Belize Blog – Belizeadventure.com

We have many recommendations of what to do in Belize before or after your island trip with us. It might not occur to you to visit a zoo when you’re on a tropical vacation, but if you have extra time while in the country of Belize, a visit to the internationally famous Belize Zoo is well worth the trip. There you can see many native species, including the jaguar, the king of the jungle.

The zoo was started as a home for wild animals that had been used in making documentary films. The zoo’s creators soon realized that Belizeans were unfamiliar with their native animals and they decided to develop a wildlife education center. The zoo exhibits over 125 native animals, all were orphaned, born at the zoo, or rehabilitated pets. The enclosures are large, natural pens.

Many of the animals that are native to Belize are nocturnal, so a visit to the zoo may be the only way to see them. The zoo is located about 30 miles west of Belize City. Busses pass by regularly, and if you are comfortable standing by the side of the road waiting for the next bus on the return (as the locals do), this is the cheapest way to go. You may also take a Belize cab and ask the driver to wait for you (would probably cost $60 or so). or make a day of it and rent a car, visiting both Xunantunich ruins (west of San Ignacio) and the zoo (get an early start). Don’t miss lunch at Cheers, across the highway and down the road a little from the zoo.

And on a side note,  this morning, the zoo posted on their Facebook page that their 2 year-old tapir (the national animal of Belize), Tambo, is going to be the star of a children’s book . Here you see Tambo gracing their xmas card.

One of the most frequently asked questions we get from guests considering or preparing for a trip to Belize is “What about the mosquitoes?” Out on our island we are somewhat isolated from the typical medical risks of the tropics. Everyone should be vaccinated within the past five years for tetanus. You should also talk to your doctor about allergic reactions to marine life, and bring appropriate medications that your physician recommends.

Those who travel inland in the country Belize should consult a doctor about malaria, dengue fever, and hepatitis, and remember that a course of malaria medication needs to be started two weeks prior to departure. There is no threat of malaria, dengue fever, or hepatitis on our island.

We are not able to advise you beyond “ask your doctor” about the threat of malaria in the rainforest in Belize because the region of infected mosquitoes changes monthly.

Although present, cases of malaria in Belize are rare. The prevention drug for malaria in this area is the prescription drug Chloroquine. Most travel clinics and many Internet sites will recommend malaria protection for all parts of Belize, but mosquito control in larger metropolitan areas, such as in Belize central, has eliminated mosquito habitats close to human population settlements. Less dangerous than malaria, dengue fever can also be contracted from infected mosquitoes. There is no medication for dengue fever; it goes away by itself after about four days.

When you go to Belize, please don’t ask us to tell you whether to get protection for malaria, even doctors do not agree; it is a personal choice. Malaria pills are bad for you, but getting malaria is worse. The only true protection against both malaria and dengue fever is to not get bitten by a disease-infested mosquito. The best prevention for bites is to wear a bug repellent that contains at least 30% DEET. Here is one site on the Internet with information on malaria prevention is.

Our Belize vacation packages are all-inclusive; and we regularly put specific trip dates on sale. All of our prices are per person because we are selling a sports package, not just a room in a hotel. Our packages include just about everything except airfare, so when a specific date is discounted 10 or 15%, you will go from about $230/night to $195-205/night, which adds up to over $200 per person for the full package. You can see which Belize vacation deals we are offering at any given time by visiting our website.

If you can’t fit your schedule to our sales calendar, you also might qualify for a group discount. If you are traveling with one other person for example, all you have to do is find two more friends to join you. Our group discounts start at four persons traveling together, go up again at nine, and for larger groups there are even larger discounts. You can view our discount group travel rates on our site.

If you have kids, they also might qualify for a deal. Kids 11 and under receive discounts, see our family vacations page. Kids under 6 receive a larger discount than kids between 7 and 11. Sometimes, for a family of four, you might get a lower rate if you call your kid and “adult” to receive the group discount for all, rather than receiving the kids discount for only one member of your group.

The other piece of the puzzle is your air to Belize. We watch Belize airfares closely and update our Belize flights page weekly. When we see a great deal, we blog about it here, or post it on our Facebook page. So if you subscribe to this blog or “like” our Facebook page, you can stay updated when Belize flights drop in price: http://www.facebook.com/belizeisland.

I always hear about those great deals to Cancun, and I just found one of them. This deal includes air to Cancun and 3 nights at a fancy hotel on the Mayan Riviera for $499 per person. You have to book by this Friday, and travel between Jan 11 and 25.

Visit cheapcaribbean.com to see this deal.

Once in Cancun you can take the Cancun-Belize express bus and join one of our private island all-inclusive packages, including one that is on sale!

Jan 13 – 21
Adventure Island at Glover’s Reef Full Week, Fri – Sat (departing Sunday) 9 nights, $2075 US. Package includes 1 night in Belize City before the trip, 1 night in Belize City after the trip, and 7 nights on the island for sea kayaking, scuba diving, snorkeling, kitesurfing, windsurfing, surf kayaking, board surfing and fishing.

Jan 13 – 18
Adventure Island at Glover’s Reef First Half, Fri – Wed (departing Thursday) 5 nights, $1295 US pp
Package includes 1 night in Belize City before the trip and 4 nights on the island for sea kayaking, scuba diving, snorkeling, kitesurfing, windsurfing, surf kayaking, board surfing and fishing (final night in Belize City is not included).

Jan 17 – 21
Adventure Island at Glover’s Reef Second Half, Tue – Sat (departing Sunday)
5 nights, $1295 US Package includes 1 night in Belize City before the trip, 1 night in Belize City after the trip, and 3 nights on the island for sea kayaking, scuba diving, snorkeling, kitesurfing, windsurfing, surf kayaking, board surfing and fishing.

Jan 14 – 21
Belize Adventure Week Sat – Sat (departing Sunday) 8 nights, $2395 US on sale for 10% off: $2155.50 US. Spend half of the week in the jungle for whitewater kayaking, underground rafting, caving and Mayan ruins, and half of the week on our private island for sea kayaking, scuba diving, snorkeling, kitesurfing, windsurfing, surf kayaking, board surfing, and fishing.

January is a great time to visit Belize as it is a small down season in the middle of the busy season. Lodging options and tours are not full at this time of year.

According to this article on the New York Aquarium website, Belize passed two new laws in 2009 in order to increase protections for their world class coral reefs and the reef fish species that are symbiotically linked to them, such as this queen parrotfish “smiling” for the camera in this underwater photo taken just off shore from our Adventure Island on Long Caye.

“Belize is giving its beleaguered parrotfish, Nassau grouper, and other reef fish a chance to recover from years of overfishing. The national government and minister of agriculture and fisheries signed a sweeping set of new laws to protect the country’s extensive coral reefs, considered to be the most pristine in the Western Hemisphere.

Research by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) helped lay the groundwork for the laws, which set a new standard for coral reef protection in the Caribbean. The first of the new laws will protect parrotfish and other grazers, such as doctor and surgeonfish. These herbivores keep algae growth in check, enabling corals to flourish. In the past, fisherman did not target the grazing fish; rather, they caught mainly snappers and groupers. It was only when these species declined that they turned to the next tier of the food web, and parrotfish began to disappear.

WCS research from Glover’s Reef show that parrotfish are now the most commonly caught fish on this part of the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System. As a consequence, coral cover has declined. Marine researchers expect that the new laws protecting parrotfish and other grazers will help the corals recover.”

There are lots of ways of getting to Belize and we’ve been providing regular updates on many of them on our blog (eg. Cancun to Belize by bus,  Belize car rentals, Belize airlines, and Belize cabs) our Facebook page and especially on our website’s, US to Belize airfares page. But here’s one we hadn’t thought of yet: as recently reported by prolific Belize blogger “tacogirl” on her Facebook page, San Pedro Water Taxi now includes a daily route between San Pedro and Caye Caulker in Belize to Chetumal in Mexico.

So, one adventurous and inexpensive way of getting to Belize would be to fly to Cancun, Mexico on one of the many low cost flights regularly offered to that major airline destination, then to take one of the awesome express buses down to Chetumal on the northern boarder of Belize. (I took that express bus trip once back in 2003 and it was the most luxurious bus trip I’ve ever taken, comparable in some ways to first class seats on an airline!)

The final leg of your trip would be via the new water taxi from Chetumal out to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye.

To anyone who has spent time on our island, this will read as a bit of an understatement, but for those of you who have yet to experience the unique underwater reef environment at Glover’s Atoll, let it be said that it holds many rare and surprising creatures.

For example, according to this 1973 scientific paper in Copiea, the journal of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, 20 individual specimens of an entirely new species of toadfish, Triathalassothia gloverensis, were discovered at Glover’s Reef.

Obviously, adventure sports is the main stay of life on the island, but don’t underestimate the attraction of learning about the many strange and fascinating creatures that live there. After a day of surfing, kiteboarding, and kayaking, there’s plenty of talk around the dinner table about catching big air and the longest ride of the day, but one of the biggest surprises to me during my visit was how excited everyone was to dig into the numerous books available on tropical sea life and learn the “sport” of fish identification.

Of course, when you spend your day staring down someone as handsome as this guy, it’s no wonder everyone gets excited.

Our most popular Belize all inclusive vacation spends 7 nights at our private Belize island (and 2 in Belize City).

We have just put the January 20, 2012 date on sale. The sale price is just over $200 off per person. Visit this page on our website to see all of our Belize deals.

All of our prices are per person because we are selling a package, not just a room in a hotel.

Our packages include hotels on the mainland before and after the Full Week island trip, transport to and from the island, lodging on the island, 3 meals/day, unlimited beer and soda, national park fees and fishing license fees, and complete use of our sports equipment, instruction in all sports, and daily guided activities all day long.

The sports we instruct: sea kayaking, snorkeling, windsurfing, kayak surfing, sport fishing, kayak fishing, stand-up paddling, and board surfing. We also instruct scuba diving and kiteboarding for an additional cost.

Photo by Sean Smithson, from the November 25, 2011 trip.

On the island we provide beer, soda, and other non-alcoholic drinks as part of the all-inclusive package. The beer is Belikin, Belize’s best!

There is no bar on the island, so guests buy what else they want to drink in Belize City before going out on the boat. The duty free liquor store in the arrival area of the Belize Airport is THE place to buy your trip liquor and wine supplies. Arriving tourists are allowed to bring in 4 liters per person through Customs, duty free. Prices are 50% less than US prices, and 60-70% less than Belize prices at Brodies. In addition, the selection is awesome, and you can find a much greater variety of liquor than any other store I have seen in Belize. For example, a large (1 liter) bottle of Myers rum (my favorite) is $11.00 US. In Moab, this same bottle costs $25, and in the rest of Belize it costs $32 US!