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Adios Amigos! I’m Traveling Around Central / South America (LPB, UYU, GUA, SAL, MGA & LIR)

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Hola amigos!  My friend Jim and I am heading south of the border (and hemisphere) for a few days and visiting the following cities around Central / South America:

  • La Paz, Bolivia (LPB)
  • Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia (UYU)
  • Guatemala City, Guatemala (GUA)
  • San Salvador, El Salvador (SAL)
  • Managua, Nicaragua (MGA)
  • Liberia, Costa Rica (LIR)

If you want to see those cities plotted on a map, here is the Great Circle Mapper view. I left out the flights to/from San Francisco, the airline routing, and bus ride, otherwise the map would be too messy.

a screenshot of a map

The 2 highlights on this trip are the world famous salt flats of Salar de Ayuni in southern Bolivia…

a man walking on a reflective surface

Salar de Ayuni Salt Flats. Image source: http://foundtheworld.com/salar-de-uyuni/

And the Andaz Papagayo Costa Rica Resort in Liberia, Costa Rica.  The resort looks great and I’ve read many positive hotel reviews, so I am very excited to stay there.  And at only 15,000 Hyatt points per night, it is a bargain!

a swimming pool surrounded by trees and buildings

Andaz Papagayo Costa Rica Resort. Image source: https://papagayo.andaz.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html

Other than those 2 things, we do not have anything else planned.  If anyone has been to Guatemala City, Guatemala; San Salvador, El Salvador; and Managua, Nicaragua; please share what are the 1-2 things you really enjoyed, meals you enjoyed, and sights you recommend seeing.

If you really want to see the whole routing, here it is, compliments to Great Circle Mapper again.  I’ll be flying Avianca business class, United Airlines business class, Avianca economy, and Amaszonas economy flights.  I will have my laptop on the trip, so I will try to blog during the trip.  Shelli does have quite a few blog posts scheduled from her recent Lisbon, Portugal trip.  Have a great day everyone, safe travels, and adios amigos!

a map of the united states

Here are all parts of my Central / South America trip:


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14 thoughts on “Adios Amigos! I’m Traveling Around Central / South America (LPB, UYU, GUA, SAL, MGA & LIR)”

  1. Lilyan

    Omg so many amazing places in nicaragua! You can do ziplining at any of the volcanos, ometepe is this great island to visit, Granada is beautiful with the Spanish colony buildings. As far as food goes, you have to do street food “fritanga” they’ll want to take you to fancy shmancy restaurants. Dont do it! Go for the street food, it’s grilled meats, sausage, rice breans and cheese… it’s amazing!

    Reply ↓
    1. Grant Post author

      Thank you so much for those recommendations. Unfortunately I don’t think we have time to do zipling, but I will definitely look for Fritanga. Thank you and safe travels :)

      Reply ↓
  2. Mike

    Hop on a bus from San Salvador to Acajutla, Sonsonate and enjoy the ride to the Pacific (it’s not long — El Salvador is tiny). In Guatemala City, I like the Pension Meza in Zona 1. I haven’t been to Bolivia, and I look forward to your experiences. Managua is one of the least attractive cities I’ve ever seen. Spend no more time there than you must, although since you’ll be there anyway you might has well get a plate of gallo pinto in the Mercado Oriental. Liberia is not on the coast, so what is that body of water in the photo of the Andaz Papagayo?

    Reply ↓
  3. Kim

    Personally I’d avoid Managua. I spent a few weeks in Nicaragua last year. Actually got some dental work in Managua. I stayed in Masaya though. My friend who lives in Nicaragua always stays there when he has things to do in the capital, he tries to avoid Managua as much as possible. I think I paid about $20 to the airport. Lots of people love Grenada and I saw lots of signs for shuttles to the airport. I only visited Grenada for the day but, it’s very beautiful and had a great time. I spent a couple of nights at the Andaz. It’s a beautiful property. But, a little too far removed for my taste. A nice place to relax for a few days though. I recommend having a car. It’ll probably cost about the same amount as a shuttle from the airport. Food and drink was pretty expensive at the resort so, it was nice to have other options. Driving was easy. We spent the day at Coco beach and really enjoyed that. Heading to El Salvador in March for 10 days and we’re going to head straight to the beach from the airport for a few days, from what I read it might be easier to get to the coast than to the capital. Haven’t been so, not sure. Looking forward to your Bolivia report. Going there myself in May.

    Reply ↓
    1. Grant Post author

      Hi Kim, thank you for the insight. I could definitely use a few relaxing beach days during the trip. I will let you know what I think of Bolivia. Safe travels :)

      Reply ↓

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