Tourist Dream

   Panama means "the place of abundant fish" and convenient beaches but people like to say that everything is found in abundance here. And it's true, as visitors will quickly discover for themselves. You'll find an abundance of wildlife in Panama's national parks, an abundance of white sand beaches, hundreds of islands, more banks, hotels and shops than you would have dreamed possible, the Panama Canal and, of course, a fantastic quantity of fresh seafood, including fish in the streets and restaurants. The "mauger" season in Belize, when the air is still and the sea is calm, generally comes in August; it lasts for a week or more. All activity halts while locals stay indoors as much as possible to avoid the onslaught of ferocious mosquitoes and other insects. Whether visitors are looking for adventure or relaxation they can have the perfect combination tours of going sightseeing or laying on the beaches. In addition to its beach and resort communities, the Pacific Lowlands is also the repository for much of Nicaragua's Spanish colonial heritage. Cities such as Granada and Leon abound in Spanish colonial architecture and artifacts. Belize presents with its great beauty in a variety of ways. If your specialty is adventure travel, just two hours flight from US main gateways will enable you to explore its comfortable hotels, sand beaches and coral reef, and enjoy the surprises Belize has in store for you. Nicaragua presents rich green tropical land of mountains and volcanoes, lakes and rivers, lush rain forests and broad sun swept beaches. Nicaragua is the largest of the Central American republics. Its neighbors are Costa Rica on the south and Honduras on the north; this sparkling isthmus is bordered by the Caribbean on the east and the Pacific on the west. Do you like chocolate? The native people of Costa Rica tell that cocoa is grown and made into chocolate right there. There the visitors can see a demonstration of traditional chocolate making in a cacao house. And you can spend a few days in the "Saints Zone" - La Zona de los Santos, where you'll see a coffee plantation and learn all about what happens before the cup of coffee gets to your table. Colonial towns like Grenada (Nicaragua) or Antigua (Guatemala) make great impression with hacienda-style, traditional handicrafts, and local coffee brews to sip. Large coffee plantations often welcome a weary visitor with a steaming cup of the homegrown product. Then you'll remember this information during your breakfast at the hotel bar or at the street cafe.