First it was Mexico reporting a big increase in tourism. They said the number of foreign visitors arriving at its airports the first eight months of the year were up 19.2 percent over the terrible 2009.

Central American countries are starting to celebrate as well, with reports that there’s a full recovery going on across the region.

According to the article in the Tico Times, many destinations are up by around 10 percent year over year. Guatemala is up 11.7 percent, Costa Rica up 9.6 percent. Perhaps the biggest momentum is going to Nicaragua though:

So far, the number of tourists visiting Nicaragua in 2010 is up 9.6 percent from last year, and Nicaragua was one of the few countries that had a growth year in 2009, bucking the global trend during a worldwide downturn. Tourism, the main motor of Nicaragua’s economy, also continues to attract new investment, which is up by a robust 11.8 percent this year.

The fact that Survivor is taking place in that country can’t hurt—it’s the equivalent of a weekly huge TV ad campaign, but one that people actually pay attention to.

If you’ve been taking advantage of the bargains out there the past two years, good for you. If not, don’t wait too long or you could be paying substantially more!

Congratulations to Peru’s Mario Vargas Llosa, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature last week. Here’s the sad part though: “He is the first Latin American writer to win the prize since Octavio Paz in 1990.” (No Spanish readers in Sweden perhaps?)

Big news for real estate investors looking at Ecuador: International Living reports that a new road and bridge has cut the drive time from Quito to the coast in half.

Here’s how I’ve been dealing with the health care crisis in the United States: moving to Mexico. A short jaunt will do it though for everything from root canals to operations. That’s why Mexico is expecting more than 50,000 medical tourists this year.

There’s a new 4th edition out of the indispensable guidebook to Nicaragua for travelers in any budget range: Moon Handbook Nicaragua. Joshua Berman, who has reviewed some of our luxury hotels in Nicaragua and Belize, is the co-author and he knows his stuff.

There’s not a lot of luxury travel in El Salvador, but our own Paige Penland has a new guide out for the country – El Salvador: a Great Destination.

Since I’m on a roll with contributor shout-outs here, check out Nicholas Gill’s rundown of Favorite Food Finds from Lima’s Mistura Food Festival.

We’ve had our eye on Pelican Eyes in Nicaragua for a while, but felt like some improvements needed to come into play to make this a true upscale travel lodging option. Also known as Piedras y Olas (Rocks and Waves), this is a San Juan del Sur institution that started out modestly and grew along with the destination.

With an expanding number of villas in the mix as nightly room choices, Pelican Eyes now offers reason enough to stay in San Juan del Sur rather than venturing on to Morgan’s Rock. There are still some obvious rough spots, especially when it comes to service and shuttles, but there are enough other positives to make up for it.

All of the two-floor, two-bedroom casas (houses) and smaller casitas (townhouses) are constructed with the same smooth, whitewashed style as the original hotel. They are airy and expansive, luxuriously outfitted with hand-carved furnishings, locally sewn linens, salto ceramic tiles, skylights, and delightful bedrooms overarched with adobe brick ceilings reminiscent of a Spanish wine cellar. All the units open onto marvelous private patios and porches; the casas have two.

Full gourmet kitchens, with hand-painted tiles, professional cookware, and an assortment of appliances (mixers, blenders, and more) are complimented with tasteful dining areas. Enormous, modern marble and glazed-cement bathrooms have rainforest showerheads and thoughtful amenities.

With two restaurants with a view, pools, and a great panorama of the bay throughout, this is the best place in town to kick back and take it all in.

See our detailed review of Pelican Eyes in San Juan del Sur.

See more luxury hotels in Nicaragua.

After giving it a rest for a little while, we’ve got two new resort reviews going up for Nicaragua. The first is so close to Granada “you can hear the cathedral bells,” says our correspondent Paige Penland.

El Jicaro Island Resort is no city hotel though, that’s for sure. It’s a very ec0-friendly but upscale lodge built on an island in Lake Nicaragua, reached by boat from Granada. Here’s what’s in store after you get there.

There are only nine marvelous, two-story villas on the rugged little isleta, imaginatively designed to blend seamlessly into this mountainscape in miniature. Flagstone trails wend through the rocky forest floor between them, where a fragile ecosystem was carefully conserved during construction and delicately landscaped afterward, using permaculture principles. These exuberant gardens, into which the resort was so perfectly inlaid, interweave native flowers and trees into an optimum environment for all.

In some ways this resort surpasses the best hotels in the nearby city and you can’t beat the location if you’re looking for calming views and solitude. Come here to truly unwind and spend quality time with your romantic partner before diving back into what the city has to offer.

See our full review of El Jicaro Island Ec0-Resort.

See more of the best hotels in Nicaragua.