usvi-on-line
Belize & Costa Rica ?
Belize & Costa Rica ?
Just how safe are these places to stay without a group of people running around the country?
I can tell you this I will NEVER have a stamp on my passport to Mexico again.
Thanks! ....Giz
I can tell you this I will NEVER have a stamp on my passport to Mexico again.
Thanks! ....GizMy Avatar is my Corona moment......
Costa Rica is safe--least it used to be (it's been a while since i ahve been there)
youmight want to post this question on the lonely planet thorntree forum (or search there--this question comes up a lot i am sure.
www.lonelyplanet.com then click on forum, etc.....
youmight want to post this question on the lonely planet thorntree forum (or search there--this question comes up a lot i am sure.
www.lonelyplanet.com then click on forum, etc.....
< leaving on the 22nd of march...but too lame to figure out the ticker thing again!>
Gizzmo, is this post meant to create fear about places that currently have no serious state department warnings, or are you sincerely asking if these places are dangerous because you want to travel there?
As for Costa Rica, we were there last May. Costa Rica certainly has problems with poverty and theft, but I never once felt unsafe. CR doesn't even have an army, the country is that peaceful, relatively speaking. We rented a car and drove all around, and I never felt unsafe. I think it's unwise to leave your belongings in a car there, but unsafe to anywhere near the level of Mexico? No way. I felt safer in Costa Rica than I do in parts of Atlanta.
I will note that we stayed away from some of the more problematic coastal areas of CR. Jaco in particular is not somewhere I'd visit, simply because they have major problems with the underage sex trade there. There are signs in the airport addressing that prostitution is illegal, etc. We went to San Jose (where I'd get a driver), Arenal Volcano and the Osa Peninsula. The peccaries (wild pigs) were the scariest thing I saw.
As for Belize, I haven't been but I know they've had some problems with rebel groups up near several of the ruins sites, but it's my understanding these are Guatemalan groups. I think Belize is safe, but it's a "use your common sense" type of place. Still nothing like Mexico.
The situation in Mexico is very unusual. There is an out and out war between the cartels and the non-corrupt (less corrupt?) members of the government. It's a power struggle, and I personally won't go to Mexico until the situation is resolved. Geographically speaking, Costa Rica is quite far from Mexico, while Belize shares a border with the Yucatan Peninsula.
As for Costa Rica, we were there last May. Costa Rica certainly has problems with poverty and theft, but I never once felt unsafe. CR doesn't even have an army, the country is that peaceful, relatively speaking. We rented a car and drove all around, and I never felt unsafe. I think it's unwise to leave your belongings in a car there, but unsafe to anywhere near the level of Mexico? No way. I felt safer in Costa Rica than I do in parts of Atlanta.
I will note that we stayed away from some of the more problematic coastal areas of CR. Jaco in particular is not somewhere I'd visit, simply because they have major problems with the underage sex trade there. There are signs in the airport addressing that prostitution is illegal, etc. We went to San Jose (where I'd get a driver), Arenal Volcano and the Osa Peninsula. The peccaries (wild pigs) were the scariest thing I saw.
As for Belize, I haven't been but I know they've had some problems with rebel groups up near several of the ruins sites, but it's my understanding these are Guatemalan groups. I think Belize is safe, but it's a "use your common sense" type of place. Still nothing like Mexico.
The situation in Mexico is very unusual. There is an out and out war between the cartels and the non-corrupt (less corrupt?) members of the government. It's a power struggle, and I personally won't go to Mexico until the situation is resolved. Geographically speaking, Costa Rica is quite far from Mexico, while Belize shares a border with the Yucatan Peninsula.