When I looked at my bank account in June last year after a 1-month backpacking trip through Oceania, I decided that this year the trip should be much more affordable and luckily, Celo agreed. We ended up going to Central America and I'll tell you more details below.

Choosing the countries

I started researching places in the Americas, mainly looking for lots of nature and things that were different from the other 2 backpacking trips I had taken in 2012 and 2011. I talked to some people and ended up deciding to visit Costa Rica, for being the most sought after country in the world for eco-tourism. I thought that 1 month in such a small country would be too much (I don't think so now), so I started looking at other countries nearby. I discarded some, after reading in Backpackers and on Wikitravel that they were a bit dangerous, despite having some really cool natural beauty.

After some research, I found the beautiful and little-known Panamanian Caribbean, which seemed perfect. To add to the country's points, I discovered that things are very cheap there, often surpassing the US. Since we are about to move in together and will need to set up a home, I quickly included Panama, with its capital and other well-recommended locations.

We continued our search for the last country we would visit on this trip through Central America…

We thought Cuba could be quite interesting, but after reading a review After hearing a Brazilian say that his suitcase was searched (torn) upon entering the country, I panicked at the idea of losing my beloved Deuter backpack. Cuba will have to be visited with a suitcase that has no sentimental value.

We also thought about Mexico, mainly because of the beauty of the coast from Cancún to the south, but we ended up giving up when we discovered the website bookit.com . On this website we were able to do several simulations of tickets + resorts in several countries…and guess what? Jamaica, where we had already looked for hotels and tickets and found everything very expensive, would cost the same as Mexico.

The moment we realized this, we chose our last country. \o/

Summary Itinerary for Central America

After some research and planning, we finalized our itinerary:

PANAMA

• Getting to Know Panama City

San Blas – It was right at the beginning of the trip for 3 full days, but we ended up not getting to know it because we had to postpone our flight from Brazil. Too bad, because the place is beautiful! One day, who knows…

• Bocas del Toro in 3.5 days

COSTA RICA

• Puerto Viejo in 4 days
• San Jose in 3 days
• La Fortuna in 4 days
• Manuel Antonio in 3 days

JAMAICA

• Ocho Rios in 1 week

Hosting

We left Brazil with all the hotels and hostels booked through Hostelworld, Booking or directly with the places that had been recommended to us. Everything went well, thank God! To find out where we stayed in each of the cities above, click on the respective links.

Transport

Costa Rica

Regarding transportation, we researched Costa Rica and only found expensive things online. We left Brazil hoping to find several cheap buses there at the time, but it was all a big illusion. Transportation is expensive…it’s only cheap at odd times, which didn’t suit us.

While we were in Puerto Viejo, we used bicycles, ATVs and buses to get around. It was only when we arrived in San José that we decided to rent a car. We found transportation between San José, Manuel Antonio and La Fortuna for US$50 per person each way… really expensive.

We ended up renting a very cheap car there (a Chinese compact) and drove around the country at our own pace. I would say it was a bit stressful because we wanted to save money and didn't pay for GPS or company insurance, since we already had insurance through our credit card. The roads are great and the signage is good, but not excellent. It cost $200 all week, not including gasoline, which we found to be cheap compared to Brazil.

Panama

In Panama City, the taxi system is without a meter. It's crazy. You flag down the car, the car stops and then you ask how much it costs to get to your destination. If you think it's fair, get in, if not, you say no and find another one. Since we had no idea how much it costs, we always asked the locals before talking to the taxi drivers... this saved us a little money. Oh! They all drive like crazy!!! Be careful when crossing the streets and try to get the newest taxis, because some are falling apart...

We took a flight to Bocas Del Toro that lasted less than two hours. Despite the plane being a small plane, we arrived safely! In Bocas, we did almost everything on foot or by boat. We only did the trip to Bocas del Drago by bus, which was very tidy by the way.

Jamaica

In Jamaica, we didn't even consider taking a taxi or renting a car because we read that it was dangerous. So, we booked the transfer from the airport – hotel (and vice versa) directly on the Bookit website and we closed the tours everyone in the hotel itself, with the greatest possible security. It may not have been the cheapest, but it gave us a feeling of security that was worth it.

Exchange

We only left with Brazilian dollars. We read in several places that it was easy to exchange there, with very good rates and we really had good experiences.

In Panama, the currency is Balboa, but they accept Dollars too. 1 Balboa is worth 1 Dollar, so we didn't even need to exchange, which was great. I got some Balboa coins for my collection and that was it...NO STRESS.

In Costa Rica, they use Colones. They even accept dollars, but the exchange rate varies from day to day and from place to place. In the first city in Costa Rica, Puerto Viejo, we decided to exchange dollars for colones… the exchange rate was approximately 1 dollar – 500 colones.

In Jamaica, they have the Jamaican Dollar, but they also accept US dollars. The exchange rate was 1 Jamaican Dollar – 0.01 US Dollar. We didn’t even exchange our money…we just took the Jamaican coins for our collection. =)

Climate

Hot, hot, hot. Except for San Jose, which was 15 degrees, the rest of the place was hot. Sunscreen was always on and short, comfortable clothes. Luckily, sunscreen there was actually quite cheap compared to Brazil. We used a lot!!

Hospitality and Languages

I found Panamanians to be quite rude in general. They don't seem like happy people, you know? They don't show that they are happy with your presence and they don't even make a point of speaking slowly so that we can understand them. Of course, some people were nice to us, but in general, taxi drivers, salespeople, maids and guides are grumpy. They talk Spanish and Guari Guari also. I found their Spanish quite difficult and Guari Guari is hard to understand, so you can imagine the hassle…

In Costa Rica, it's a different story. Wow, the people are so friendly. They say "Pura Vida" all the time, which is a very positive expression. They're always smiling, they're super friendly, polite, helpful...we got along really well with them. They speak well. English and most of the time, they speak Spanish. Very easy to communicate with.

Jamaicans are very welcoming too. Very friendly, especially if you arrive smiling and show interest in the souvenirs (many) and drugs…lol. It's quite difficult to understand what they mean. English of them. Among themselves, they speak patois, which is a language derived from English and which you can't understand at all...crazy. Everything ends in a tip...be careful!

Costs

Panama is cheap, except for the transfer from the airport to practically anywhere in the city, which costs US$28 per couple. I even researched buses, but I didn't feel like the place was safe enough to risk it. Since we did this route 4 times, I thought it was very expensive!!! lol Food is very cheap! Hotels and tours, too, thank God.

Costa Rica is very expensive….tours, food, shuttles…be prepared. I wasn’t prepared and I was upset at first…lol. But on the other hand, their infrastructure is different…at times it feels like you’re in a first world country.

Jamaica is expensive too. It's a place for Americans to visit, you know? You won't pay less than US$10 for a burger and beer. And it's all about tips...it's a pain. They keep charging you...it's a shame.

Total cost of the trip

I'm putting together a spreadsheet of the entire trip, with all the costs we had. I estimate that the entire trip, of 30 days, with all the tours, hotels, food, flights, and extreme sports included came to around R$1,400,000 per person. And we did practically everything we had to do.

Summary

In short, we enjoyed visiting these 3 countries. We were worried at times, we enjoyed it at others, but in short, everything was normal. There's always that fear that something might go wrong, that we might have an accident or get sick in the middle of the trip, but fortunately, everything went well! Celo got sick while we were still in Brazil and we postponed the trip, but later we found out that the weather in San Blas was really bad and it was better that we didn't go... our Guardian Angels saved us from that!

I think the important thing when traveling to the third world is to go with an open mind, you know... positive thinking. Always pay attention, avoid deserted places, don't walk around with valuable objects on display, things like that. I think it's good to talk to the locals and try to get their tips too. I always do that!

Travel in photos

To learn more about our 30-day trip through Central America (Jamaica, Costa Rica and Panama), click on the links below:

• Summary of the 30-day trip to Central America
• Panama City (Panama) in 3 days
• Bocas del Toro (Panama) in 4 days
• Puerto Viejo (Costa Rica) in 4 days
• San Jose (Costa Rica) in 3 days
• La Fortuna (Costa Rica) in 4 days
• Manuel Antonio (Costa Rica) in 3 days
• Ocho Rios (Jamaica) in 1 week