The Best of Belize
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1 The Best of Belize Belize proves the cliché that big things come in small packages. This tiny Central American country has the longest continuous barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere; the largest known Classic Mayan city, Caracol; and the highest concentra- tion per square mile of the largest new-world cat, the jaguar. It also has one of the most extensive and easily accessible cave systems for amateur and experienced spelunkers alike, as well as a nearly endless supply of some of the world’s best snorkeling and scuba-diving opportunities. Depending on your personal preferences, you can choose to stay in an intimate and luxurious hotel, an isolated nature lodge in the heart of the Mundo Maya, or a tent on your own desert island. Or you can sample all three. The best part about all these world-class places and experiences is that Belize’s compact size makes it easy to sample a wide range of them in a short period of time. The lists below should help you zero in on a few personal bests of your own. 1 THE BEST PURELY BELIZEAN EXPERIENCES • Betting on a Chicken Drop: A chicken • Staying with a Maya Family: It cer- drop is a sort of poor man’s version of tainly isn’t going to be like a night at the roulette, and much more fun. Numbers Four Seasons, but if you’re looking for a are painted on a grid and bets are real cultural exchange experience, you placed. Then, a chicken is set loose on a should consider actually staying with a wire mesh screen suspended over the traditional Maya family. The Maya Vil- grid. The winner is chosen by the lage Homestay Network (& 722-2470; chicken’s first “drop.” In addition to any [email protected]) can organize this monetary winnings, the “winner” often for you. See “Punta Gorda & the Toledo must clean the grid. You’ll find a chicken District” in chapter 8. drop held every Wednesday night at the • Spending the Night in a Maya Cere- Pier Lounge on Ambergris Caye. See monial City: An intimate and rather “Ambergris Caye” in chapter 7. luxurious nature lodge, Chan Chich • Drinking a Cool Seaweed Shake: Lodge (& 800/343-8009 in the U.S., Made from dried natural seaweed, or 223-4419 in Belize; www.chanchich. blended with both condensed and evap- com) is built right on the site of a minor orated milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, Mayan ceremonial city. The hills just and someCOPYRIGHTED ice, this drink is surprisingly outside MATERIAL your private cabin are unexca- refreshing and tasty. You can get these vated residences and pyramids. Ruins drinks at several beach destinations and basic excavations dot the grounds, around Belize, but Placencia seems to and the surrounding rainforests are rich be the home of the seaweed shake. See in bird and animal life. See p. 213. “Placencia” in chapter 8. 4 THE BEST PURELY BELIZEAN EXPERIENCES1 THE BEST OF BELIZE The BestofBelize SantaSanta ElenaElena ChetumalChetumal 0 20 mi MEXICOM E X I C O THE BEST OF N NATURAL BELIZE CorozalCorozal ChetumalChetumal BayBay 0 20 km The Atolls 10 o TownTown d n SartenejaSarteneja Caves 15 o H The Cayes and Barrier Reef 9 ío R ShipsternShipstern Cockscomb Basin Wildlife LagoonLagoon W1 Sanctuary and Cockscomb COROZALCOROZAL Basin Forest Reserve 18 MEXICOM E X I C O SanSan JoséJosé ShipsternShipstern Crooked Tree SanSan EstevanEstevan NRNR HoneyHoney CampCamp NPNP CorozalCorozal Wildlife Sanctuary 5 BacalarBacalar ChicoChico BayBay MRMR Río Bravo Conservation YoYo CreekCreek OrangeOrange WSWS FreshwaterFreshwater Area 2 WalkWalk TownTown CreekCreek BacalarBacalar ChicoChico NPNP Río On Pools 16 O FRFR Cr AugustAugust ld N lue ee or THE BEST DIVING & B k PinePine RidgeRidge the rn SNORKELING H Ambergris N w SanSan PedroPedro Caye e y Caye Caulker 8 w . AcuasAcuas MaskallMaskall HolHol ChanChan MRMR Gladden Spit 21 SanSan FelipeFelipe N TurbiasTurbias BlueBlue CreekCreek Glover’s Reef Atoll 20 o o 7 r NRNR VillageVillage CrookedCrooked r t Lamanai t h Shark-Ray Alley and TreeTree e Altun Ha 4 r Caye CayeCaye CaulkerCaulker Hol Chan Marine Reserve 7 WSWS n 6 ORANGEORANGE WALKWALK r Caulker MRMR e 5 H Turneffe Island and v 2 RioRio i w 8 R 5 y Lighthouse Reef Atolls 10 3 . W BravoBravo W w w e e N ConservationConservation N A AreaArea BaboonBaboon BurrellBurrell L HillHill BankBank SanctuarySanctuary BoomBoom LadyvilleLadyville A GallonGallon JugJug Turneffe BermudianBermudian BurdonBurdon Atoll M LandingLanding CanalCanal WSWS BelizeBelize CityCity E HattievilleHattieville T 9 r e BELIZEBELIZE A iv Lighthouse TerraTerra NovaNova R Reef Atoll U FRFR NorthernNorthern e . 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Swasey w M H o Bladen n n r k FR e Deep e h y Laughing Bird t River Ri Columbia River FR u ve Monkey Caye FR Caye NP o FR r S Monkey River Payne’s TOLEDO Creek NP San Antonio Big Falls Machaca Creek FR Port Honduras Blue MR Creek Agua Caliente Luha WS Punta Gorda G u l f o f H o n d u r a s Temash- Barranco Sarstoon NP Sarstoon River Livingston Santa Elena Chetumal M E X I C O Corozal Chetumal Bay o Town d n Sarteneja o H ío R Shipstern Lagoon COROZAL M E X I C O San José Shipstern San Estevan NR Honey Camp NP Corozal Bacalar Chico Bay MR Yo Creek Orange WS Freshwater Walk Town Creek Bacalar Chico NP O FR Cr August ld N lue ee or B k Pine Ridge the rn H N w San Pedro e y w . Acuas Maskall Hol Chan MR Turbias Blue Creek San Felipe N o NR Village Crooked r t h Tree e r WS n Caye Caulker ORANGE WALK r MR e H v Rio i w R y . Bravo w e Conservation N A Area Baboon Burrell L Hill Bank Sanctuary Boom Ladyville A Gallon Jug Bermudian Burdon M Landing Canal WS Belize City E Hattieville T r e BELIZE A iv Terra Nova R U FR Northern e . Monkey Bay NP liz y Be w C Lagoon G H o ern as Blue Hole NM West tal H w Spanish y Belmopan . Southern Lagoon Lookout Teakettle Manatee FR Gales Point WS SanSan IgnacioIgnacio BlueBlue HoleHole NPNP GalesGales PointPoint TapirTapir H Xunantunich 15 u 13 MountainMountain m HalfHalf MoonMoon CayeCaye NMNM NRNR m MullinsMullins RiverRiver SanSan AntonioAntonio in 14 gb CAYOCAYO ird GrantsGrants Hw SibunSibun y. WorksWorks FRFR FRFR MiddlesexMiddlesex 16 VacaVaca MountainMountain Dangriga FRFR PinePine RidgeRidge SitteeSittee RiverRiver FRFR FRFR MayflowerMayflower BocawinaBocawina W19 VictoriaVictoria PeakPeak NMNM NPNP HopkinsHopkins VillageVillage Glover’s CaracolCaracol STANNSTANN 20 ARAR ChiquibulChiquibul ChiquibulChiquibul CREEKCREEK Reef Atoll CockscombCockscomb BasinBasin NPNP S Caracol 17 FRFR WSWS N 18 . I W y CARIBBEANC A R I B B E A N 17 w SouthSouth W A H Glover’sGlover’s ReefReef MRMR T rn WaterWater N 18 e th CayeCaye SEAS E A U MayaMaya u O MountainMountain o MRMR M S MangoMango FRFR MayaMaya A CreekCreek Y BeachBeach A FRFR M PlacenciaPlacencia THE BEST BIRD-WATCHING W BladenBladen NRNR y. SwaseySwasey Caracol 17 w M H o BladenBladen 21 Cockscomb Basin n n r DeepDeep k FRFR e e Forest Reserve 18 h y LaughingLaughing BirdBird t RiverRiver Ri ColumbiaColumbia RiverRiver FRFR u ve MonkeyMonkey CayeCaye FRFR CayeCaye NPNP o FRFR r Crooked Tree S MonkeyMonkey RiverRiver Payne’sPayne’s Reef Wildlife Sanctuary 5 TOLEDOTOLEDO CreekCreek NPNP Marine Reserve Half Moon Caye boundary National Monument 11 SanSan AntonioAntonio BigBig FallsFalls Man-O-War Caye 19 MachacaMachaca CreekCreek FRFR PortPort Sapodilla KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS New River Lagoon 3 HondurasHonduras Cayes Shipstern Nature Reserve 1 BlueBlue MRMR AR Archaeological Reserve CreekCreek MR AguaAgua CalienteCaliente LuhaLuha WSWS FR Forest Reserve THE BEST MAYAN RUINS PuntaPunta MR Marine Reserve GordaGorda Altun Ha 6 NP National Park GulfG u l f ooff Caracol 17 NM Natural Monument HondurasH o n d u r a s El Pilar 12 Temash-Temash- BarrancoBarranco NR Nature Reserve Lamanai 4 SarstoonSarstoon Bahia de Amatique PR Private Reserve Tikal 14 rstoon NPNP Sa River WS Wildlife Sanctuary Xunantunich 13 GUATEMALA Livingston THE BEST OF BELIZE OF BEST THE THE BEST PURELY BELIZEAN EXPERIENCES BELIZEAN PURELY BEST THE 1 5 6 2 THE BEST OF NATURAL BELIZE • The Cayes & Barrier Reef: Running well as some 300 species of birds. Inside the entire length of the country’s coast- the park you’ll also find Victoria Peak, line, the Belize Barrier Reef is the sec- the country’s highest mountain. See ond longest continuous barrier reef in “Dangriga” in chapter 8. the world. Here you will find some of • Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary the best snorkeling opportunities and (Northern Belize): This preserve is a scuba-diving sites in the world.