Blessed with a tropical climate, abundant wildlife and a varied landscape ofmountains, rainforest and coast, this is a region whose natural appeal is instant andinspiring. Footprint offers one of the few guides on this gorgeous and popular section of Central America.

Richard Arghiris is a freelance writer, journalist, blogger, and long-term traveler. He has been wandering the highways and unpaved back roads of Central America since 2003, contributing to a range of Footprint titles and a host of websites, magazines and newspapers, including The Independent, The Observer, Perceptive Travel and Intercontinental Cry. His blog, www.unseenamericas.com, features news reports, narrative journalism and street photography from the sketchy US-Mexico border to the teeming rainforests of Panama.