In January and February I had an awesome five week trip to three Central American countries: Belize, Costa Rica, and Panama. The original plan was three weeks in Costa Rica, and well, as long as I was in the neighborhood, I figured I'd visit a couple of the neighbors
BELIZE
It started with a week in Belize, a little country (population around 405,000; area around 9,000 square miles, similar to Massachusetts or Israel, and one fifth the size of Pennsylvania), just south of Mexico and east of Guatemala. It is relatively poor, with an annual median wage of about $4,800 (USD equivalent) and a GDP per person around $7,000 (2021 World Bank data). By comparison, the US had an annual median wage of about $60K and a GDP per person of around $76.5K; Canada had about $42K median wage and $55K GDP per person in 2021. Belize protects over 37 percent of its land mass as national parks and reserves. (Canada and the USA both protect about 12% of their land masses.) What it lacks in relative wealth, it makes up for in beauty, friendliness, and environmental protection!
Data nerds might like to check out this set of World Bank charts which compares the three countries I visited with many different and interesting Canadian and US indices:
https://data.worldbank.org/?locations=BZ-CA-CR-PA-US).
I stayed at a wonderful B&B in Belize City, the country's largest city, near this harbor
Belize has, as the natives like to say, "unBelizeable" beauty, like this tropical view on Caye Caulker, about 20 miles offshore from Belize City
The main tourist attraction in Belize is the Mezoamerican Reef, the world's second largest coral reef. So, of course, I had to get out there and snorkel among the fish. Lots of fun, especially rubbing up against nurse sharks, who were not shy at all. (Not dangerous either!)
But there's waaay more to Belize than the reef: It has cities, countrysides, mountains, jungles, Pre-Columbian (mostly Mayan) ruins, and caves. One highlight was this outing, in which I paddled through a large cave system
Belize has many Mayan ruins (estimated at over 600), including a large town complex at Lamanai. We got there by riverboat, and saw largely intact pyramids like this one, the High Temple. Built around 100 BC, it was one of four pyramids on this site. The town may have had between 50,000 and 80,000 inhabitants during its peak.
More details and pictures about Belize here:
COSTA RICA
Next was Costa Rica. Costa Rica is located between Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south. At roughly 20,000 square miles, it is twice the size of Belize and is similar in land mass to West Virginia in the US or to the Dominican Republic. It has a population of about 4.5 million people, a GDP per capita of $13,500 per year, and a median annual wage of around $11,000. Over twenty five percent of the country is protected as National Parks or Reserves.
My friend and travel buddy Linda joined me for about a week in San Jose area and a couple of weeks of exploring mainly parks and rivers all around the central part of the country. We met many wonderful guides and fellow travelers, and had amazing adventures along the way. It was all pretty fabulous!
The trip began and ended in San Jose, the wonderfully chaotic but accessible capital city in the middle of Costa Rica. We visited museums, markets, and landmarks in town, did a couple of day trips in the surrounding region, and sampled plenty of fabulous food along the way
The tour of National Parks started in Tortuguero on the northern end of the Caribbean coast. The sea turtle hatching that it is famous for was not in season, but we found plenty of other wildlife, including this tiny one inch long strawberry poison dart frog
In the southeastern end of the country, near the Panamanian border, we saw this sloth on a cliffside hike. It came down from its perch, did its "business" on the ground, and got back up to its perch again, all in about 15 minutes
On our way to the western side of the country, we stopped in to paddle a whitewater section of the beautiful Pacuare River
In the Arenal Volcano National Park near the Pacific coast we had a chance to hike about halfway to the top of this beautiful, symmetrical mountain
In the Monteverde Cloud Forest we ziplined through and above the forest canopy. We also did a couple of hikes to look for wildlife
Then there was this: Parasailing over the small but biodiverse Manuel Antonio National Park along the Pacific coast
We had a second whitewater paddling opportunity, this time to raft down a fun section of the Sarapaqui River
We got some close up shots of wildlife in a rescue center north of San Jose. It's pretty tough to get this close to a toucan any other way
The same thing applied to jaguars, the ultimate jungle cat. Magnificent animals!
More about Costa Rica:
PANAMA
Then there was Panama. This little country (4.5 million people, about the same as Costa Rica, in an area of about 30,000 square miles, roughly the size of South Carolina or Denmark), is proud of its role in the global economy with the Panama Canal (it is the wealthiest of the central American countries with a GDP about $17,500 per person and a median annual wage of about $12,000 USD). It loves its history and its environmental consciousness (30% of Panama's land mass is protected as national parks or reserves). I divided my time between exploring Panama City and the rest of the "canal zone" while I was there
The Miraflores Locks at the southern terminus of the Panama Canal, near Panama City
The Agua Clara Locks at the northern end of the canal, near Colon. The canal connects the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans; it is about 50 miles / 80 km long
The city from the jungle: Panama City skyline from the Metropolitan Natural Park, a big urban park nicknamed "The Lungs of Panama City"
This spectacular "Biomuseo" is a showcase for Panama's natural history and biodiversity
A dugout canoe trip to an indigenous village in the Chagres National Park
The original town site of Panama City was mostly destroyed in the mid 1600's; the town was relocated about 4 miles / 7 kilometers away, and the remaining ruins are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of three UNESCO sites I had an opportunity to visit while I was in Panama
And finally, it was Carnival time in Panama City (and in the whole country, apparently) for most of the time I was there. There was plenty of partying going on in town, and it seems the epicenter of the festivities was pretty much right in front of my AirBnB. Good Times into the Wee Hours!
More about Panama here:
Thank you so much for taking the time to look this over. If you are interested in more details or pictures about the other countries, here are the links to Belize and Costa Rica again.
Belize:
Costa Rica:
Hope you enjoyed!
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