Belize
Adventures
Belize
"The Ease of Belize"
The Ease of Belize
“Beleasy Peasy”
There’s something magical about Belize. The Belize Barrier Reef is part of the second largest barrier reef in the world. Belize’s numerous parks, reserves and sanctuaries include extremely diverse ecosystems full of amazing fauna and flora, including jaguars. And to top it off, Belize is full of numerous Maya ruins.
But perhaps what we love most about Belize is the people. Belize is composed of diverse ethnic communities including Creoles, Garifuna, Maya and even Mennonites. And all of these people have one thing in common. They welcome everyone with open arms. Throughout our trip to Belize, we experienced the magic of this embrace and the best of what this small country has to offer.
Biodiversity
Over 60% of Belize’s land surface is covered by lush forest and 37% of Belize’s land is protected.
Belize is also home to a number of amazing parks, reserves and sanctuaries, making it easy to experience this biodiversity. Our first stop in Belize was the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary, one of the best birding destinations in Belize and home to numerous endangered species including Central American river turtles, Mexican black howler monkeys and yellow-headed parrots. We camped on the lawn of an amazingly friendly Creole family in the town of Crooked Tree and spent our days boating and hiking through the forests, lagoons, savannas and swamps of the sanctuary where we spotted cormorants, eagles, egrets, hawks, herons, kingfishers and storks along with crocodiles, iguanas (including beautiful orange Belizean Iguanas) and monkeys.
One of our goals in Belize was to dive the Belize Barrier Reef. The Belize Barrier Reef is part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System which is the second largest coral reef system in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Most people use Ambergris Caye, Belize’s largest island, as a base camp for scuba diving on the northern part of the Belize Barrier Reef. But Placencia is a great alternative for a variety of reasons including the fact that it enables you to experience Garifuna culture and is also on the mainland, providing opportunities for other nearby adventures. But before we could dive together, Leah needed to get certified. So over the course of 4 days she completed a PADI Open Water course, including her open water dives. After that we were able to dive together on the amazing canyon and wall dives on the cayes and reefs off of the coast of Placencia.
The People of Belize
Belize is a diverse country consisting of Creole, Garifuna, Maya and even Mennonite communities.
During our journey through Belize, we had the opportunity to stay in many of these communities. Despite the diversity of these communities, they have one thing in common. They embrace each other, and they embrace outsiders. For us, the result was a positive vibration that we felt throughout our journey through Belize. There are numerous places to experience these communities. However, some of the best include the Garifuna communities in Dangriga, Hopkins and Placencia, the Maya communities in the “deep south” of Belize and the Mennonite communities in San Ignacio.
Beleasy Peasy
We spent our last day in Belize in San Ignacio.
The highlights included an amazing trail run through a Maya ruin in the morning mist and more interactions with the fascinating people, including members of a Mennonite community on the outskirts of town. On the next day, as we saw the border of Belize in our rear view mirror, we felt fortunate to have spent a couple of weeks in such an easy and magical country.
Here are a few of Our Belize Favorite Adventures.
