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Travelling in Central America with kids

For every Mayan site to traipse around there’s a rainforest waterfall to jump under. For every long journey there seems to be an awaiting beach. For every itchy scratchy insect bite, there’s an awesome world of wildlife. For every ‘do we have to?’ hike, there’s a zipline back down or a treehouse to sleep in. Travelling in Central America with kids is not only what adventure holidays are all about, this is also a part of the world where children are celebrated and welcomed with open arms.

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Travelling in Central America with kids

Mexico’s tombs and temples are incredible, but it was swimming in the surreal swimming holes, or cenotes, that our children couldn’t get enough of.

These are countries where children are treasured, so cast your net wide when travelling in Central America with kids. Costa Rica has a well-established tourism set up, with English speaking guides to lead you into Monteverde’s cloud forest or to see the turtles of Tortuguero. Older kids will go ballistic white water rafting on the Sarapiquí River. Similarly, Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula is far from yucky, with the likes of Uxmal for ancient culture (Chichen Itza gets really packed) and too cool for school cenotes, or natural swimming pools for pure fun.

Family adventurers- be amazed by the welcome you get off the beaten track in Nicaragua, surfing and seeing turtles one day, climbing volcanoes the next. The whole region has a Caribbean vibe, with what feels like one big party out on the streets, and children are always given centre stage.

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Activities for families in Central America

Feasts & festivals

What family doesn’t love Mexican food? Foodie itineraries are all the rage, with taco trails in Mexico City, market tours in Oaxaca, and yummy Yucatan seafood at every turn. Nicaraguan grub is not as famous, but with a passion for food plus festivals that revolve around it, you never go hungry. Rosquillas, the local doughnuts, are a total treat.

Go feral

Central America is like Bear Grylls, David Attenborough and Blue Peter adventures all rolled into one. See whales, go surfing. Kayak through jungle, sleep in a treehouse. See turtles, go river rafting. Climb volcanoes, meet indigenous tribes. Zipline through rainforest, snorkel along reefs. It’s cool. Until you see the volcano throw out mega sparks. ’Cause that is hot.

Indigenous people

There’s a focus on ancient history here, but the ethnic groups are living history. Meet, for example, the Bribri of Costa Rica’s Talamanca Mountains, Creole-speaking communities of African origin on the Caribbean coast, Guatemalan Mayans and 60 indigenous groups in Mexico, the most prolific being Nahuatl, Yucatec (Maya), Zapotec and Mixtec.

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Travelling in Central America with kids

Daniel Pawlyn from our partner Intrepid is an expert in travelling in Central America with kids: “What an exciting yet safe destination Costa Rica is for active families. The excitement is in the activities (rafting, zip-wiring, hiking, river boat trips, swimming), wildlife (turtles, sloth, snakes, monkeys, tucans) and environment (tropical rainforests, warm seas, mountains etc). The safety is in the high quality infrastructure, Western-style food, service provision.”