Latin America Collection

When we left California for Costa Rica by car, we
knew very little about the countries through which
we would be driving. Our goal was to get to Costa Rica
as quickly as possible. My wife, Audrey, was a
stewardess for T.A.C.A. Airlines some years ago, which flew to all of the
capital cities of Central America. For her training, the airline gave her a
comprehensive tour of Guatemala. Later with American Airlines, she was
assigned to the Mexico City run, and spent a lot of time in Mexico City and
Cuernavaca. She knew quite a bit about both Mexico City and Cuernavaca,
as well as Chichicastenago, Guatemala. We did have a quick look at the
Mexico City/Cuernavaca area on our trip, but did not have the time to see
any of the sights of Guatemala.

The purpose of this chapter is to acquaint you, first, with the road signs
and a bit of the language that may assist you in your task of driving.
Hopefully, it will also highlight some of the important features of each
country you will pass through, and trigger your desire to visit some of them.
After all, there is an abundance of fascinating places to see, since the Aztec
and Mayan civilizations reached such advanced levels in their culture,
architecture and works of art.



By studying this area ourselves, and with the help of the Tourist
Department of each country, we have made a brief outline of some of the
attractions you may wish to visit along the way. We hope this will open
the door for some wonderful new experiences and help you with your
adventure south of the border

We are presenting the countries in the order that we passed through
them, from the United States through Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador,
Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Belize, also a part of Central
America, can be included for those wanting to travel via the Yucatan
Peninsula through Belize, then to Guatemala, where you can pick up our
trip at Guatemala City.

Our presentations are necessarily brief. For more in-depth descriptions
of the most important sights in each country, we suggest that you check
with your bookstore, library or the Tourist Bureau of the country of interest.
There are two books which cover all of the countries exceptionally well:
Lonely Planet's Central America On A Shoestring, and Passport Book's,
Annual Mexico & Central American Handbook. Both guides are packed
with useful information and provide detailed descriptions of every Central
American country. We have also listed more books in the section titled,
"Suggested Reading" at the end of this guide.

For Mexico, as there are several possible routes for you to choose from,
we have listed the routes from west to east, and have not duplicated the
description of any cities that are included on more than one route. Please
see the route map of Mexico we have provided in this guidebook.

Thank you.

The Authors
HIGHWAY SIGNSHIGHWAY SIGNS