Has anyone here been to Guatemala or Costa Rica? Thinking of taking a tour to one

[doc03]

of them. How is the political climate there, are Americans welcome there, is it safe? I read up on Guatemala's history some
from how we have f------d them over installing dictators for generations I am thinking Americans might not be too welcome.
I suppose that goes for about all the south American countries.

[SharonAnn]

1. I've been to Guatemala and toured the highlands (mountains) and Tikal in the North.

Like many countries, if you're obviously a tourist and not paying attention to who's around you, you might be the target of a pickpocket.

I was with a tour minibus through the mountains, just 4 of us (women), and it was wonderful scenery and people, good hotels, etc.

I went to Tikal (Mayan ruins) with a relative living in Tikal. There were three of us (women) in the car and we had a great trip with no problems. The roads can be bumpy so you can't go too fast in some areas. It''s a long trip from Guatemala City so you might want to fly or find a tour bus to go.

We felt safe there, but knew enough to pay attention. In tourist areas we were extremely safe.

[doc03]

4. I am thinking of taking a tour by Caravan Tours, I have been on three Caravan tours in the US and

they do a great job. Some friends did the Costa Rica tour and loved it but the sites in Guatemala
like Tikal are more interesting to me, I haven't talked to anyone that has been to Guatemala.

[bettyellen]

2. Costa Rica is very friendly and beautiful- I prefer the drier pacific coast

tamarindo (nicknamed Tamagringo) its popular w Europeans, surfers, yoga enthusiasts. It's about an hour away from the international airport near the west coast. It's pretty cheap and relaxed. Great weather. There's also lots of other nice towns and an area with a volcano and hot springs up north a bit. Have heard nice things about the parts of Nicaragua that are close to the north west border too.

[cilla4progress]

3. Wonderful trip to Quepos Costa Rica in

2015.

Highly recommend it. Live like a local. Get an Airbnb.

[jeanmarc]

5. Costa Rica is the place to go

Went there on our honeymoon. Visited both coasts. It has the highest literacy in Central America and almost everyone speaks English. There are some very good travel companies there as well. We used one, just to make it easier to get to more places. Spent some time in a Tropical rain forest in an open air hotel room. And of course it rained. It was brilliant. And we hit both coasts. Zip lineing near a local volcano was just incredible. It has to be Costa Rica.

This company did a great job of keeping costs down and organizing exactly what we wanted. Never used a company like this before, but whether it was small planes, vans, etc, we had all things booked: http://www.costaricaexpeditions.com/wl3/index.php

[lastlib]

6. My sister went on a mission trip to Honduras last year.

She said they had to stay together in groups because criminals targeted Americans for ransom kidnapings. She won't go back. She said the same thing went on in Guatemala.

FWIW.......

Don't know about Costa Rica.