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7 Wonders of Central America

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Central America is perfectly suited for both short-term or long-term travelling. A collection of seven countries, conveniently wedged together so that a border crossing is rarely more than a half day bus ride away. You can just as easily immerse yourself in one country or visit all seven.
A Raggamuffin tours boat going snorkelling
Headed out to the Belize Barrier Reef with Raggamuffin Tours

 

Each country – Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama – has it’s own allure. Costa Rica may get a lot of the glory, but I’m only willing to give it one wonder from this Central America list.

Seven countries for seven wonders, right? I could just name each individual country as a wonder in itself, but that would be too easy. Lucky for me I’ve travelled through a lot of Central America and can say picking only seven wonders was pretty tough. I’m sure some will disagree with these choices too. If so, let me know!

So, here are some top spots you won’t want to miss while venturing around Central.

Wonder #1 from Belize: The Belize Barrier Reef
When you hear people from Australia say that the snorkelling and diving here is better than the Great Barrier Reef (which I did hear more than once), you have to stop and take notice! At 300km long it is a part of the world’s second largest reef and sports more than 500 species of fish. What makes it even better is easy access from Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye, two laid back islands off the coast of Belize where coconuts and Belikin beers are as plentiful as the underwater wildlife.

Wonder #2 from Guatemala: Tikal Mayan Ruins
One of the most impressive of all Mayan sites, Tikal is a massive complex of pyramids and structures set deep in the Guatemalan jungle. Colourful birds and prehistoric-sounding howler monkeys call this place home. You’ll feel like you’ve been transported back in time as you wander around Tikal and soak up so much ancient history. The stories that these structures could tell, but don’t worry the local guides here do a great job of bringing it all to life.

Wonder #3 from El Salvador: Cerro Verde National Park
There is remarkable nature to be discovered in El Salvador, and the Santa Ana Volcano, which lies in Cerro Verde Park is one of the best attractions. It is one of three volcanoes in the park that offers challenging nature treks to the heights of this often overlooked Central American country. While there are multi-day treks that are available, if you’re short on time it is possible to climb to the top of one of these volcanoes in only a few hours. Santa Ana gets my nod as it offers the best panoramic views and takes you past some impressive crater lakes. The nearby areas are home to many indigenous people too, making for a great culture and climbing combination.

Wonder #4 from Honduras: The Ruins of Copan
The site of Copan in Honduras represents the southern extremity for the Mayan civilization and offers a great contrast to the jungle pyramids and complex seen in Mexico and Guatemala. Here, you’ll be treated to intricately carved stellae unseen at other Mayan sites. With wide open spaces, the site is easy to walk around and a great spot to stop, relax and have a picnic or soak up the sun.

Wonder #5 from Nicaragua: The City of Granada
Colourful colonial buildings are commonplace in Granada, which I think is one of the most attractive cities in all of Central America. A great place to base yourself and spend extra time, Granada lies on the shores of Lake Nicaragua, a popular area for swimming and beach time for locals. It is an especially busy place around the Holy Week of Semana Santa. Cheap food and drink as well as easy access to some popular nature spots like Masaya Volcano make Granada my choice for favourite colonial city in Central America (sorry Antigua!).

Wonder #6 from Costa Rica: The Osa Peninsula
Down the the far southern reaches of Costa Rica is a peninsula that is one of the most bio-diverse places in Central America. Small towns and totally relaxing beach areas are countered with the impressive Corcovado National Park, perhaps the wildest place in all of Costa Rica. Don’t believe me? Well National Geographic called it the “most biologically intense place on Earth.”

Wonder #7 from Panama: The Panama Canal
The most modern wonder of my Central America list, the Panama Canal remains one of the greatest feats in recent human history. The tumultuous story of how the Canal came to fruition makes for a great read and brings this place to life. Many of the greatest ocean going vessels passage through the canal which saves thousands and thousands of kilometres of travel for shipments of fruits, commodities and passengers. Did you know there was once an idea to build the canal in Nicaragua? Like I said, the history of the Panama Canal is an interesting read.

Travel Lists

The Most Photographed Places on Earth

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I have often wondered, what landmarks and attractions are the most photographed on Earth?

Have I seen any of them? If you count our bright, beautiful Sun on the list then sure, I think we’ve all photographed one of the world’s most popular sights as it rises and sets above the horizon.

Horseshoe Falls at Niagara Falls
Horseshoe Falls at Niagara Falls, Canada

But after that, what other places lay claim to ‘most photographed’ something or other? Ahhh, after scouring the Internet and some great tourism websites I have put together this comprehensive list.

Have any additions? What is the most photographed landmark in your country? Let me know and I`ll keep growing this list.

How many of these have you seen and photographed?

  • The Colosseum in Rome is often reported to be the most photographed landmark in Italy
  • The most photographed city in the world? New York
  • Not a single animal, but collectively known as the Big Five – lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo – are considered the most sought after wildlife in the world for photographers
  • India’s most photographed landmark? The Taj Mahal
  • In the Seychelles, the island of La Digue island claims to be the most photographed island in the world, although that seems difficult to believe
  • Santorini is the most photographed isle in Greece
  • Albuquerque’s International Balloon Fiesta claims to be the most photographed world event
  • South Africa’s Table Mountain is it’s most photographed landmark
  • The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen is the most photographed object in Denmark, and possibly the most photographed statue in the entire world
  • San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge lays claim to most photographed bridge and most photographed US landmark
  • Strange, but true – the most photographed toilets in the world come from New Zealand (The Kawakawa public toilets)
  • The most photographed wall in the world? The Great Wall of China
  • Picturesque, fairytale-like Neuschwanstein castle in Germany claims the king of the castle category for photography
  • Europe’s most photographed structure? The Eiffel Tower
  • Both the Evangeline Oak in Louisiana and the Lone Cyprus tree in California have claims as the most photographed trees in the world
  • Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza get the nod for most photographed in that country
  • Ayers Rock gets the nod for most photographed in Australia when it comes to sunsets
  • Most photographed road in the world? Abbey Road
  • Most photographed waterfall? Niagara Falls
Travel Lists

Top Five Carnivorous Countries

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Got a hankering for meat?

Some countries are known to be vegetarian friendly, while others prefer to pile on the meat. For my animal-eating friends I’ve compiled what I beleive are the top five carnivorous countries in the world.

Grab a knife and fork because no creature of land or sea is safe! (Ok wait, I don’t condone eating endangered animals.)

From four continents I present five countries in no particular order. Now excuse me while I go barbeque some Kangaroo.

Seafood Tower Feast
Seafood Feast on Ilha Grande, Brazil

Brazil

Sea creatures and land creatures have it tough in Brazil. Grab a cold beer and pair it with some fresh crab, lobster, mussels or calamari along the coast. It’s not too hard to find places that serve seafood platters, or towers like the one pictured here. Pure gluttony.

But, they’re not usually all-you-can-eat. For that, Brazil takes it to the next level with the churrascaria (or churrasqueira).

The Brazilian churrasqueira is a thing of beauty. Picture countless meats being roasted over a fire, then served at your table on sword-like skewers.

I’ve been to a number of churrasqueiras where unlimited meat is served Rodizio-style by waiters in white aprons trying to push you to your limits in terms of meat-eating. A big bonus is that you’re not usually limited to standard cuts of beef or pork, but you may get chicken livers and other less common meats.

Oh ya, there is usually a massive salad, seafood and dessert bar that accompanies the meat extravaganza too. Just in case you’re not full.

United States of America

The land of opportunity or the land of unlimited food buffets? From monstrosities like the double down at KFC (using chicken breasts as the bun) to unbelievable pizzas that include burgers as toppings, the US takes meat-eating to an extreme.

Alligator in Florida, Crayfish in Louisiana or Elk in Montana, what do you prefer? You don’t have to go extreme in the US, you just have to be hungry. Brazil has the churrasqueira as it’s meat party, while the US has the equally extravagant tail gate parties, a truly American experience of culture and cuisine.

Germany

Other European countries may arguably belong on this list, it is hard to argue with creations like Fois Gras in France. But you can’t eat fois gras every day. You can eat hearty German meals every day though!

From schnitzl to German sausages, smoked pork chops to traditional beef rouladen, the Germans know how to eat meat without messing around.

But wait, if their meat prowess isn’t enough, Germany is a world renowned beer country. Grab a bratwurst, raise your glass of beer and give a toast to the great meat country of Germany.

A Tenedor Libre Parrilla in Ushuaia
Meats cooking at a Parrilla in Ushuaia

Argentina

South America reigns supreme as the only continent with two countries on this list.

Not to be outdone by their neighbours in Brazil, the meat-lovers of Argentina have a rich history of farming and barbequing tasty animals.

Buenos Aires rules as the meat capital of South America, but even if you venture to the extreme south in Ushuaia, you won’t be dissapointed by the price, and selection, of meats available to eat.

Beef from Argentina is usually naturally raised and full of flavour as is the lamb. The best way to sample them? Seek out a parrilla or asado in any town in Argentina. Asado basically means barbeque and parrilla is a means of cooking the meat – often a large grill with all sorts of meats draped over it and cooked at the same time. Find a tenedor libre parrilla and you’ve been blessed with an all-you-can-eat meat feast in Argentina.

South Africa

Meat may be an extravagance to many countries in Africa, but the South Africans know how to throw a real barbeque.

Three meat treats are synonymous with South Africa – biltong, sosaties and boerewors. Biltong is a dried jerk-like meat, sosaties are meat skewers, while boerewors is a special type of sausage.

Now, in addition to these specialties, you can also get some fantastically different meats in South Africa such as Ostrich and Impala.

Perhaps the best thing about meat-eating in South Africa? The traditional braii. A very social event, it’s typically an outdoor BBQ of the bring-your-own meat variety where everyone celebrates and socailzies around the grill.


Travel Articles, Travel Lists

Everglades Series: Five surprising things about Everglades NP

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This is the third, and final, post in my Everglades National Park series. The first post was about Shark Valley and the second post was on the Anhinga Trail.

I always knew that the Everglades was huge, but never really had a full understanding of what it ‘was’ or how unique it was.  So here are some surprises I uncovered and learned from park authorities, while visiting this World Heritage Site.

1 – The Everglades is dry for part of the year

Dry Everglades - River of Grass
Dry Everglades - River of Grass

Most people have visions of a swampy, wet mosquito-filled landscape when they think of the Everglades. While the Everglades is not a swamp, that wet, mosquito-laced vision is true

for part of the year. The Everglades are actually a cracked earth, dry grassland for a few months of the year. Visiting  from about December to April gives you the best chance to experience the Everglades in a drier state. The benefits of this are that the Alligators congregate in smaller water holes and can be seen easier, plus there will be NO mosquitoes!

2 – Borrow Pits

Virtually everything in Everglades National Park is nautral. They don’t interfere with the course of nature. One of the biggest threats to the Everglades ecosystem is introduced species. Not just animals such as burmese pythons, but plants as well. Introduced plant species choke out the natural vegetation and are a constant battle for park officials. Which brings me to borrow pits.

When building the roadways and paved paths in the park, officials were weary of bringing materials from outside of the park because of the likely introduction of seeds and spores from foreign plants. To avoid that risk, they excavated a number of deep pits from within the park and used the rocks and materials from these ‘borrow pits’ to create the pathways. This is most evident at Shark Valley. Here, the borrow pits are about 20 feet deep and are the only feature of the area that does not dry up in the dry season. These few sources of year-round water are a haven for wildlife.

Alligator Closeup
Smiling Alligator Closeup

3 – Only place in the world to see Alligators and American Crocodiles

The endangered american crocodile can be found here in small numbers. It prefers areas with sandy beaches for laying eggs, so the over development of coastal areas in south Florida have caused it’s numbers to steadily decline. If you’re really lucky you may catch a glimpse of a crocodile while venturing into the Everglades by boat, kayak or canoe. The crocodiles are salt-water animals so they stick along the coast, whereas the alligators are freshwater animals and are more common inland.

4 – Oil is here

The Shark Valley area of the Everglades was originally land surveyed for drilling oil by the Humble Oil Company. Back in 1946 they did find oil here, but thankfully the quality of the oil and technological capabilities at the time didn’t make extraction a viable option. Giving up on the rough landscape and low quality oil, Humble Oil Company (now called Exxon) gave the land to the government, and this area became part of Everglades National Park.

Who knows what could have happened here if the oil was found today?

5 – The Everglades is a River

Huh? What? At more than 1.5 million acres in size, this is a huge river – 50 miles wide!

It may not look like it, but the Everglades is in constant motion. Water from further north in Florida at Lake Okeechobee trickles south at a very gradual rate as it goes through the Everglades. Nicknamed a ‘river of grass’ Everglades National Park only represents about 25% of what the entire Everglades once was. Water diversion and urban development have altered the natural course of flow to the Everglades, destroying parts of it in recent decades. Thankfully construction efforts are underway along parts of the Tamiani Highway and other areas of south Florida to ensure water flow to the park, and it’s plants and animals, will continue in the future.

Do you have any other interesting Everglades facts? Were you surprised that there are virtually no mosquitoes here for parts of the year? Share your Everglades tips by posting a comment below.