Belize Blog – Belizeadventure.com

Belize is one of the last unspoiled places on earth. Still undiscovered, often mis-located and usually misspelled… this is a fantastic country, and you DON’T want to miss it.

Tucked into a forgotten corner of the Caribbean, Belize has remained apart from the growth of the rest of the region. Belize offers travelers the richly rewarding authenticity they seek in a Caribbean getaway.

Belize is in Central America, and it harbors the region’s last unspoiled marine and rainforest environments. With direct, inexpensive flights from the U.S. and Canada, this tropical paradise shares borders with Mexico and Guatemala. It’s a breeze for American’s to travel around Belize, because English is the official language, and US dollars are accepted throughout the country.

Belize offers a land rich in natural beauty and steeped in the history and culture of its Maya past.

Renowned for having the second largest barrier reef in the world, Belize’s pristine waters, exotic marine and wildlife, hidden Mayan ruins, and superb adventure sport locations insure that Belize offers some of the most exciting adventure travel opportunities available anywhere. There are enough incredible places to explore to keep you coming back for years to come! Visit our Things to Do in Belize page to see our recommendations.

The first thing you need to remember when visiting Belize is: DON’T WORRY, BE HAPPY!! Traveling in Central America can be wonderful, relaxing, frustrating, exciting, or dilatory. Of course, much of what happens is out of your control, but your reaction to events can make a world of difference. Just remember that everything always works out fine in the end, and if you are like our past guests, your trip to Belize will be the best vacation of your life! Just take a deep breath, slow down, and keep smiling! We have to remind ourselves this all of the time. It’s a different latitude with different attitudes.

Quick Facts

Population: 300,000 (about the size of Corpus Christi, Texas)

Size: 8,866 sq. miles (about the size of New Hampshire)

People: African-European Creoles, Spanish-Indian Mestizos, African-Indian Garinagus, Mayans, and a few Europeans, North Americans, and Asians

The mix of ethnic groups in Belize has created a very diverse society, but culturally it is based on the country’s long history of English rule. As such, the most favorite diet is English based, the language is English, and the government and constitution mirrors a mix of English and US structure. Although the majority of the population is black and retain political control of the government, all the various ethnic groups get along even though they strive to maintain their independent traditions.

Climate: Belize enjoys a subtropical climate, somewhat similar to that of South Florida, with temperatures typically in the 70s to mid-90s. There is a “wet” and a “dry” season, with the dry season lasting approximately from late November through May. Rainstorms can occur during the dry season, but they are usually brief. Hurricanes are a potential threat from July to early November. The worst in recent memory was Hurricane Iris, which struck Placencia in southern Belize in October 2002.

Capital: Although the capital city is Belmopan, the largest city in the country is Belize City, with a population of about 70,000. The capital was moved from Belize City to Belmopan in 1965 as a result of Hurricane Hattie which wiped out much of the northern coast where Belize City is located.

Government: Belize was known as British Honduras until 1973, and they gained their independence from Britain in 1981. They have a parliamentary, two-party democracy.

Time zone: Belize is on Central Time but does not observe Daylight Savings Time.

Health: The water is safe to drink in most areas, and the standard of health care is among the highest in Central America.

Tourism: Despite what you may have heard, Belize remains a little-visited country; the number of international visitors to Belize is about one-half the number that visits Costa Rica. Cancun alone gets four times the annual number of visitors to all of Belize. Only about 35% of Belizean visitors are from the United States and over half of the tourists go to either Ambergris Caye or Caye Caulker. The next most-popular destination is the Cayo District, the area around San Ignacio. Belize has many locations where tourists can really get away from it all.

Geography: Belize is renowned for its diverse geography, all compacted into a relatively small country. Virgin rainforests cover much of the interior mountains, and wildlife is prolific in these protected areas. The Maya Mountains, which cover the southern half of Belize, rise to over 4,000’ from the coastal plain, and provide a dramatic backdrop to the nearby Caribbean Sea. The northern region and coastal plains are covered in a savannah type vegetation, and see rainfall amounts less than half of what the southern mountains get. Most of these areas have been converted to agriculture and are populated, although close to the coast the swampy terrain has been left wild. The best known geographical feature of Belize is the barrier reef and its scattered islands, as well as three atolls found outside the reef. Prolific coral formations support a rich tropical marine ecology, and marine live is abundant. The islands are mostly idyllic, palm covered specks of sand, and many have been developed as tourist destinations. However, the majority of these islands are swampy, mangrove covered refuges for wildlife, such as salt water crocodiles, manatees, and serve as important breeding grounds for many fish species. For a detailed map of Belize which includes most of the islands, visit our web site.

National parks: Belize has been a leader in Central America in creating national parks to preserve its many natural resources. Huge forest reserves cover the Maya Mountain region, and national parks are scattered throughout the accessible jungle areas that contain natural features such as caves, waterfalls, and virgin stands of timber. However, the real jewels of Belize are found along its barrier reef, and many national parks and marine reserves have been established along the reef to protect the underwater resources found there. Belize has become famous for its efforts to protect these natural wonders, and many have been declared UNESCO World Heritage sites.

The economy of Belize is based on agriculture (sugar, aquaculture, fruit plantations), but tourism has been steadily growing as an economic force in expanding the economy. Oil exploration has recently paid off and Belize is now exporting small quantities of oil. However, since Belize is unable to export as much as it needs to import, the imbalance of trade has created financial strains on the government, and as a result it has to levy very high taxes on businesses and imports, which has hurt the population and creates widespread poverty and chronic unemployment. As a result, there is a large emigration rate out of the country.

Transportation: Belize has four major highways, the Northern Highway connecting Belize City with Chetumal on the Mexican Border, the Western Highway connecting Belize City with Belmopan and continuing to the border with Guatemala, the Southern Highway linking the Stann Creek and Toledo Districts and the Hummingbird Highway linking Western Belize with the Stann Creek district. All principal towns and villages are linked by roads to Belmopan and Belize City. Regular bus services operate to and from all main towns.

Two airlines service in-country flights in Belize. Visit our Belize page on our website to find links to their websites. There are daily flights between Belize International Airport, Belize Municipal Airport, Dangriga, Placencia, Big Creek, Punta Gorda, Corozol, Caye Caulker, Caye Chapel, Ambergris Caye, Flores, Guatemala, and Cancun, Mexico. Sample rates: Belize International Airport to Dangriga: one way: $54. For a list of airlines to Belize, visit our Flying to Belize page.

We just decided to give everyone who signs up by August 31, 2011 a 10% discount on one of our Belize all inclusive packages.

We know that it seems early to think about your winter vacation, but before you know it another cold season will be looming! It’s never too early to think about Belize, so if you want to get the best rates on a visit to our private island, it pays to plan now!

Who can resist the simple pleasures of having your own island, waking to the warm breeze of sunrise over the Caribbean, or walking from the beach into 80 degree crystal clear water on your way to another snorkeling adventure?

Adventure Island at Glover’s Reef Full Week, Fri – Sat, 9 nights,$1867.50 US pp ($2075 regular rate)
Adventure Island at Glover’s Reef First Half, Fri – Wed, 5 nights, $1165.50 US pp ($1295 regular rate)
Adventure Island at Glover’s Reef Second Half, Wed – Sat, 5 nights,$1165.50 US pp ($1295 regular rate)
http://www.slickrock.com/adventureisland.html

Belize Adventure Week, Sat – Sat, 8 nights,$2155.50 US pp ($2395 regular rate)
http://www.slickrock.com/belizeadventureweek.html

To see a list of holiday dates that are blocked for discounts {Christmas, New Years, President’s Day, Spring Break}, see our web site: http://www.slickrock.com/belizevacationdeals.html.

Contact us if you have questions: http://www.slickrock.com or 800.390.5715.

In late October of 1998 a hurricane formed off the coast of Panama and started heading north. The storm was named Mitch, and was following a normal course for that time of the year, and was expected to veer to the NW and possibly hit the northern Yucatan and maybe Cuba. However, when it reached a latitude approximately level with Belize and about 400 miles to the east, it suddenly stalled out and started to intensify. A high pressure system to its north had blocked its path, and it slowly started to move to the west, directly at Belize. Since it was moving so slowly and over very warm waters, it grew to a Category 5 hurricane in a few days, with wind gusts of 220 mph. A storm of this magnitude levels all structures, trees, etc, and is accompanied by huge amounts or rainfall. Things were looking very dire for Belize, if a Cat 5 storm ever hit the country it would be destroyed, taking decades to recover.

We at Slickrock were very nervous, of course, because we had just moved to Long Caye at Glovers Reef, and we knew a storm like this would wipe out the island, maybe permanently. We watched the hourly reports as they came in, reporting on the storms progress. Meanwhile the intense winds and the fact that the storm was moving so slowly created huge seas, which moved towards Belize and the surrounding areas. Every guest who had ever stayed with us, and every sister, brother, parent, and cousin we had called. As the days progressed the high pressure continued to push the storm off track, and as it slowly moved towards Belize it also took on a southerly track, which caused it to slam into Honduras before it hit Belize. When it came ashore in Honduras, it leveled some nearby islands, took out uncounted structures on the mainland, and dumped up to four feet of rain in the mountains which caused huge floods. Over 11,000 people were killed.

Meanwhile, the huge waves spawned by this storm devastated to outlying reaches of Belize, including the islands at Glovers Reef and the islands along the Barrier Reef. Several islands were erased, including a small island and house right next to Long Caye. The waves were up to 30’ high, and broke on the reef in front of our island. The outwash flowed right over the island, and although the palm trees survived, we lost 4 buildings, two docks, and some palapas to the water. Around 40’ of the front side of the island was washed away, and about 50’ of new sand and rubble was deposited on the lee side, so things were shifted around and we didn’t actually lose too much land area. However, the entire island was covered with debris that had washed up. We had to build a new kitchen and several cabins, repair docks and palapas, and clear the rubble and other debris off every square foot of the island. The whole process took three months. However, we were lucky we didn’t experience any significant winds, which would have leveled everything.

Such are the risks of inhabiting a small island in the Caribbean. We still have to sweat it out every fall during hurricane season, hoping another mega-storm like Mitch does not form up and take aim at Belize!

Long Caye before Hurricane Mitch

Long Caye after Hurricane Mitch

At our island kitchen in Belize we employ 3 local women to cook for our groups. Belizean cuisine has only a few good recipes (from my point of view)… almost everything is either deep-fried, over-cooked, or made with processed ingredients, like white flour. It has taken me years to teach these wonderful women to cook for American tastes. Our guests tend to prefer whole foods, low in fat, and simply prepared.

Aurora Roches making tortillas and Marcy Noralez making chocolate chip cookies!

One excellent local recipe that we serve many times during the week are freshly-made flour tortillas. This stretchy dough is broken into bits and deeply worked by repeatedly folding it over itself in a one-handed push on the counter. As they are formed, rows of plump balls line up neatly as they continue to rise. Cooked on a hot, dry griddle and served almost immediately, they accompany breakfast burritos, quesadillas, and fish tacos with secret sauce! (For more about Belize food visit our website.)

Knowing what goes into these tortillas, I have always been surprised at how sophisticated Americans fall over themselves to get at these hot and supple bread loaves. Most of our guests would never eat this kind of processed white bread at home. I believe it’s because in our busy lives we simply don’t get to eat breads hot out of the oven very often (or hot off the griddle in this case); these tortillas remind us of a simpler time.

Inspired by this experience of daily fresh bread on the table, I decided to incorporate fresh tortillas into my diet at home, but without the white flour and Crisco. I wanted to use both corn and amaranth flours, and the recipe needed to be easy so I could make them even when I had little time. I discovered the way to accomplish this is to make the recipe for the dough mix fill most of a gallon jar, so I could simply scoop out the right amount for one meal, adding water only. I use a rolling pin on a floured board, as I’ve never mastered the Belizean technique of patting the dough into circles. Cooked on a hot skillet with no oil, these brown cakes puff up a bit, even with no leavening. Sometimes they turn out pliable, sometimes a bit crispy, but they are always excellent, and take so little time.

We still serve the Belizean-style tortillas on the island, they are EXTREMELY popular! Here are both recipes:

Belizean Flour Tortillas

For 6-8 persons
4 cups white flour
1/8 cup shortening (Crisco)
1-1/3 T baking powder
½ t. salt
¾ cup coconut milk or milk

Mix dry ingredients together, add shortening and liquid. Knead lightly until well-kneaded (about 5 min). Form into small balls (somewhat larger than a golf ball). Let sit for 10-15 min then flatten with finger tips onto a smooth counter and press into a circular flat shape, about 3 times the thickness of a kayak paddle. Cook on griddle for about 5 minutes on each side.

Lucy’s Wheat, Corn, and Amaranth Tortilla Mix

5 cups spelt flour (or other wheat flour)
1-1/3 cup amaranth flour
1-1/3 cup corn meal
2 T salt

Mix all ingredients together and store in a glass gallon jar until needed.

For one person, to make 2 tortillas:
Scoop out ¼ cup of the mix. Add about 1 T + 1 t. water. Stir until well mixed, kneading dough until stretchy. Add more of the mix if you accidentally added too much water. Divide into 2 balls and let sit on counter for up to 15 minutes. Flour your counter and roll out into a thin circle, about 6” across. Get a skillet very hot, then put the tortilla in with no oil or butter. Bake there until it begins to look lighter in color on the bottom, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Flip the tortilla and cook more until it puffs up and brown spots appear. Turn back onto the other side to finish baking through, another 30 seconds to 1 minute. Serve as soon as you can.

In Belize you will hear the locals talk about a mysterious vegetable called “cho-cho”. This is what they call chayote squash, a vegetable common in Mexico. On the island we serve Cho-Cho and Zucchini Enchiladas. This recipe is PERFECT, if I may say so myself. It serves 6 – 8, and is very easy to make.

Cho-Cho and Zucchini Enchiladas

2 cho-cho
2 zucchini
1 bell pepper
1 onion
1 package frozen corn
¼ cup cilantro, minced
¾ lb. cheddar or jack cheese
½ cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 lb corn tortillas
2 8-oz cans salsa casera
½ cup tomato paste
2 small (10 oz.) cans canned tomatoes
½ t. white sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Dice cho-cho, zucchini, pepper and onion to make ¼ inch cubes. Heat 1-2 T of the oil in a skillet, add the onion and cho-cho, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until tender and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the pepper and zucchini and cook for 1 more minute, then add corn and cook 1 more minute. Remove from heat and season with a little salt. Let cool a little, then add cilantro and grated cheese. Set this aside.

Cover a baking sheet with two layers of paper towels. Heat the rest of the oil in a small frying pan. When hot enough to sizzle a drop of water, fry the tortillas for only 4 seconds on each side. Don’t let them crisp. Lay them on the toweling. When done, blot them again to absorb any excess oil (add oil to pan if necessary). Set these aside also.

For the sauce for the top mix together the salsa, tomato paste (thinned slightly with water before adding), the canned tomatoes, crushed, and the sugar.

Fill each tortilla with the vegetable and cheese mixture, roll it up, and tightly pack the rolled tortillas in the bottom of an oiled pan, one layer only. Pour the tomato/salsa sauce over the whole thing. Sprinkle a small amount of cheese on top.

Bake for 30 minutes, uncovered.

We have more Belizean recipes elsewhere on our blog:
Belizean Stew Chicken recipe
Key Lime Pie recipe
Shrimp Creole recipe

And for a more comprehensive Belize food list, see our island menu.

I know it seems early to think about Christmas, but every year we disappoint hundreds of people who wait too late to plan their Belize Christmas vacation. Our Christmas trips are super fun, as our private island is a fantastic place to spend this holiday, whether with your family, your friends, or by yourself. The island is always full at this time, so there is a maximum number of guests and staff, and a lot is going on every single day, all day long. If yet another Christmas at home seems a bit dull, travel to Belize for sea kayaking, snorkeling, scuba diving, kitesurfing, windsurfing, kayak surfing, sport fishing, kayak fishing, paddleboarding, and board surfing (not to mention hammock surfing!)

We always serve a Christmas turkey dinner, and other special activities just for this special day. Spend your Christmas in 80 degree weather! Snorkel every day! Learn to surf! You will have your best Christmas ever!

This season our Christmas island trips have the following dates:
12/16 – 12/24, flying home no earlier than Christmas Day
12/23 – 12/31, flying home no earlier than New Year’s Day
Adventure Island at Glover’s Reef Full Week, Fri – Sat (flying out Sunday), 9 nights, $2075 US pp
Package includes 1 night in Belize City before the trip, 1 night in Belize City after the trip, and 7 nights on the island

This kind of holiday can’t be beat; give me a call if you have questions, 800-390-5715.

Slickrock’s first foray into Belize was in 1986, when I was running river trips in nearby Chiapas, Mexico. I had heard that Belize’s barrier reef would be an ideal location to run sea kayaking tours, so I drove over from Palenque with my friend Scott Davis and 5 sea kayaks to explore the reef and figure out a workable itinerary.

Our first adventure was with Belize Customs, where they impounded the kayaks and demanded $2,000 in duty to clear them. After several days of figuring out the system, I was able to bond the boats with the promise that I would take them back home after a couple of months.

I had found a contact through a friend who had a small sailboat we could rent, with captain, and we managed to find him and provision the boat for a week’s sailing down the reef to explore the islands. We dragged 3 kayaks behind the 28’ sailboat, and we planned to camp on the islands as we traveled.

We launched at dusk, and slowly made our way out to the reef. Within a mile, we were suddenly surrounded by two patrol boats, which consisted of the entire Belize navy, who wanted to check us out. But, we were too small to board and they didn’t have any way to come over, so after much shouting they let us go.

We spent the next week going from island to island, sometimes paddling, sometimes sailing. We met a lot of local fishermen on the islands who were able to give us more information on what islands were better than others. We found that most of the island were mangrove swamps and not suitable for camping, but as we reached southern Belize the other islands along the reef were found to be ideal, sand covered with palm trees, surrounded by coral reefs. It was in this area that I decided to set up our itinerary.

(Click on images below to see full image.)

After seeing these islands, we went to the coastal town of Placencia, then just beginning to experience tourism. There I was able to make arrangements to set up a base of operations and store equipment, and we were thus able to start advertising some trips for the next season.

Our initial sea kayak trips started in Placencia, and we paddled from island to island for 6 days (Bugle Caye > Laughing Bird Caye > Queen or Silk Cayes > Pompion Caye > Ranguana Caye), camping on these deserted islands under the palms, and fishing for our dinners. It was idyllic, but a bit rugged as we were at the mercy of the weather and sea conditions, which sometimes were so rough that we had to layover four days at a time on one island or another. And, after five seasons of these trips, the islands we used for camping began to see development or other kayak companies, on some cabins or private habitations were being built. At this point we discovered Glover’s Reef and made arrangements to move out there for our trips. It was an exciting beginning exploring these little-known cayes of the Belize Barrier Reef, but once we rented and later bought our own island, we never looked back!

Kitesurfing on Long Caye

Do you need help with a Belize itinerary? I have just updated our Suggested Belize Itineraries page which details daily activities and approximate out-of-pocket costs for Belize trips from 3 to 16 days in length. Itineraries include visits to our island, birding tours, caving and ruin tours, and combinations of all of these combined to create one long, seamless trip to Belize. Visit our Suggested Belize Itineraries page.

We were thrilled to host our FIRST island wedding last month; Jody Jones and Danielle Torres of Salt Lake City chose our island for their Belize wedding! They chartered the island, and their friends and family flew to Belize from as far away as Australia for the big event. It was a smashing success, everyone proclaimed it the best trip of their lives, and they are already planning the wedding reunion trip back to Long Caye in two years! I talked to some of the staff the other day and they all loved it too. It was a perfect week. Now I regret I didn’t fly back down for it… :-(

I spoke with Jody after she returned home and she told me something about weddings on our island that had never occurred to me… she said that she has been talking to many of her friends who also got married overseas. Other couples said that the most stressful part of a wedding in Italy, for example, was that their friends and family had traveled so far and spent so much $ to join them, that they felt responsible for keeping them entertained for the entire week that they were there. Each breakfast, lunch, and dinner the wedding couple would have to plan where to eat, who was hosting (or not), etc. Jody said “We didn’t have to worry about any of that, you guys took care of everything!” Any trip to our island, wedding charter or not, includes all meals, lodging, and beer, as well as daily activities all day long. The wedding guests went kayaking, snorkeling, surfing, and windsurfing just like the rest of our guests do every week. But Sunday was the big event!

Here are some photos from this gorgeous wedding. (Click on the pictures twice to make them larger.) Thanks Jody and Danielle for sending these pictures to us! Val and I here in the office had such a great time joining the wedding “virtually”!

The Wildlife Conservation Society, owners of nearby Middle Caye and the Glover’s Reef Research Station has just published a new on-line Picture Guide to the Organisms of Glover’s Reef Atoll. They are posted on the Glover’s Reef Marine Reserve web site and can be downloaded free and used by anyone.

These are designed to assist interested individuals in quick recognition of organisms they may encounter on the islands and in the waters of Glover’s Reef Atoll. Guides have been completed for land plants, sea grasses, land crabs, birds, reptiles, marine mammals and stony corals. Under development are guides to octocorals, fishes and other marine species groups.

Also available is a List of Species known to occur at Glover’s Reef Atoll.