 two-way ???
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# ? Oct 25, 2015 00:58 |
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Pvt Dancer posted:I'll check out Florianopolis. I really liked Florianopolis. Stayed there for just one night but the north end is very touristy white sandy beaches with scooter rentals, the south, mainland facing side of the island is more rural fishing village and very peaceful. Also they have an awesome bridge that lights up at night.
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# ? Oct 25, 2015 04:03 |
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Saladman posted:I might have asked this before and forgotten the answer, but is there any reasonable way to buy one-way international flights in South America, particularly Peru and Colombia, e.g. Lima to Bogota? Like a one-way flight from Cusco to Lima is exactly half the cost of a two-way ($150/$300), but a flight from Lima to Bogota is $583 one-way or $237 two-way ??? I don't know about those countries but in Chile a single from Calama to Santiago was more expensive than a return, so I just booked a return and won't turn up for the second flight.
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# ? Oct 25, 2015 11:34 |
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Anyone happen to know what those big travel trucks are called? I'm talking about the things that look like you'd find in a war and are bigger than Hummers. I've seen a few in Central America and Id like to read some travel stories but I've Google searched with no luck.
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# ? Oct 25, 2015 20:25 |
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Pvt Dancer posted:I posted about a sailing trip going the other way round here, which is the more expensive option. San Blas was pretty cool. Interesting read! Especially the part about the trash: I've been reading this in every trip report on the island I have read. Just how bad is it? Seems like a big shame and also a reason to maybe prefer a visit to Bocas del Toro in Panama over the San Blas.
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# ? Oct 26, 2015 08:56 |
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Going to Costa Rica in December. Has anyone been to Tamarindo tell me how it is. Apparently it's a cleaner Jaco? Thanks.
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# ? Oct 26, 2015 15:59 |
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Funny Bunny posted:Interesting read! Especially the part about the trash: I've been reading this in every trip report on the island I have read. Just how bad is it? Seems like a big shame and also a reason to maybe prefer a visit to Bocas del Toro in Panama over the San Blas. There's a few hundred uninhabited islands that are awesome to visit so as long as you're on a boat it's fine. I spoke to some people who did the 'stay with natives' option from Panama where you only stay on an inhabited island and they were pretty underwhelmed. It's just weird how most of their income (seemingly) is tourism but they can't be arsed to collect trash.
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# ? Oct 26, 2015 19:08 |
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A Man and his dog posted:Going to Costa Rica in December. Has anyone been to Tamarindo tell me how it is. Apparently it's a cleaner Jaco? Tamarindo is really popular with surfers and other tourists. Being much more remote from San José than Jacó, it doesn't have the weekender hordes, but it's still quite touristy. Guanacaste is a pretty cool area of the country, and if you need to get away from the crowds there are tons of alternatives to Tamarindo.
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# ? Oct 26, 2015 20:05 |
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Funny Bunny posted:Interesting read! Especially the part about the trash: I've been reading this in every trip report on the island I have read. Just how bad is it? Seems like a big shame and also a reason to maybe prefer a visit to Bocas del Toro in Panama over the San Blas. It's noticeable. A lot of the islands are very densely populated, and you'll also see a lot of toilets built over the water, with no plumbing. Just a straight drop into the ocean. The common complaint I hear about Kuna Yala is that the Kuna can seem really extractive with visitors. Things are expensive (they have to ship everything out from the mainland), and the Kuna are the only ones permitted to do business in the archipelago. It's a stunning part of the country, but also very remote. Most people who visit fly into El Porvenir. There are airstrips at Mulatupo de Sasardí and Puerto Obaldía too, although they close on short notice, and flights out of Panama City's domestic airport (not Tocumén/PTY) are irregular.
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# ? Oct 26, 2015 20:08 |
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Saladman posted:I might have asked this before and forgotten the answer, but is there any reasonable way to buy one-way international flights in South America, particularly Peru and Colombia, e.g. Lima to Bogota? Like a one-way flight from Cusco to Lima is exactly half the cost of a two-way ($150/$300), but a flight from Lima to Bogota is $583 one-way or $237 two-way ??? Check Viva Colombia. I don't know your dates but they're not weirdos about one ways and Lima to Bogota with them is like $165. They don't always show up on the aggregator sites, though. LAN Chile is part of Star Alliance so they're all over those sites, but they have asinine pricing models and often charge 5-10x as much for a one-way ticket, for whatever reason. Does anyone have some advice about Patagonia? I'm looking at probably 2-3 weeks there not counting Antarctica (if I find a trip I can afford), I like exotic nature views but I'm not wildly zealous about long camping trips, and I'll be there in February. duralict fucked around with this message at 17:39 on Nov 5, 2015 |
# ? Nov 5, 2015 17:08 |
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Yeah, I ended up finding Viva Colombia. What a goddamn steal, half the price of anyone else even with all the tricks in the book. VC nickel and dimes the poo poo out of you, but still way worth it. For Patagonia, rent a car for touring around areas, then take buses or flu in between if you want to spend the whole 3 weeks down there (eg 5 day rental in El Calafate, then bus to Rio Gallegos, maybe not rent a car there, then bus to Ushuaia or wherever in between...). The tours are crazy expensive and sometimes youll just want to photograph some guanacos or do your own thing. e: actually if you're a single traveler the expeditions are cheaper than renting, but if you have money or are outgoing enough to get people to split it with you, the car is always better, and everything is accessible by rental pretty much except hiking on glacier Perito moreno, if that was something you really wanted to do
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# ? Nov 5, 2015 23:19 |
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I have unexpectedly found myself at loose ends in Bogota Colombia for the whole week. What are some interesting things to see or do? I like museums and other art/culture stuff. I love trying local cuisine. I also enjoy hiking. I love dancing. This was very unexpected so I have nothing planned so really any suggestions would be great.
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# ? Nov 23, 2015 16:42 |
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Most obvious thing in the world, but the Museo del Oro is one of the most amazing museums in the whole of Latin America.
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# ? Nov 23, 2015 17:44 |
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Hang out in the Zona Rosa in the evenings. La Candelaria is pretty dead. Parque de la 93 is nice too and you can get a Starbucks or w/e. I thought the Museo del Oro was cool for like 30 minutes, and then I was just overwhelmed by all the pretty same-y-ness of it all. Make sure you hit up the top floor though, the best stuff seems to have been up there. Alternately, sit in your hotel room and watch Narcos. We got food poisoning from one of those 10'000 COP soup+main plate deals in some unremarkable local's place, but YMMV. It's probably worth it for something authentic and you're probably not that likely to get sick.
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# ? Nov 23, 2015 18:55 |
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When you say "dancing" do you mean "clubbing"? If so, go to Theatron - it's the biggest drat club I've ever seen in my life (it used to be a multiplex movie theater). In theory it's a gay club but in practice it's heavily mixed. For sightseeing, the church up at the top of the mountain is worth it for the view alone (just bring a jacket, it's like 15 degrees colder up there and rains a lot), and I hear great things about the salt church (it's a bit of schlep out of town). La Candelaria and the government center/Museo del Oro are also really great. And if you're around on a Sunday, they close that giant avenue that runs through the middle of town for just bike traffic and pedestrians, and the area around downtown turns into a huge street market. Oh and Waffles & Crepes is rad. (It's the Colombian equivalent of like a starbucks, but instead of hipster coffee they make waffles and crepes.)
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# ? Nov 24, 2015 19:03 |
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I was shocked at how good Museo del Oro was. Down like, 4 coffees and get the English language electronic tour guide and check it out. The emerald market is pretty lame tourist trap but it's free to wander around a mall of only emerald shops. They mostly sell milky to cloudy green emeralds.
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# ? Nov 24, 2015 21:00 |
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What is the best way to find housing in Nicaragua? I'll be going down with family in Feb, there will be about 12 of us. We are thinking of doing a house share type thing, I think around San Juan del Sur. Still hammering out all the details. We're all coming and going at different times, so not sure if it'll work out, but wasn't sure where to start. I see things on both VRBO and AirBNB. Is there another site that's better w/ the area? Thanks!
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# ? Nov 25, 2015 16:36 |
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deong posted:What is the best way to find housing in Nicaragua? Real estate and holiday rentals catering to foreigners are big business around San Juan del Sur, and most places will advertise on both sites. You'll pay more in that area than elsewhere in Nicaragua, but prices are still a bargain compared to Costa Rica. It's definitely the area of Nicaragua with the most expats, many of whom fled the inflated property prices of Costa Rica. It's only about two hours (assuming a smooth border crossing) from the international airport at Liberia, and has a good tourist infrastructure.
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# ? Nov 25, 2015 20:11 |
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Does anyone have strong feelings about southern Costa Rica? We're in Bocas next week and headed north from there, but aren't sure whether to go up wesr or east. If we do the Pacific side we'd probably do Boquete on the way. We'll have just done 4 days at the beach in Bocas so doing something more mountainy or rainforesty would be preferable to a white sand beach at that point. And we'll probably have mild sunburns anyway.
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# ? Nov 26, 2015 16:13 |
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Saladman posted:Does anyone have strong feelings about southern Costa Rica? We're in Bocas next week and headed north from there, but aren't sure whether to go up wesr or east. If we do the Pacific side we'd probably do Boquete on the way. We'll have just done 4 days at the beach in Bocas so doing something more mountainy or rainforesty would be preferable to a white sand beach at that point. And we'll probably have mild sunburns anyway. Volcan Baru is the best non-beach activity around there. You'll see a lot of quetzales hiking there. On a clear day, you can see both the Atlantic and Pacific from the top.
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# ? Nov 26, 2015 16:32 |
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Saladman posted:Does anyone have strong feelings about southern Costa Rica? We're in Bocas next week and headed north from there, but aren't sure whether to go up wesr or east. If we do the Pacific side we'd probably do Boquete on the way. We'll have just done 4 days at the beach in Bocas so doing something more mountainy or rainforesty would be preferable to a white sand beach at that point. And we'll probably have mild sunburns anyway. Volcan Baru is fun. You can also hike between Cerro Punta and Boquete which is a good day trip and both places are fun to stay. Cerro Punta is absolutely amazing. Peace Corps Panama's Thanksgiving party is celebrated there in early December so I'd just call the Quetzales Lodge ahead of time if you want to stay there.
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# ? Nov 26, 2015 19:42 |
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So I'm going to be in Guatemala from the 14th of Dec till ~21. Staying in Tikal till the 16th. Is it worth the time to make it down to Guatemala City? Looks like a pretty long bus ride. Alternately, what should I check out in Flores if I decide to stay up the in the northern area?
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# ? Nov 30, 2015 17:16 |
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Smashurbanipal posted:So I'm going to be in Guatemala from the 14th of Dec till ~21. Staying in Tikal till the 16th. Is it worth the time to make it down to Guatemala City? Looks like a pretty long bus ride. Alternately, what should I check out in Flores if I decide to stay up the in the northern area? I was there a while ago but I can't imagine doing more than a day in each of Tikal and Flores, unless you are the type to just sit around and listen to the birds and the monkeys. Guatemala City isn't very interesting, but Antigua and Lake Atitlan are definitely worth seeing. You would probably have enough time to do both. You might also want to look into flights from Tikal, depending on your budget. Alternatively if you want to stay in Peten you could check out El Mirador, which is the tallest pyramid in the new world but is very remote.
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# ? Nov 30, 2015 18:22 |
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A day visiting Semuc Champey is better than a day in Guatemala City.
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# ? Nov 30, 2015 19:11 |
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Smashurbanipal posted:So I'm going to be in Guatemala from the 14th of Dec till ~21. Staying in Tikal till the 16th. Is it worth the time to make it down to Guatemala City? Looks like a pretty long bus ride. Alternately, what should I check out in Flores if I decide to stay up the in the northern area? No. Guatemala City is a dump. Antigua is gorgeous though, as is Lake Atitlan. It's an overnight bus from Flores, or an overpriced flight. Long way for a few days. Belize is much more accessible from Peten. San Ignacio is a really co place to kill a few days.
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# ? Nov 30, 2015 20:44 |
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Smashurbanipal posted:So I'm going to be in Guatemala from the 14th of Dec till ~21. Staying in Tikal till the 16th. Is it worth the time to make it down to Guatemala City? Looks like a pretty long bus ride. Alternately, what should I check out in Flores if I decide to stay up the in the northern area? I made the mistake of spending a few days in Flores because I was too tired to get on a bus to leave, it was a bad decision. Place is decent for a day or two, I recommend going for a walk at night along the water and you'll come across a bunch of tents on the street selling food, I highly suggest that. Otherwise, seconding Semuc Champey. Skip Guatemala City. Check out Xela (Quetzaltenango) if you can make it that far west. Antigua is decent but crazy touristy. Lake Atitlan was lovely and I spent three extra days there because I liked it so much.
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# ? Dec 1, 2015 03:07 |
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Has anyone gone mountain biking in Nicaragua? I'm getting a trip together to go mid Feb, and a quick Google gives a lot of options, but I can't tell if it's tooling around or good xc stuff?
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# ? Dec 3, 2015 03:21 |
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Has anyone been around southwest Costa Rica? We're in Boquete now and wondering where to go next (north only and just came from Bocas). Corcovado looks kind of interesting but also stupid expensive, like $125 pp/day for an overnight in the park, and honestly neither of us really cares about birds or seeing mammals from 90 meters away through a telescope. Hiking and landscapes are great, walking in a jungle trail maybe less so. Would be happy just for a nice and not super crowded beach and/or snorkeling around SW Costa Rica too if anyone has suggestions. Animals are awesome but only if we can get pretty close to them.
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# ? Dec 7, 2015 01:40 |
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So I'm about to book a place via VRBO, and the owner responded back asking me to pay 50% of the total through paypal, instead of through VRBO. The place does not have any reviews and the person is fairly new to vrbo. Is this a red flag, or just how it works? https://www.vrbo.com/693961 This is the space we're looking at. e. I do see that on the availability calendar, the days that I've requested are now marked as booked.\ Also, reading this on Lonely Planet is putting it to ease a bit. Im guessing vrbo etc just doesn't have a way to set up deposits. deong fucked around with this message at 19:05 on Dec 10, 2015 |
# ? Dec 10, 2015 16:36 |
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deong posted:So I'm about to book a place via VRBO, and the owner responded back asking me to pay 50% of the total through paypal, instead of through VRBO. The place does not have any reviews and the person is fairly new to vrbo. Is this a red flag, or just how it works? VRBO absolutely has a system to set up deposits. Paying by paypal is sketchy, although I think PayPal has some sort of money security system too. I also don't see any dates in the future booked unless you booked farther down the line than May 2016. You might want to look into that or book somewhere else; AirBNB I notice has a ton of super nice listings for that same price range, and places on AirBNB almost never ask for deposits. I got scammed TWICE out of five places that I booked through VRBO last year in south of France, and I switched to AirBNB after that and I've never looked back. I got my money back for both places, but seriously gently caress that. Both places were real, but one had a fraudulent claim that we had "left a mess so I'm keeping your $600 deposit" (bullshit; it was spotless and we never even saw the landlady) and the other simply just did not return the $1000 or ever respond to emails or calls, wtf. Both places also got delisted after my complaints but it was enough to turn me off VRBO. Saladman fucked around with this message at 04:12 on Dec 11, 2015 |
# ? Dec 11, 2015 04:09 |
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This isn't really a question, but why is bus transport in Costa Rica so loving terrible? San Jose needs to get its act together. I can't imagine ever coming back to Costa Rica and not renting a car as the absolute first thing I do.
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# ? Dec 11, 2015 14:01 |
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Saladman posted:This isn't really a question, but why is bus transport in Costa Rica so loving terrible? San Jose needs to get its act together. I can't imagine ever coming back to Costa Rica and not renting a car as the absolute first thing I do. Welcome to all Central America transportation besides Panama and Mexico. Guatemala is the worst.
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# ? Dec 12, 2015 04:31 |
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# ? Jun 3, 2024 23:58 |
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I’m planning a trip to Peru to visit some landmarks for last week of March 2016. We plan to do the following activities (pretty much straight from trip advisor, and in no order): 1. Machu Picchu 2. Centro Historico de Cusco 3. Sacsayhuaman 4. Plaza de Armas 5. Huayana Picchu 6. Parque de la Reserva 7. Museo Larco 8. Temple of Ollantaytambo 9. Qurikancha 10. ??? If we want to do these activities, where should we stay so we’re most centrally located? How long should our trip be? Is 5 nights of activities enough or can I do it in 4 nights? I’m guessing we’re going to be flying in from LAX to Lima and then Lima to Cusco. Currently, I have the itinerary set like this: 3/23: Depart from LAX @ 1:50 pm 3/24: Arrive at Lima @ 12:10 am, sleep at hotel 3/25: Explore Lima 3/26: Depart Lima @ 3:00 pm, arrive at Cusco @ 4:25 pm, sleep at hotel 3/27: Activity Day 1 3/28: Activity Day 2 3/29: Activity Day 3 3/30: Activity Day 4 3/31: Activity Day 5 4/1: Depart Cusco @ 7:30 am, arrive at Lima @ 8:55 am 4/2: Depart Lima @ 12:40 am, arrive at LAX @ 7:35 pm Any help is greatly appreciated!
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# ? Dec 18, 2015 04:25 |