Since this seems to be the place to go for vacation advice, here goes. Over next Christmas break my family and I are planning a vacation somewhere in the Spanish-speaking world. I am a high schooler who will be in level 5 Spanish so the language won’t be a problem.
What would be a good vacation spot over Christmas break (8-9 days). Prefereably it would be: safe, non-hostile to Americans, be beachy (not a necessity), and have enough to do. The beach isn’t a necessity because most of the family would rather see historic parts of a city, but my sister would rather just swim.
One place I’ve come up with is Puerto Rico, which probably fits all of that, but is there a lot to do on the island? Can one travel across it to other points of interest easily? The other is Costa Rica, but I’m not sure of the safety.
What do the traveling dopers think? Where in all of the Spanish-speaking world makes a good vacation spot?
Yes there is a lot to do in Puerto Rico. Yes, basically all the roads are paved, so if you research ahead, you can find places of interests outside the “metro” area and with a map and car travel around it.
Places to check:
Cabezas de San Juan- located in the northeastern side of the island, it is a natural reservation.
El Yunque- Tropical rain forest.
Cuevas de Camuy- Caverns
La Parguera- bioluminiscent bay, one of the few of its kind in the world, but if you want a better, cleaner bay, try to go to Culebra(an islet part of Puerto Rico).
The city of Ponce(south of the island) has the Museo de Arte de Ponce, Castillo Serrallés, Hacienda Buena Vista. If you can spend a day or two in Ponce, you can check them all.
If you have any questions, I can check out links for you to visit. By any means, yes, there are many things to do in Puerto Rico if you just get out of the main tourist area.
Sib- Both my parents are teachers, so I’m sure there’s SOME price constraints. Yet, it would be my senior year, and they want to do something special–nothing is off the table as of now.
Karl- Puerto Rico is sounding better and better; however, the Spanish world is so big, it’ll be really hard to narrow it down to one specific country (or special commonwealth). What is the tropical rainforest like? Anything like the Amazonian/Costa Rican ones?
You are right, but if you think about it…the world is big enough to just try to narrow one vacation spot.
For one, the tropical rain forests of Costa Rica would probably be larger than the ones in Puerto Rico. Also, unfortunately, Costa Rica has more tropical forest reserves than Puerto Rico. Other than that, I can offer no other comparisons. Well…you won’t have to worry about big predators, there aren’t any around El Yunque (or many other places in Puerto Rico, for that matter).
El Yunque is a tropical rain forest set in a mountain(called El Yunque). This place was believed by the Taíno people to be the residence of their principal god(sort of like Mt. Olympus for the Greeks). I haven’t gone there for a long time, but from what I remember, it has some paths you can travel to reach the top of the mountain, or visit some of the brooks and lagoons. The top of the mountain has a “dwarf forest” which mean the plants there do not grow very big(some scientific explanation I forgot, has to with altitude and weather). I think you can swim and play around at least some of the water holes, but the water will be very cold.
Another thing, a stay at Puerto Rico will probably be expensive compared to Costa Rica(specially if you go to a big hotel-chain). There are some paradores, or inns, that exist throught out the island, many near the places I told you before, and offer good amenities for less money than the big hotels. Even in the tourist area, there are some inns and places that are not very expensive. I’m out to search something for you.
Damn! Screwed up the coding! Well well, here are some links:
http://www.prtourism.com/ The official page of the tourism company of Puerto Rico. In English, contains some information of things I already told you, like paradores.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Puerto Rico, but if Spanish immersion is your game, you may want to go elsewhere. PR suffers from the increasing encroachment of English into the daily language. I 've found that a creole “spanglish” is way more common in PR than you might think, especially in San Juan. Remember, Mexico is an awfully large, generally American friendly country just to the south. Plenty of beachy areas, too. Given the current state of affairs in the travel industry, there are plenty of bargains to be had if you want to go to Europe. You can get to Spain for less money than you may think.
Laughs…even if the Chupacabra existed, it is not known to go out during the day. So unless you stayed in the forest during the night(why would you want to?), you’ll be definitely safe.
About “spanglish”: If you go to San Juan’s tourist areas, the people you will probably encounter will talk to you in English. Unless you tell them you know Spanish, they will talk you all in English. And in San Juan’s tourist areas, the people you met will probably not speak “spanglish”, or won’t talk to you in that manner. You will encounter people in the street talking it, but they won’t care if you understand them or not, they will probably not be talking with you.
Besides, Chupacabra, my whole posts have been about going places outside San Juan. Places where again, in tourist areas they will be speak to in English, and outside that, they will talk proper Spanish.
Again, if you are talking English encroachment, I think some parts of Mexico suffer from it too(who is their biggest neighbor?). But I am sure you will find better bargains in Mexico, you just have to check that the winter will not be a problem in the area to visit. Visiting Mexico City in December doesn’t sound like the best idea.
With Spain, if you can afford it and accept that it will be cold(remember winter), I would recommend it too. Go outside Madrid, they have told me Barcelona is an excellent city to visit. In Barcelona(and in the area it is) they will speak Catalán first, Spanish second. Go south too, to Andalucía, region of the last moorish kingdoms in Spain.
Another thing: No matter how good you are at Spanish, the class has probably not taught you slang and dialects. Each Spanish-speaking country has its own dialect. Be prepared, wherever you go, to not know what the people are talking around you. And if they teach you their dialect, do not use it with someone of another country. Well, use it, but they will probably recognize that you have been taught Spanish by someone from X-country.
And as you point out, even in SJ, out in the street, people will make an effort to speak either Spanish or English when addressing someone who’s obviously not from the barrio. We must also distinguish between REAL Spanglish (more often heard in NYC), and just “street” Spanish with a load of English loanwords: THAT you won’t be able to get away from in Northern Mexico or Puerto Rico, nor anywhere near Panama, Caracas, Buenos Aires, Madrid, etc. (example: in BA, the sitting room of your house is called “el living”). And anyway someone with just “school” Spanish will have enough of a challenge anywhere.
Still, there IS a kernel of truth in that if the objective is true “immersion”, we will make it hard on you 'cause we’ll try to speak English to you all the time (unless we feel like giving you a hard time , we learned that from the Quebecois)
Chupacabra, I thought Mayor Soto had you under control. Gotta call him and let him know you’re back in circulation Karl, I must second you on your recommendations, excelent all. Definitely, get beyond San Juan! BTW, at Camuy Caverns, taking the Spanish-language tour gets you a much more complete presentation. As to the Rain Forest you covered it pretty well – it’s accessible enough that you don’t need to mount an expedition, but large enough to get lost in; I must admit Costa Rica has us beat on rainforests, though. Must add the precolumbian sites at Utuado(Caguana) or Ponce (Tibes) – insignificant when compared with Maya or Inca sites, but a nice couple of hours of context. Oh, yes, as to the biolum. bays/lagoons: Cabezas de San Juan has another good one, but I’m not sure if the Conservation Trust is restricting access – and the really,really good one is in Vieques (and NO, poogas21, Vieques is NOT a violent, hostile War Zone, US Media notwhitstanding…).
Now, looking at the OP, if the family would rather see historic parts of a city… boy, downtown Ponce, San Germán (in the SW of the island) and Old San Juan should keep them busy… And in OSJ you can always stop by the various PR Institute of Culture facilities (at San José Church and Ballajá) and see what cultural activities in-Spanish there are during that time (only the fortifications are Federally managed.)
One thing’s for sure, we’ve traditionally NOT been a “budget/bargain” travel location. Being kind-of-sort-of-part of the US means our hotel staff has to be paid American minimum wages and benefits and our facilities and vehicles have to meet American safety standards and have high insurance. A “cheap” hotel WILL look and feel cheap. If the sister would rather swim, that may impinge greatly on cost, as beachfront = mo’ money (and no guarantee THAT beach is in shape, in December). Public transport ain’t even mediocre, so you’d need a rental car, a map, a good sense of direction, and some guts.
As an alternate-country location, I’d have to go with Southern Mexico. Two possibilities: the area around Oaxaca – sorry sis, no beaches, but plenty of history, culture, and nature; and Mérida (Yucatán) – the beach is a couple of hours away, but again there’s more culture and history than you can shake a stick at.
Puerto Rico has a lot to offer, but as others have said it’s relatively expensive, and it’s not the best place for Spanish immersion. I’m fairly fluent in Spanish, but when I visited Puerto Rico whenever I addressed someone in Spanish they almost invariably replied in English.
If you want rainforest, forget about Costa Rica and consider Panama, where I’ve worked for over 20 years. Panama is cheaper than Costa Rica, and you get more value for money. And best of all: there are fewer tourists.
Some things Panama has to offer:
The Canal, of course. One of the most amazing engineering feats in history
Colonial ruins: Old Panama (Panama la Vieja) near Panama city features the ruins of the colonial city that was sacked and burned by the pirate Henry Morgan in 1670. On the Atlantic coast is Ft. San Lorenzo, also sacked by Morgan. The fort is in a spectacular setting, on a bluff over the ocean and surrounded by tropical forest. Portobelo, another colonial fortified town, is further up the coast. The oldest surviving part of Panama City, the Casco Viejo, is charming although it has not been restored as Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, has.
Beaches: By far the most interesting place to go is the San Blas archipelago, off the eastern Caribbean coast. Twenty minutes by plane from Panama City, but it’s a different world. The area is inhabited almost exclusively by the Kuna Indians, who still live a largely traditional life style. Their villages are mostly on small coral islands off the coast. The women have a very colorful tradional costume including applique mola blouses, bright print skirts and lots of gold and bead ornaments. The Kuna operate several fairly basic hotels, from which they will take you to go swimming or snorkeling on nearby uninhabited islets. The snorkeling on coral reefs is spectacular.
Rain forest. Rain forest is far more accessible than in Costa Rica: I can get to a park full of parrots and toucans within a ten minute drive from my house in downtown Panama City, and to a National Park with jaguars in it within 30 minutes. The highlands of western Panama have cloud forest much like you would get at Monteverde in Costa Rica. There are lots of charming yet economical hotels in Cerro Punta and Boquete, at the base of Panama’s highest mountain, Volcan Baru. My favorite is the Los Quetzales Cabins, three beautiful Swiss style chalets in the middle of a moss-covered cloud forest that looks like something out of a fantasy novel.
Many people speak English in Panama City, but once you get out into the countryside this is much less common. Like Costa Rica, Panama is safe for tourists. It’s probably safer than many destinations in the U.S. in terms of violent crime. And unlike Costa Rica or Mexico, you can drink the water in most places without fear of Montezuma’s Revenge.
There’s a vast array of cultural sights and sounds in Santo Domingo. The beaches on the north side of the island are gorgeous – my wife is Dominican and she keeps ribbing me because there are, in her view, no “real” beaches north of Florida.
In addition, the dollar’s performance against the DR peso recently means you can get some excellent bargains there.
Colibri- Hasn’t Panama had some problems with Colombian revolutionaries? In any case, that was another place we’ve been considering. Is it really cheaper? So far I’ve heard that Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and Chile are all very expensive. It does seem like a wonderful place to go.
BrickerI think we’ve eliminated the Dominican Republic based on instability and the fact it’s very close to Haiti. Plus aren’t some areas of the country very unsafe and that one shouldn’t stray from Santo Domingo?
If you want a place where you can rent a car and go driving around the country(with a good map, I hope), then it seems Costa Rica, Spain, and Puerto Rico are the better options, maybe Panamá.
Dominican Republic has good beaches and is cheap, as someone else said. Also, there is a region (¿La Romana?) which is a touristic place. The only thing I may have against Dominican Republic is that some of the hotels are set up so that the tourists spend as little time as possible outside them.
Hmmm…I was going to suggest traveling to Cuba but I guess that is definitely out of your range.
Problems with Colombian guerrillas are limited to remote areas of Darien province near the Colombian border. It would take a major logistical effort to get there. Aside from that, the country is quite safe, with the exception of the poorer parts of Panama City (like any large city), and of the city of Colon on the Atlantic coast. But it’s not hard to avoid those areas.
Panama isn’t the cheapest place you could go - it’s probably more expensive than the Dominican Republic, southern Mexico or Guatemala. On the other hand, I think it’s generally safer than any of those. In my experience, when I went to Costa Rica about four years ago hotels and restaurants were about 50% more expensive than the equivalent in Panama.
You can get a basic room in Panama City for $15-$25, a good one for about $50, and a very nice one for about $75/night. In the countryside a good hotel with air conditioning and hot water will be $15-25 depending on locality. My favorite hotel in the San Blas is $50/night, including three meals and transport to other islands for swimming etc. (It is quite basic, though. Other places charge a bit more.) The Los Quetzales cabins cost $100-120/night, but sleep four to eight. You can get great seafood at many restaurants at $6-$15.
If you’re interested, check out the Lonely Planet guide.
Lonely Planet lists the following costs, but I think these are a little low:
Really, problems with drinking the water in Costa Rica? I spent 2 months there, my stay divided between San Jose and a small Pacific town, and had no problems–and I wasn’t careful in the slightest. I even drank water straight out of the garden hose on more than one occasion. Are there specific areas where it is a problem, or have conditions changed significantly since I was there 6 years ago?
Now getting sick from the water in Mexico. That I have extensive personal experience with.
Well, use it, but they will probably recognize that you have been taught Spanish by someone from X-country.
, we learned that from the Quebecois)