Mayans, Monkeys & Marine Life Monkeys Mayans, BELIZE: BELIZE: Mayans, Monkeys & Marine Life It’s a tiny country with a small population, but Belize is packed with an endless array of activities that surprise, delight, entertain and educate visitors of all ages. Thomson’s exhilarating family vacation in Belize showcases the country’s geographical diversity, its cultural wealth, and its amazing ecosystems— from high mountain forests to the longest reef system in the Western hemisphere. From Toledo district of Southern Belize, Highlights: to Belize’s famous Caribbean beaches • Explore ancient Mayan ruins in Placencia… whether you’re traveling • Snorkel in the famed Southern with youngsters or teens, or decide Barrier Reef to introduce the grandkids to a new • See iguanas, crocodiles, manatees and culture, Belize truly does have something howler monkeys tantalizing for everyone. RECOMMENDED AGE : 8+ DIFFICULTY Tammy Mc Daniel Tammy’s Journeys 850.243.3809 ITINERARY Day 1: Arrive Belize City transfer to Toledo Welcome to Belize! Step off the plane and feel the warmth of the Belizean air, almost as warm as the personalities of this little Central American country’s people! Connect with a one-hour flight to Punta Gorda for your drive to the Lodge at Big Falls. Explore the property by foot or river tube and rest up for the family adventure that awaits! Accommodations: Big Falls Lodge, or similar. Meals Included: Dinner Day 2: Toledo Wake up to the invigorating Caribbean sunshine and explore the Mayan archeological site of Lubaantun, built around 700-900 AD. Lubaantun, meaning “place of the fallen stones,” features a myriad of impressive structures with all sorts of original purposes, made of hand-cut limestone blocks with no visible mortar holding them Day 3: Toledo together. The site is known for the mysterious and controversial story of the crystal skull, allegedly discovered in the 1920s by the daughter If you wish, start the morning off with bird walk, led by your expert of a British explorer. naturalist guide. Afterwards, you’ll be driven down to the Warasa Garifuna Drumming School to learn about traditional Garifuna Drive through Mayan villages on the way to Rio Blanco National drumming, and you and your family can try your hand at some basic Park, where you’ll eat lunch and swim in a waterfall pool – there’s rhythms on hide drums made from cedar and stretched deerskin. even a rock cliff you can jump off! Dry off and trek through the jungle trail here, keeping an eye out for small mammals and tropical birds. Head to IxCacao, a family-run organic chocolate making operation, to witness the process of turning raw cacao into delicious chocolate, On the way back to the lodge, you’ll visit the Chiac family for a which you’ll have the chance to taste! demonstration of their traditional craft making skills using palm leaves and other natural fibers. Work off that chocolate with an adventurous zip line ride over the river and rain forest canopy at Big Falls. Then it’s time for your Accommodations: Big Falls Lodge, or similar. children to meet their Belizean pen pals! They’ll enjoy a fun, eye- Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner opening activity with the local kids they’ve been writing letters to since before the trip began. Tonight, join your guide for a night walk, looking out for kinkajou, owls, tarantulas, armadillos, and more. Accommodations: Big Falls Lodge, or similar. Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Day 4: Toledo to Placencia You’ll be transferred down to Placencia today, visiting Monkey River en route to the coast. Enjoy a boat tour of the river, with a local expert pointing out abundant wildlife, like howler monkeys in the surrounding trees and crocodiles basking in the sun. Check into your hotel and then enjoy some time to swim or just relax before dinner. Accommodations: Laru Beya Resort, or similar. Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Tammy Mc Daniel Tammy’s Journeys 850.243.3809 Day 5: Placencia Day 8: Placencia You can take it easy and relax at the hotel this morning, before Today is free for your family to enjoy the amenities of your hotel at heading to Laughing Bird Caye National Park, one of the premiere your leisure. If you’d like (at your own expense), visit a Mayan site, protected areas within the Belize Barrier Reef – a UNESCO World hike in Cockscomb Basin Jaguar Preserve, or sail in the Caribbean Heritage Site. It is located on a beautiful Belizean isle just 11 miles on a catamaran. Your farewell dinner is tonight, where you’ll share a off the coast of Placencia, with coconut palm trees, white sand beach, meal and some stories with you guide and fellow travelers. and clear blue water. Spend several hours snorkeling (or scuba div- ing, at additional expense) in the shallow waters surrounding Laugh- Accommodations: Laru Beya, or similar. ing Bird Caye, where over 250 species of tropical fish swim in its Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner waters, as well as an abundance and variety of coral habitats. Enjoy a BBQ lunch on the caye before heading back to the resort. Days 9: Depart Belize Accommodations: Laru Beya, or similar. Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner All great adventures must one day come to an end. Bid farewell to your new friends and beautiful Belize as you head to the airport for Days 6 & 7: Placencia your early morning departure. Meals Included: Breakfast Snorkel along the outer Southern Barrier Reef. Travel to Silk Caye and South Water Caye, located 20 nautical miles off the coast of Placencia, approximately a one hour boat ride. These marine reserves are abundant with aquatic life, including a wide variety of tropical reef fish and colorful corals, and some of the best snorkeling in the Caribbean. Eagle rays, moray eels, dolphins, turtles, barracudas, lobsters, and more frequent these waters. Enjoy another great lunch on the caye. Then enjoy a free day to relax with your family and enjoy Placencia as you please. Accommodations: Laru Beya, or similar. Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Tammy Mc Daniel Tammy’s Journeys 850.243.3809 Why choose Thomson Family Adventures? Because we know families… we were the first and remain the only company devoted exclusively to family travel. Adult tour companies have imitated us, but we are still – as we were in 1998 – the only one to offer strictly family adventures. We offer meaningful family experiences like horizon-broadening encounters with local children. Our Friends Across Borders, or pen pal program, has proven to be one of the most memorable components of our adventures for all who participate. We invite your children to write ahead to local children whom they will meet on your adventure for a game of soccer or a community service project. Our Guides are all native to the country you are visiting, so you gain real knowledge of local life from the get-go—something a ACCOMMODATIONS non-local, no matter how scholarly, could never match. Lodge at Big Falls The Lodge at Big Falls is situated on the banks of the Rio Grande Our rafikis, in addition to our guide travel with almost all of our river in Belize’s southern Toledo District. The property is located on groups of eight or more. Their job is to engage the kids in fun a meander of the river with almost a mile of river frontage. There are games and activities to help break the ice among families and make views towards the Maya Mountains to the north west while the south sure everyone’s entertained. eastern bank faces the village of Big Falls. However, there are no “big falls” in Big Falls. This is just the name of the village! Grandparents and Family Reunions—nothing can bring a family together like a shared travel experience. No matter the age difference Laru Beya —be it a parent and child, grandparent and grandchild or multiple Laru Beya Resort, whose name means “on the beach” in a local generations—observing how we each see the world is not only re- dialect, is located on the white beaches of the Placencia Peninsula. markable but a sweet reminder that certain things in this world are, The resort is only three miles from the town of Placencia. The hotel and will always be, totally ineffable. features beautiful, air conditioned rooms with private patios. Relax—you’re with Thomson—our expertise in this specialized field is unmatched, and we spend every minute of every day coming up CLIMATE with new ways to make family travel more fun, eye-opening and safe. Belize has two seasons: a dry season and a green season. The dry sea- Accommodations – We’ve personally visited every ship, hotel, and son runs from January to April and the green season runs from May to campsite to be sure they all meet our family travel standards. December. This nomenclature has led to a misconception about what the weather is like in Belize in these two seasons. Many visitors expect that it will not rain at all, anywhere in the country, during the “dry” Meals – We know hungry kids and fussy eaters can make travel months and then pour buckets all day long, for the “rainy” months. difficult, so our meals and buffets are carefully selected. Not true! It can rain in the dry season and be dry in the rainy season, so your best bet is to be prepared for precipitation regardless of the Transportation – It’s all taken care of: airport transfers, ground season. People often ask us how much it will rain each day during the transportation, plenty of snacks on the vehicles, and no overly long rainy season.