Words & Tricks

4 differences between Belize and Costa Rica

While Jonah and I braved the winding mountain roads above Arenal Lake on our way to Monteverde, I couldn’t help but think back to our travels in Belize a year ago. I’m admittedly biased against tropical vacations, and I’m easily distracted. Put those two traits together and I found myself wondering, what the hell was I doing here? Didn’t I see this palm tree last year? I swear, didn’t I hear that same bird in Belize?

To take my mind off the dizzying drop to my left, I listed a few of the differences between the two destinations. Our van dipped and lurched and clambered into the foothills as I counted …

1. Costa Rica’s roads are worse than Belize’s roads
   • I know, hard to believe. Especially considering the astronomical taxes that Costa Ricans pay. In Belize our taxi driver broke down on the way to Mountain Pine Ridge. Yes, that road was bad, but I frankly blame the driver we hired in San Ignacio. His car wasn’t up to it. but he thought he could make some good money. By contrast the cars in Costa Rica seemed to be indestructible (we had a report later from fellow travelers of broken axles and overheated engines, but all our transportation was great), but they had to be to get anywhere off the main arteries.
2. Costa Rican tourists and locals are more talkative
   • I imagine this one may simply be because there are so many more tourists who visit Costa Rica, rather than Belize. It just seemed as though the locals had an opinion about everything: the best places to go, the best way to get there, what we would like, and what wouldn’t be appropriate for us. They shared their stories and asked questions about our lives in Minnesota. Once i learned the term “Bajo de zero!” to describe the weather here, I enjoyed no end of startled expressions and shudders. Even fellow travelers seemed more gregarious, Ever been stuck in a van with a pair of excitable and wide-eyed Canadian women?
3. Costa Rican food, though less saucy, reaches a level of sublime “cuisine” that I didn’t experience in Belize.
   • My mother kept mentioning the lack of sauces, or salsas, with nearly every dish we ordered. Good point. I made a note of it. It did seem like Costa Ricans served their dishes more carefully prepared, with fresh ingredients that enjoyed separate but equal weight on the plate. While savoring a bright green avocado half in the restaurant next to the Serpentaria in El Castillo, I wondered how a country could harbor so many up-scale eateries and so few paved roads.
4. Costa Rica has more distinct climate zones within a less area.
   • This was frankly amazing. Though the trip was about 3 hours by Interbus from San Jose, where we landed, to the mountains around Arenal and Monteverde, the weather changed dramatically from sticky and hot to cool an, well, not exactly dry, but at least more dry. Until the white whispy clouds that cling to the top of the volcano expanded and draped La Fortuna, and El Castillo nearby, in sheets of rain our first night.

I could go on. Costa Rica: No ruins. Belize: No volcanoes. But you get the idea. If you have questions about anything specific in these two countries, please post a comment, or send me an email and ask.

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