I meant to respond to Deborah Wisti-Peterson's query and forgot in my
earlier posting. The subject of this message tells its own story: the
tropics are *hot* and--depending on the season--may be very humid. Camping
is not particularly fun in such a climate, and there are lots of little
beasties, mostly ants that devil you. In the drier parts of the tropics, as
on the west coast of Mexico during the winter, camping is great, especially
where the offshore breeze can reach you. It would probably be OK on the
islands off Belize, too (although I don't remember campgrounds on Ambergris
Cay, there may have been some).

The one thing about *not* camping is that you can stay at one of the many
rain-forest lodges that have sprung up to accommodate ecotourism in many
parts of the world. They are expensive, but you are immersed in wonderful
habitat, they often have bird feeders that attract goodies out of the
forest, etc. There aren't many places were you can camp and get the same
deal, except at Lamington and other parks in Australia, a great continent
for camping (especially if you like flies) as well as seeing birds that'll
make your eyeballs pinwheel. But I may be speaking amiss, as I haven't been
looking for campgrounds on recent tropical trips (thank goodness we usually
have a little more money as we get older), and there may be more than I
think, with facilities that make it a bit easier than when I lived in Costa
Rica and travelled in South America.


Dennis Paulson phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound email: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416