What is the best travel and departure time for Mexico?

• In Mexico City, year-round temperatures fluctuate between 20 and 26 degrees during the day. Nights can be cold, but it almost never freezes. Merida (Yucatan) has a different climate. Here the temperature does not often fall below 28 degrees during the day. It also stays around 20 degrees Celsius at night almost all year. The higher-lying Monterrey in northeastern Mexico has greater fluctuations in temperature. In the summer months it gets 32 to 36 degrees during the day here, while in the winter months it is barely 20 degrees.

Best travel time in Mexico

• The best travel time is from October to April, during the dry season.

Worst travel time in Mexico

• In May, the rainy season begins in southern Mexico which continues in the north until October. This period is also hurricane season. It does not rain all day during the rainy season, but there are heavy showers daily. These are often heavy and short-lived. During this period it is often very hot and humid.

Hours of sunshine in Mexico

• The number of sunshine hours in Mexico is between 2100 (Yucatàn) and 2300 (Plateau of Mexico) per year.

Sea temperature in Mexico

• Between 20 and 25 degrees.

What is the best travel and departure time for Costa Rica?

• Costa Rica, like most other tropical countries, has two seasons.
• The dry season lasts from December through April. The rest of the year is the wet season.
• Actually, only in the highlands is the dry season really dry; in the rest of the country you can always count on a shower.
• In central Costa Rica the average temperature is 22°C , on the coast and northwest the temperature is higher.

Best travel time in Costa Rica

• March is the driest and least clammy period of the year, and the temperature is just right.
• April and May are also pleasant.

Worst travel time in Mexico

• June and July see the most rain, and it is especially muggy on the coast.

What is the best travel and departure time for Guatemala?

• Because of the differences in altitude, there is much difference in Guatemala's climate. Within a few hours you leave the cold mountains and arrive in the humid warmth of the coast. The higher you are, the cooler it is. Especially after the sun goes down, it can get chilly and even cold quickly. This starts as early as Antigua which is at about 1,700 meters. On the coast it is almost always sunny and humid hot, sometimes with intense but liberating thunderstorms.

Best travel time in Guatemala?

• The most ideal time to travel is between mid-November and January. The rainy season leaves behind a green country, but the drawbacks of the rainy season (storms, impassable roads, flooding) are pretty much over.

Worst travel time in Guatemala?

• The months of March and April, especially in the lower areas (Pacific coast, Tikal, Livingstone), are quite hot.

Hours of sunshine in Guatemala?

• Count on about 8 hours a day of sunshine in the months of January and February and 2 hours a day in the months of June and July.

What are the customs in Belize regarding food?

• In Belize, rice and beans are mainly eaten. In addition, Mexican meat dishes such as tacos, empanadas, tamales are also available everywhere. Turtle and lobster are regularly on the menu. Belizean cuisine is a blend of Mayan, Garifuna, Creole, and European influences.

What are the best recipes in Belize?

• Fry Jacks: deep-fried pieces of dough, often with beans, egg, jam or honey. (In Mexico, they are called Sopapillas).
• Garnaches: deep-fried tortilla topped with beans, cabbage, carrots and cheese.
• Marie Sharp's Hot Sauce, a sauce found on the table everywhere in Belize to spice up the food for Belizeans.

What are the best drinks in Belize?

• A local drink is called Seaweed. A mix of seaweed, milk, sugar and cream.

What are notable holidays and festivals in Belize?

• September celebrations: The vacations begin in Belize on the Battle of St George's Caye Day. For the 10 days that follow, there are celebrations, ceremonies, concerts and carnival parades all over the country.
• Garifuna Settlement Day: This is a celebration of the arrival of the Garifuna people in Belize on November 19, 1832. Many celebrations with music, dancing and drinking. This festival is celebrated lavishly in Dangriga, Hopkins and Punta Gorda.
• La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge: This is a four-day canoe race on the Macal and Belizer River from San Ignacio to Belize City.

What are the remarkable habits in Belize?

• Especially the people with Mayan ancestry, believe in the power of the full moon. They avoid cutting wood or thatch for their roofs during this time as they believe it weakens the materials. Planting is also done based on the lunar cycle, with the belief that planting close to the full moon leads to better crops.
• It is common to sleep in a hammock. In rural areas it is the way to go.
• Community spirit is an important value in Belize. People help each other.

What are the customs in El Salvador regarding food?

• Although El Salvador's cuisine is often still referred to as "pretty basic," today that is partly obsolete. Many chefs have trained internationally and employ creative cooking techniques around ingredients from around the country.
• Of course, you'll still find traditional corn, beans, plantains and cheese in many dishes.
• You will also find the fried plantain, in many sub-forms, everywhere in El Salvador; certainly on buses, at bus stations and on the streets.

What are the best recipes in El Salvador?

• The "must try" national dish of El Salvador is "pupusas": a type of tortilla/arepa (corn or rice flour dough) filled with cheese and/or beans, seafood, meat and/or vegetables. You often get it served with a coleslaw mix and tomato salsa.
• Tamales, which you find all over Central America-and thus also in El Salvador. Often sold in a roadside stand or around local and regional buses. In El Salvador, tamales are pretty "standard": a cornmeal dough filled with meat, usually chicken or pork. The whole mixture is wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed for several hours, until the filling forms a soft but dense "bread.
• Yuca con chicharron: yuca is literally a "starchy root vegetable" and chicharron is fried pork belly with (tasty) bits of crispy skin. The yuca is boiled or fried, topped with pork and served with the same curtido that accompanies pupusas. It is almost always served at room temperature, which is why it is sometimes called a salad.
• Chorilonza: cross between Spanish chorizo and longiza sausages: the spicy chorilonza snack is found mostly on the "Ruta de Flores" (western part El Salvador).
• Ceviche is also widely eaten in El Salvador: raw fish, mussels, clams or shrimp that are "cooked" with acid, usually lime juice and then mixed with fresh shallots and other ingredients.

What are the best drinks in El Salvador?

• Horchata is a sweet, spiced drink in which jicaro seeds are used as a base in El Salvador. The ground seeds are mixed with cocoa, cinnamon and coriander seeds before being mixed with milk or water, vanilla and sugar. It is often served over ice cream.
• Beer from the artisanal Cadejo brewery (Zona Rosa in San Salvador or at El Tunco on the coast) holds its own internationally.
• Like Guatemala, El Salvador produces very good coffee. The rich, volcanic soil and hilly landscapes are a good base for this coffee. Visit a coffee plantation along the Ruta de las Flores and learn about the entire coffee production process.
• Ponche is a simple mixture of milk flavored with cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg and vanilla. A dash(s) of rum is added; it is a festive drink often encountered in all kinds of celebrations or special occasions.
• Salvadoran rum is inexpensive but often of high quality. The cultivation of sugar cane is important to the Salvadoran economy.
• Popular non-alcoholic drinks include "pinol," roasted ground corn mixed with water, and "tiste," a variation made with cocoa beans and corn.
• You can go anywhere in El Salvador for a fresh liquada or batida; a mix of fruit with water or milk. For health reasons, it is advisable to ask for chilled milk or water from a new, sealed bottle.

What are notable holidays and festivals in El Salvador?

• On January 16, 1992, the Salvadoran government and the FMLN guerrilla signed peace accords in Mexico, ending the brutal armed conflict. Every year on this date they celebrate the "National Day of the Victims of the Armed Conflict."
• As in many other (Catholic) Central American countries, the week around Easter is a real "celebration week" in El Salvador, with many (flower) processions ("alfombra de flores"). Many people are free and visit family or go to the beach.
• Annually on August 31, Las Bolas de Fuego (Balls of Fire) are celebrated in Nejapa, a small municipality just north of San Salvador. Las Bolas de Fuego is both one of the best and craziest festivals in El Salvador. Crowds gather along both sides of the main street and watch as the people of Nejapa hurl flaming (kerosene!) rag balls at each other for a few hours. The more than 100-year-old tradition commemorates the eruption of the volcano El Playón (1658).
• Día de Independencia (Independence Day) is celebrated in El Salvador on September 15. Independence from the Spanish is the focus of this national holiday: parades, fireworks and (lots of) food.
• A young girl's 15th birthday is considered a special date in El Salvador...and is celebrated extensively.

What are the remarkable habits in El Salvador?

• Salvadoran women often pat each other on the right forearm or shoulder, instead of shaking hands. Men shake hands with other men and women, although they mostly wait for the woman to extend her hand.
• Meals shared together with big families included extended family is a part of the culture.

What are the customs in Mexico regarding food?

• Mexican cuisine is very diverse. Originally a combination of Indian and Spanish traditions. Supplemented in the last century by Asian dishes and American fast food. Traditional Mexican food includes: tortillas, tacos, chili peppers, fresh fruit (mango, banana, pineapple, guava and papaya), chocolate, jumiles (beetles) and chapulines (grasshoppers).
• Characteristic are the many kinds of salsas that you eat together with almost anything. The salsas are hardly ever called spicy, just try for yourself.

What are the best recipes in Mexico?

• Picadillo is a dish from Latin American (and Filipino) cuisine. The dish is made from minced meat and sliced tomatoes or tomato sauce. It is often served with rice, tacos, potatoes or even croquettes.
• Guacamole (Literally it means avocado mousse) is a well-known (dip) sauce, originating in southern Mexico. Besides avocado, the ingredients often include tomato, onion and/or garlic, juice of a lime or lemon, chili pepper (especially jalapeño peppers), coriander leaf and various other spices. It is usually eaten with corn chips, but can be added to almost any Mexican dish.
• Quesadillas are to Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine what "toasts" are to Dutch. Literally, the word means "cheese thingy. They are made from corn or flour tortillas and are popular when combined with spicy salsas, chili sauce or with guacamole. The filling contains at least cheese, sometimes also strips of cooked chicken, chorizo, mushroom or ham, for example.
• Try the real Mexican chili con carne; a stew that traditionally consists of chili pepper, garlic, onion, cumin and minced meat. Usually beans (brown beans, kidney beans, black beans or others) and tomatoes are also added. There are all kinds of variations in which other types of meat or different ingredients are chosen.
• A burrito is a Mexican dish that comes from northern Mexico or southwestern United States of America A burrito consists of a tortilla, usually filled with beans and meat (usually minced meat or chicken, sometimes cheese), and rolled up so that the filling is inside the tortilla. The name "burrito" comes from the Spanish burro, which means donkey. So a burrito is a donkey.

What are the best drinks in Mexico?

• Well-known Mexican drinks/brands are Tia Maria, Kahlua, pina colada, Mezcal and the beer brands Corona and Sol.
• Mexican wine is not yet at a level of quality that it can be exported. Currently, there are nine major wine regions. Baja California is the most well-known. True quality wines are very pricey in Mexico.
• Xocoatl - Chocolate: Centuries before the discovery of the Americas in 1492, cacao (the cacao bean) was being grown in Mexico and Central America. Theobroma cacao means "food of the gods" and that is how it has been used ceremonially for centuries by the Incas and Mayans. The cacao bean comes from a small tree that grows in the tropical jungles of Mexico and Central America. The Mexican Indians were the first people to ever make chocolate from the cacao bean, which was also used as currency to buy and sell things with. Instead of coffee, many Mexicans today still drink chocolate milk or use the Mexican cacao for cacao ceremonies. 
• Drink a Tequila, the famous Mexican alcoholic drink made from the Agave tequilana, a particular Mexican species of agave.

What are notable holidays and festivals in Mexico?

• On average, there are four holidays per month in Mexico. Each day on the calendar is actually a holiday in Mexico. Calendar days are dedicated to saints with names. Also called "name days." It's similar to a birthday. If you as a Mexican have the same name as the saint the day is named after, you are congratulated and receive gifts. For example, June 24 is the name day of San Juan.
• In Mexico, they celebrate the "Day of the Dead" (El Dia de los Muertos). Also called All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. This national holiday is on November 1 and 2, and Mexicans celebrate on this day that the dead come back to earth to visit the living. The dead are then the guests of the living on that day. Cemeteries are crowded, picnics are held at gravesites and skulls are used as decorations. Bakers sell the bread of death on this festive day.
• December 12 is the most important feast in Mexico. Mexicans then celebrate the national feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe. This patron saint of Mexico is said to have been beheld as a Marian apparition in 1531 by Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin. Pilgrims in Mexico walk with torches and wear tunic referring to Juan Diego's clothing. Tens of thousands of Mexicans climb the mountain that day to the basilica "Iglesia de Guadalupe" in Mexico City. Throughout the day, Mexico celebrates with music and fireworks.
• Constitution Day is a national holiday in Mexico. Originally, Feb. 5 was the fixed date for this. In 1857 and 1917, Mexican constitutions were adopted on this date. In 2006, it was decided to celebrate it on the first Tuesday of the year.
• On May 5, Mexicans celebrate the day Mexico defeated a French army in the Battle of Puebla.
• The discovery of America by Columbus used to be celebrated grandly in Mexico. However, after 300 years of misery by Europeans, it was decided to celebrate something else on Oct. 12. Today, Mexico celebrates Race Day. This refers to the new race that emerged from Europeans and Indians.

What are the remarkable habits in Mexico?

• Food is important, taking time to share meals together. By preference with the whole family around big tables on sundays with all family included extended family around.
• Politeness, table manners and formalities are normal. It is commont to always greet a person, when you meet. Mexican workplaces tend to be hierarchical, with clear lines of authority. Respect for superiors is crucial.
• Festivities and celebrations are definitely celebrated by Mexicans.
• Sombreros provides shade from the hot Mexican sun, protecting the face and neck. It also holds a significant cultural meaning. The sombrero represents pride in Mexican heritage and traditions. It is also a fashion item.
• Pinatas is more than a fun party decoration. The act of breaking the piñata symbolized triumph over evil or temptation.
• Mariachi is a group of musicians, playing ranchera music. This genre has roots in 18th-century western Mexico.
• Machismo is still very common. The core of the macho culture is of masculinity and dominance by men. Traits like strength, virility, and being the head of the household. 
• Indirect communication is part of the Mexican culture. Don't take "no" at face value, and pay attention to non-verbal cues.