Centroamerica + the Gulf Coast

me by surprise.  San José is not usually on travelers’ favorite places in Central America list.  But I loved it!  It was really full of life, and I had a great time just wandering around and taking it all in – something about it just won me over.

In Guatemala, we docked at Puerto Quetzal, and of course, I hopped in a taxi and was transported to Antigua Guatemala, one of the most beautiful cities I’ve seen in Latin America.  Its colonial centre is packed with stunning churches and monuments;  everywhere you look, the buildings are painted in vibrant shades of ochre, white, rust, and mustard yellow, with reddish-brown terracotta tile roofs — and the resulting effect is downright gorgeous. 

The last few stops were in México, taking in Acapulco’s impressive beachfront skyline and old town, México City’s extraordinary ‘centro historico’, and southern Oaxaca state’s newest resort destination of Huatulco Bay, where there was literally nothing else to do but unwind for a day on the beach alongside the crystal blue waters, piña colada in hand!