The World Travel and Tourism Council has introduced a fun element to their Facebook page: rather than a timeline of their own milestones, they've designed a timeline highlighting all of the events in the travel industry. Starting in 1400 with the first passport, and ending ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Central America
Facebook Timeline For Travel Industry
The World Travel and Tourism Council has introduced a fun element to their Facebook page: rather than a timeline of their own milestones, they've designed a timeline highlighting all of the events in the travel industry. Starting in 1400 with the first passport, and ending ...One Day In Nicaragua: Self-Deportation, An Active Volcano, A Dead Boa, A Dip In A Lagoon And An Art Deal Gone Bad
Stepping over a dead boa constrictor with flies buzzing around it wasn't what I had in mind when I hired a guy named Carlos to take us to see Volcán Masaya, a national park in Nicaragua where you can drive right up to the crater of an active volcano. But when we piled ...Travel Through The World of Music At Phoenix's Musical Instrument Museum
My expectations weren't very high when I visited Phoenix's Musical Instrument Museum (MIM). I imagined a small collection of dusty drums and pan flutes along with a guitar or two donated by famous musicians. Boy, was I ever mistaken.
The MIM is actually a mammoth ...The Perfect DC Museum Cafe: Mitsitam
Somewhere between pointing at planes at the Air & Space Museum and browsing the day's headlines at the Newseum, my baby fell asleep. We had a small window of time to eat and maybe even have an adult conversation, and a McDonald's inside a food court didn't seem ...Why We Travel: The Opportunity To Meet Other Addicts
"Where are you from?"
It's the conversation starter you sometimes hear several times per day when you travel. On this occasion, the question was posed by a friendly, bearded waiter from Barcelona at the Amici Ristorante in the small beach town of Santa Teresa, on Costa ...Everything You Need To Know About Flying With An Infant Turning 2
After flying with an infant to over a dozen countries and on nearly 50 flights in her 20 months, I figured I pretty much have baby travel down to a science, as much as you can call it "science" when dealing with a person who is often unpredictable and doesn't respond ...How Cheap Is Nicaragua? How About $2 Beers In A Luxury Hotel Minibar
If I ruled the world, I would issue a decree commanding every hotel to install minibars stocked with $2 bottles of beer. But since that's never going to happen, you might have to go to Nicaragua to experience such an enlightened minibar alcohol policy.
I'm a frugal ...Here's How They Roll In Nicaragua
Nicaragua is a beautiful country. There are stunning beaches, active volcanoes, mountains, mangrove swamps, picturesque islands and just about every type of terrain you can imagine. But on a recent visit to Nicaragua, I found all of the creative ways that people travel even ...Sunday At The Market In Tlacolula
"Donde esta el autobus por Tlocolula?"
The question was met with a quizzical look. Where was this gringa trying to go?
Perhaps I wasn't pronouncing it correctly.
"Tloco... Toco... Tlaca..." I stammered.
"Ah, Tlacolula."
Si. There.
I don't suppose the ...Moments of Serendipitous Travel Bliss In Nicaragua
I was sitting on the Che Guevara ferry, which was bouncing over choppy waters in Lake Cocibolca on the way back from Ometepe island in Nicaragua, when I heard a sweet melody drifting slowly through the humid night air like a message in a bottle floating in the lake. I peaked ...How (Not) To Walk Across The Costa Rica/Nicaragua Border
You can learn a lot about a country by walking into it across a land border. VIP's enter at the airport or zoom through in a car, but when you walk across the frontier, especially in a developing country, you get a window into how ordinary people and traders travel.
...An Evening Of Costa Rican Rodeo Madness
The reed thin drunk was just barely sober enough to avoid being flattened by a rampaging bull. The crowd roared when he broke into a nifty little dance, complete with somersaults and a crash but many were also hoping that he'd be trampled (see video). I was rooting for the ...Adventure Safari Brings Easy Way To Give Back
Traveling almost anywhere around the world, we see people in need. Many struggle to survive in endangered areas or in a place where an earthquake, tsunami or another natural disaster has occurred. But those in need can be located at stops along our way in the Caribbean, ...Souvenir Of The Week: Nicaraguan Toilet Paintings
While Gadling's Dave Seminara was busy reporting on surf competitions and rainforests in Costa Rica and Nicaragua last week, he didn't have time to stop and ask questions about a surprising fixture in one outdoor market: colorful paintings of people on the throne. The ...Impact Of Sequester Cuts On Travel: Houston Is The Third World Airport Not Managua
As Americans, we've been bred to believe that the way we do things should be a model for the rest of the world. But after spending a good chunk of my Friday, day one of the sequester federal spending cuts, at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston, I have to ...Robbed By Cab Drivers In Nicaragua And Chicago In The Same Week?
Where the hell is Camilo?
Those were the words that I kept repeating to myself, sometimes replacing the word "hell" with more sinister, unpublishable expletives. I was sitting in the Rancho Marsella restaurant at Playa Marsella, a remote beach that is 20 minutes down a ...Can You Afford To Stay At A Celebrity-Owned Hotel?
Tennis star Andy Murray, one of the U.K.'s most famous athletes and the reigning Olympic gold medalist, recently purchased the Cromlix House Hotel near his hometown of Dunblane, Scotland. Now closed for renovations, the country manor is expected to reopen in the spring, ...Biking In Guatemala City? One Group Is Proving It's Possible
On a recent Saturday, the streets were filled with bicycles. Bells rang and horns sounded as the cyclists wound their way throughout the city like a moving train of youth and energy.
This wasn't in Portland, or Paris, or any of dozens of bicycle-friendly cities ...Scenes From A Surf Competition In San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua
I've never thought of surfing as a hyper-competitive sport. For me, it's more of a lifestyle. I'm not a surfer but I've met scores of people over the years that have rearranged their lives to be in proximity to the big breaks. I can understand why surfers might want to ...Braving The Back Roads Of Guanacaste In Costa Rica, The World's Happiest Country
Take a look at a road map of Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula and you'll see a jumble of squiggly lines that seem to meander in circles with no clear pattern. Before setting off in a rental car from Santa Teresa, at the foot of Nicoya, heading towards Rincon de la Vieja ...
