Karyn, no, i've only gone to El Salvador, which is actually the only Central American country without a Caribbean shoreline. The Pacific Shoreline is just as beautifull though (being within the tropics) and the water is warm as opposed to the bone chilling currents we get here in coastal Cal from the Arctic Ocean. The place i have in El Salvador is in the mountainous region of the country, right near the border with Honduras, so it is about an hour and a half from the coast, and a bit more humid. It is closer to the cloudforest conditions with native Bromeliads and orchids growing in trunks of old trees and stuff! Really a neat place. There are also Jaguars there, but i still waiting to see one. haha.

"Does the wheatgrass have advantages over a fescue mix?" Several in my opinion. I'm assuming you're referring to turf type tall fescue. First, it doesn't require nearly as much water as fescue. Fescue can use less water than KBG if conditions are right, but it does so by developing deep root systems. If there is a hardpan layer that prevents the roots from growing deep, fescue can require as much as or more water than KBG. If conditions are good for the fescue, it will require about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of water a week. The wheatgrasses will require about an inch a month. It takes them a long time to go dormant, and they can stay dormant for months without any problem. Tall fescue spreads only via tillers (right next to the existing plant) so it won't fill in bare spots. Actually, there are some newer varieties of tall fescue that will spread slowly via rhizomes, but most are bunch grasses. Both of the wheatgrasses I used are rhizomatous and will spread fairly quickly. The wheatgrasses also require much less fertilizer than fescue. In fact, they can suffer if fertilized too much. They also grow much more slowly. Until the rest of the fescue and KBG dies, I'll still need to mow every week or so during growing season, but as the wheatgrass takes over, I'll be able to cut back to once a month (maybe less). There has been a fair amount of interest in crested wheatgrass for lawns, but I don't like it as much as the streambank and western wheatgrass. Most varieties are bunch grasses, but there are some newer ones that are weakly rhizomatous (Ephraim and Roadcrest are two that I can think of). Sheep fescue can stay green with even less water than the wheatgrasses and grows even more slowly. It also has fertilizer requirements on a par with the wheatgrasses. It's a bunch grass, but it will tiller aggressively if it's mowed (but I don't know whether it spreads enough to fill bare spots). Creeping red fescue needs less water than KBG or tall fescue and spreads via rhizomes. It uses a lot more water than the wheatgrasses or sheep fescue. I've got a mix of creeping red and sheep fescue in the back, so by the end of this summer, I'll have a better handle on how the respective grasses do.

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One other factor to consider is the relatively greater cold hardiness of the L. urticoides native versus the L. camera varieties that are usually tagged as annuals in north Texas. I suspect most L. cameras from central Texas north sitting unprotected in exposed locations were done in by the long single digit freeze last February. Our 'Dallas Red' that had survived ~5 years in a very well sheltered spot didn't stand a chance in spite of being well covered, while the L. urticoides out in the open yard with just a coating of snow for protection were all unphased. Doubt the OP plant would have survived in much of Texas this year if it had a strong L. camera ancestry. Still think it bears a strong resemblance to our known L. horrida/urticoides: