Belated Belize Belogging
I’ve been back from Belize for a bit more than a week now, but the prospect of condensing a country into a blog post proved daunting. Ideally I would have written a series of posts about Belize while actually in Belize, but I was too busy writing a belated blog post about SXSW Interactive. Also, the internet was a kind of slow at first, even though having wifi in the jungle totally rocks my world.
This particular Latin American adventure was in honor of my mother’s 60th Birthday, a happy occasion indeed since it resulted in Jessica and I getting a free trip to Belize. It’d been a solid decade since my parents and I went on a bona fide family vacation. Hopefully we’ll do it again before 2018 rolls around. I really enjoy traveling with my parents, but after so many only-childhood trips, it’s quite nice having a girlfriend along.
We spent the first half of our trip at the Mopan River Resort, a lovely little jungle getaway conveniently located two hours east of the Belize airport on the western bank of the Mopan River (and accessed by boat). The resort was a lot of fun, kind of like a luxury/tropical version of summer camp. Each of the 12 rooms is a private thatched cabin, meals are eaten as a group at two long tables, and each day activities are planned involving caves, rivers, wildlife, and plenty of Mayan ruins. Interestingly, the couple that runs the place took over just this year. As they explained when we arrived, their longtime dream had been to flee the wintery Canadian lifestyle and opening a tropical ecotourism resort. When they saw Mopan for sale on the internet, they decided to go for it, and fortunately it’s going extremely well.
For the second half of our trip we headed south, where we stayed in a beachside condo at Larubeya Resort and Villas. (If you’re geographically inclined, here’s a map, our first hotel was near San Ignacio, the second outside Placencia.) I haven’t been to many Caribbean beaches, but this one more than fits the stereo type. It was very blue and very relaxing. I think my family tends to prefer forests over beaches, but we were happy to get in some snorkeling (apparently we almost saw a shark) and walk around the town (after Mopan, it was nice to be out on our own). I’m told that Belize is also a great place to go scuba diving, but no one in my party was eager to pursue the required training.
The highlight of the whole trip was certainly Tikal, which is actually Guatemala. That’s right, if you only have one day to spend in Belize, spend it in Guatemala (as well as the small border crossing zone between Belize and Guatemala). The great thing about Tikal is that you get to experience Mayan ruins, the layout of a Mayan city, and, since it’s in a rainforest, lots of wildlife. I think the monkey’s were everyone’s favorite, but I didn’t get very good pictures. Instead, I’ve included a picture of the central ruins, followed by one of me holding a giant spider. As you can tell, I’m in mortal danger.
And there you have it, I went to Belize, it was excellent. Maybe you should go too. I wish I had more to say about the actual nation of Belize and its remarkably diverse population, but that would require a different kind of trip. For now I remain an ignorant tourist.
