This rich dish is the perfect choice for a Sunday afternoon meal. It’s tasty and easy to prepare.
Preparation Time: 15 mins. | Cook Time: 30 mins.
Ingredients:
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp Encona Sweet Chilli Sauce
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
4 skinless, Quality Poultry boneless chicken breast halves
Malher Chicken Consome to taste
2 tbsp Kent Boringer olive oil
1 onion (chopped)
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tomato (chopped)
½ can Grace Coconut Milk Liquid
1 bunch chopped fresh basil
Directions:
Clean Chicken and wash with Grace Vinegar. In a medium bowl, mix the cumin, Encona Sweet Chilli Sauce, turmeric, and coriander. In a separate bowl, place the chicken, add Malher Consome, and rub on all sides with the spice mixture. Heat 1 tbsp Kent Boringer Olive Oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place the chicken in the skillet. Cook 10 to 15 minutes on each side, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Remove from heat and set aside in a bowl. Heat the remaining Kent Boringer Olive Oil in the skillet. Cook and stir the onion, ginger and garlic 5 minutes, or until tender. Mix in the tomatoes and continue cooking 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the Grace Coconut Milk Liquid. Add the chicken and basil. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Serve with Grace Coconut Rice.
This meal is the perfect choice for an afternoon meal. Its quick and easy to prepare. Fifteen minutes and you’ve got a meal the entire family will love.
Preparation Time: 5 mins. | Cook Time: 10 mins.
Ingredients:
1 can Grace Luncheon Meat (diced)
1 sachet Grace Coconut Milk Powder
2 tbsp Grace Coconut Oil
1 Sachet Malher Garlic Powder
1 tbsp Malher Consome
1 sachet Malher Black Pepper
1 small Onion (diced)
1 small Sweet Pepper (diced)
1 small Tomato (diced)
3 leaves Culantro (chopped)
Grace Curry Powder
Grace Habanero Pepper Sauce (optional)
Water
Directions:
In a bowl, dissolve Grace Coconut Powder in ½ cup water.
Glaze pot with Grace Coconut Oil, heat on high. Add Onion, Sweet Pepper, Tomato and Culantro, stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Add Grace Luncheon Meat. Stir for 2 minutes. Add Coconut Milk liquid mixture, stir. Add Grace Curry Powder, Malher Black Pepper, Malher Garlic Powder and Malher Consome. Stir occasionally and let cook for 5 minutes.
Serve with Grace Coconut White Rice, Tortillas, Bread or Fried Jacks.
This quick and easy cake is perfect for any occasion. This cake is quick, easy and very tasty. It will quickly become a family favorite.
Preparation Time: 70 mins. | Cook Time: 20 mins.
Ingredients:
For the crust:
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons cold water
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup margarine or fat
For the filling:
2 cups tender coconut, chopped
1-1/2 cups Grace evaporated milk
1-1/2 cups Grace Condensed milk
½ cup Grace coconut milk liquid
2 egg yolks
½ teaspoon of Benjamin’s nutmeg
½ teaspoon nutmeg, grated
1 teaspoon Benjamin’s vanilla essence
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Butter
Directions:
In a bowl mix all dry ingredients with a fork. Add the liquid ingredients and mix together with a fork. Shape into a ball with hands, cover and refrigerate for one hour.
In a blender place chopped coconut and 1 cup Grace evaporated milk, grinding on high until smooth. In a large saucepan, combine 1/2 cup evaporated milk, Grace coconut milk, Grace condensed milk, beaten egg yolks, Benjamin’s nutmeg essence, Benjamin’s vanilla extract and coconut mixture. Mix. Cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring constantly to form the mixture into a custard texture. Pour the mixture into a round pan and line with dough. Mix in a cup, brown sugar and grated nutmeg. Drizzle over cake.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until filling is firm.
I saw my first whale shark off Isla Holbox, Mexico, near Cancun, where the Caribbean Sea meets the Gulf of Mexico. Allotted two minutes in the water, I kicked alongside a wide, bus-sized figure covered in rows of white spots, which the locals calldominos.
Massive summer plankton blooms attract the tiny-toothed, filter-feeding sharks here, where the Mexican government created a sanctuary that allows only licensed guides to bring the tourist hordes. I’m intrigued by the mystery of these animals — no one really knows where they go before or after their summer stint in Cancun — and spending even a short time in the wide-open ocean next to something so massive left a huge impression. I decided to travel to Belize to learn more.
First, I make the quick hop from Belize City to San Pedro, on Ambergris Caye, and book a dive trip to Lighthouse Reef and the Blue Hole, a well-known spot that brings many tourists to Belize. A round, near-black circle of water a couple of football fields across, like some giant eye in the sea, Blue Hole is actually a collapsed cave. Its main attraction, ancient stalactites, lie more than 100 feet deep, so it’s a short dive with a long safety stop, but often, divers see more well-known species of sharks, such as reef and nurse sharks.
On our other dives, Half Moon Wall and the Aquarium, we also see sharks, as well as rays and a plethora of wildly colored fish, coral and sponges. Very nice, but I’m ready for the main attraction, the whale sharks.
Unlike, say, dolphins and sea turtles, charismatic species that have spawned many tourist operations, whale sharks don’t come to shore or follow your boat. You have to go where they are. So I caught a Tropic Air flight from San Pedro back to Belize City and another southward to Placencia. On the hour, a line of fifteen-seat puddle jumpers take off one after the other, like an airborne invasion bearing tourist bombs. No flight attendants, beverage service, seatbelt sign or overhead bins. We didn’t have to take off our shoes and belts, or put our liquids in a little baggie. My backpack and mesh gear bag rest at my feet. The noisy craft cruises at a few thousand feet, Belize’s lagoons, rivers, jungle, and farms clearly visible just below. Now this is flying.
For a crash course on my spotted quarry, I snagged an interview with Rachel Graham, PhD, director of the sharks and rays program at New-York based Wildlife Conservation Society. Graham began studying whale sharks in this Central American country in 1998. She believes the best hope for the fish, listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, may be well-managed tourism and the effect a whale shark encounter like my earlier one can have on people.
As she points out, it may not be possible to linger ten feet from, say, a full-grown wild elephant and live to tell about it. But, as my own encounter proved, a closeup with a ten-ton, 50-foot whale shark poses little danger. And people who swim with these gentle giants tend to appreciate their value alive and in the ocean — not in a bowl of shark fin soup, which whale sharks are killed for.
The sea laps at either end of the narrow runway in Placencia. As the pilot taxis to a stop in front of the small wooden terminal, two boys on bicycles and a couple of dogs cross the airstrip. Placencia has one paved road — which closes briefly each time a plane lands or takes-off — and the rest of its guest houses, gift shops, restaurants and dive shops line a complex of thin sidewalks. Lobster season opens the week I visit, and the town feels festive.
Over fresh fish and cold beer at Placencia’s Barefoot Bar, I pick Graham’s brain. “Whale sharks are an iconic species that open doorways and help people become acquainted with sharks in general,” she says. “These are animals that evolved over millions of years, perfection in predatory form. They also have an important role in the ocean — healthy, resilient reefs are dominated by sharks. They’re beautiful, magnificent, graceful, and big. The world would be an incredibly poor place without these animals.”
Not everyone can search for whale sharks in Graham’s company, but anyone can book an outing to dive or snorkel where they most often show up. We join other divers aboard an Avadon Divers craft and pound over miles of rolling blue water, past green cayes like a string of stepping stones, each sending out a siren song of white sand and palm trees. Some have a single, brightly colored house and neat dock, but most sit empty and inviting.
Dark clouds line the horizon during the one hour and 15 minute ride to Gladden Spit, where whale sharks gather in the spring to feed on fish spawn, and where Belize created a whale shark reserve.
Rain stipples the sea surface as we stop to pay three rangers in a well-weathered boat the $15 entry fee. The rangers work for Southern Environmental Association Belize, a non-governmental organization that enforces limits on the number of boats and people and the required certification of guides who bring them here. It’s a working model of that all-important, well-managed tourism.
The physical conditions at Gladden apparently put fish in the mood, and some 26 different species spawn here en masse after full moons in the spring. Graham recommends looking for Cubera snapper, whose spawn whale sharks favor.
The dive site lies outside the wave-dampening barrier reef, and what feels like the entire Caribbean fetches up here, huge swells that send the boat rearing into the air to crash back down, with plumes of white spray reaching the top deck.
Geared up, I jump into the water and waste no time descending beneath the wave action. At 80 feet, our bottom limit on this dive, the reef lies another 50 feet or so below us. Beyond, the view drops off into endless blue. On the 50-minute dive, I see a school of swirling fish, a few moon jellies, and a pod of dolphins circling above with audible clicks and squeaks. But no whale sharks.
When they do appear, Graham says, the huge figures seem to materialize out of the blue, sometimes above, sometimes below. She’s even turned around to find one right behind her, a Mack truck of a fish in perpetual first gear, with a flat, wide mouth for a grill. So, I constantly turn as I fly through watery space, eyes peeled for dark shapes and tell-tale spots.
I feel as if the giants lurk just beyond my field of vision. And there they remain, as the dive master signals time to surface. While I’m disappointed, of course, part of me celebrates the fact that these are wild and free animals that still call their own shots.
The next trip to Gladden is two days away, and Graham has work to do, so I dive Glover’s Reef the following day instead. It’s a two-hour trip to this remote atoll, but worth the reward, a still-thriving reef all to ourselves, no other dive boats in sight. We make three dives along the reef, a wall of vibrant corals, sponges and fans at about 50 feet, dropping into more deep blue space. Clouds of fish — the usual tropical suspects: queen angelfish, butterfly fish, blue tangs, damselfish, parrotfish, wrasses, only more of them — as well as goliath groupers, balloonfish, batfish, and barracuda inhabit this vibrant reef. The third dive, I cruise at about 50 feet, remaining submerged nearly an hour.
When it’s time to ascend, I scan the abyss, willing a whale shark to appear. None does.
Not seeing one gives me a reason — a need, even — to return. I mark next April’s full moon on my calendar.
This taco salad has all the flavors, but it’s so much easier to prepare and eat because it’s not served in a shell. It’s a quick and easy summertime meal that the whole family can enjoy.
Preparation Time: 60 mins. | Cook Time: 120 mins.
Ingredients:
1 Can GRACE Corned Beef
1 Tablespoon GRACE Coconut Oil
1 Can GRACE Red Kidney Beans
1 Tablespoon GRACE Fish and Meat Sauce
2 Tablespoon Chili Powder
1/2 Can condensed Tomato Soup or Sauce
8 Cups Shredded Green Lettuce
2 Cups Tortilla Chips
1 Small Sour Cream
1 Large Chopped Tomato
2 oz. sliced green onions
1 Pack shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 Can slice pitted black olives
Directions:
1. In medium skillet over medium-high heat cook GRACE Corned Beef, GRACE Coconut Oil, GRACE Fish and Meat Sauce and chili powder until browned
2. Stirring in separate meat
3. Add drained GRACE Kidney Beans.
4. Add condensed tomato soup/sauce and reduce to low heat and heat through until thicken
5. Arrange chips on a medium-large platter, place shredded lettuce on top.
6. Spoon meat & beans mixture over lettuce.
7. Top with layers of: slice olives, chopped tomatoes, sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese and sliced green onion.
8. Enjoy along with a glass of your favorite YUS drink!
This is an excellent summer starter. These tender, juicy wings are sure to make a hit with family and friends!
Preparation Time: 5 mins. | Cook Time: 35 mins.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 lbs Chicken Wings
2 tbs Malher Consome
Grace Habanero Pepper Sauce(to taste)
1/4 Cup Grace Soy Sauce
6 tbsp Grace Guava Jelly
4 large Garlic Cloves (chopped)
2 tsp Fresh Ginger (chopped)
1/4 Cup Water
Grace White Vinegar
Directions:
Clean Chicken Wings and wash with Grace White Vinegar. In a bowl, season Chicken Wings with Grace Habanero Pepper Sauce, Malher Consome and Malher Garlic Powder. Place Wings in a baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Ina separate bowl, mix Grace Soy Sauce, Grace Guava Jelly, water, Garlic & Ginger. Pour mixture over hot wings. Place Wings back into oven and bake for 5 -10 minutes.
Packed with all the right spices, this bold soup is perfect for a chilly night or as a starter to a three-course meal.
Preparation Time: 15 mins. | Cook Time: 120 mins.
Ingredients:
1 can Grace coconut milk
Mahler shrimp broth
2 tablespoons Mahler seasoning
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon pepper
1 onion, chopped
Dash of Grace Hot Sauce
½ cup chopped sweet chili
1 lb. shrimp
Coriander
Directions:
Clean, shell and wash shrimp. Season with Mahler shrimp broth. Reserve shells for soup. Boil shrimp shells with paprika, black pepper and cilantro. Strain soup and get rid of shells. Fry onion and sweet chili. Add Grace coconut milk, shrimp and Grace hot sauce. Cook on low heat until the shrimp becomes pink.
One of the most picturesque Mayan ruins in Belize, Lamanai features three large pyramids, various restored stelae, and open plazas as well as a small but unique ball court. Also, the ruins of two 16th century Spanish churches are nearby. The site enjoys an isolated location in the jungle on the banks of the New River Lagoon, a river with numerous crocodiles.
Since Lamanai was still occupied by the Maya when the Spanish arrived, it is one of the few sites in Belize to preserve its traditional name. According to the Spanish missionaries “Lamanai” means “submerged crocodile” although doubts have been expressed recently as to the accuracy of this translation. The less poetic “drowned insect” has been put forward as an alternative. Still, the large numbers of crocodile representations found in carvings and inscriptions suggest that, whatever the true meaning, the animal certainly had a very important role in the local mythology.
The High Temple, Lamanai, Belize. Photo credit: perny1
Lamanai has one of the longest histories of all the Mayan sites. It was continuously occupied from around 500 BC, for which there is ceramic evidence, until 1675 or perhaps even later. At its peak it may have supported up to 35,000 people.
It was both a ceremonial and a trade center, and many copper objects were found here that came from western and central Mexico and lower Central America. Less is known about what Lamanai exported. It is also uncertain why Lamanai continued as an important center while other Maya sites in the region collapsed during the Postclassic period.
Spanish attempts to convert the Maya to Christianity resulted in the construction of two Roman Catholic churches around 1570 AD. They were met at first with indifference and later with outright hostility. In 1640, the Maya launched a revolt, burning the churches down. The site was abandoned shortly afterwards and the city was gradually swallowed by the jungle.
The High Temple is an enormous pyramid, rising 108 feet (33 m) above the plaza level. It was first built around 100 BC and modified several times but its impressive height was already reached in the initial construction phase. This makes it one of the largest securely dated Maya structures from the Preclassic period.
A short distance to the south of the High Temple is a ball court, the only one in Lamanai, dating to around 900-950 AD. It has a circular stone marker which covers a mysterious chamber where liquid mercury and several pieces of jade were found.
Structure N10-9, another of Lamanai’s massive pyramids, was initially constructed around 500-550 AD. Also informally referred to as the “Jaguar Temple” because of a jaguar mask found here, the structure is twelve feet shorter in exposed height than the High Temple. However a significant amount of this temple is under the ground.
The smallest of the three excavated temples at Lamanai is the Mask Temple, named after a 13 feet (4m) high carved mask. It represent a humanized face with a crocodile headdress and dates to the late 5th to early 6th century.
A scenic 26 mile boat ride from Orange Walk Town up the New River is the easiest way to get to Lamanai. A small museum exhibits local artefacts and provides a historical overview. Tourist facilities and small shops are available.
Conch shells decorate the bow of a kayak during sunset at Ambergris Caye, Belize. (Photo by Bob Berwyn)
COCKROACH CAYE, BELIZE —We’re standing near a makeshift Robinson Crusoe shack on Turneffe Atoll, one of the tiny specks of dry land off the shore of Belize, and since it’s rare to hear a tropical island-dweller praise hurricanes, Leigh and I listen up when Carlos Miller starts to explain how the periodic storms help sustain the mangrove-coral ecosystem of Cockroach Caye.
While chunks of foil-wrapped chicken sizzle on a wood fire, Miller shows us the sweaty, salty leaves of a red mangrove. He explains how the hurricanes flush sand off the reef and into the trees, where the root pillars trap it to build new land, helping both parts of the related ecosystem. Bigger hurricanes can destroy mangrove stands. But over time, the cycle of storms leads to renewal and growth, not just destruction. A succession of mangrove species, fueled in part by the storms, help sustain the delicate balance between the reef and the oceanic mangrove forests, Miller explains.
It’s great to get that global perspective from time to time. That’s what passports are for. With that bigger picture in mind, I wonder if some events we see as natural disasters back home — pine beetles, forest fires drought, floods — are also part of natural cycles that drives ecosystems; but it’s challenging to remove the disaster tag when your life or livelihood is at stake.
Turneffe Atoll remains one of the most pristine and diverse marine preserves in the Caribbean. For now, the mangrove shoals around Cockroach Caye still function as the marine nursery for the Western Hemisphere’s largest coral reef, where Miller guides snorkelers and divers — and he wants to keep it that way.
Today, he’s cooking for six. Leigh and I share the boat with an enthusiastic Austrian family of travelers who are wrapping up a multi week backpack style loop through Central America. At one point, Miller’s friendly face breaks into an affirmative grin as we scoop up the last of the salsa and offer a cleanup day in exchange for a free overnight on the island. At both morning dive stops we see thriving and diverse coral colonies, with no sign of disease or decline.
Family flag
Miller’s family flag is firmly planted on the tiny strip of coral. He inherited the island from his grandfather, along with an aura of paternal wisdom he demonstrates by mentoring local kids as apprentice skippers. He’s a little grumpy first thing in the morning as he eyes his latest batch of tourists, assessing who might get seasick in his boat. But as the passengers starts to show some esprit de corps, he warms up and shares his stories. He’ll soon have more to tell. His wife is just about to return home from England with their first child.
After lunch we explore one more undersea garden, six of us spread out across acres and acres of Caribbean Sea with nobody else in sight. Late-afternoon sunlight shimmers through a school of translucent squid hovering in a fantasyland of purple, green and gold coral patches. Leigh and I float hand-in-hand. The gentle currents rock and drift us gently through the slots and outcrops, in synch with endless schools of fish. Together, we feel part of our beautiful world.
As we head northwest back toward Caye Caulker, a school of bottlenose dolphins plunges through our wake. Even though we’re running late, Miller cuts the engine and urges us to jump in for an impromptu swim. As soon as our ears are underwater, we hear the squealing sea mammals, gently inviting us to dive and spin with them. This is the deep blue sea. Beams of sunlight filter through plankton-rich water, and the dolphins swirl closer around us in a trippy Jacque Cousteau moment before they disappear below. After dark, we trail our fingers through phosphorescent scent streaks of plankton motoring back to Caye Caulker in Miller’s skiff.
San Pedro vibe
We’re well into into a whirlwind spring getaway, base-camped in San Pedro, on Ambergris Caye. It’s the hub of Belizean shore tourism, with a classic palm fringed beachfront strip running a few miles up and down and the shore, where bikes and golf carts rule.
The town is one of the main starting points for exploring the great Mesoamerican Reef, which is second only in size to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Partly for this reason, Leigh had long ago circled Belize on the travel map in her Summit County pad, so it was the perfect destination for her surprise birthday trip.
One evening, we rent a heavy sit-on-top kayak, carrying it three blocks across the narrow spit of land to the lagoon side. You’d think that, in a town that’s only a couple of hundred feet across, people would be accustomed to seeing boats everywhere. But our portage draws curious looks.
We glide out to meet the fiery orange sunset as a few egrets flutter out of the mangrove thickets. Near a headland, we find a conch shell dumping ground where local fishermen abandoned dozens of the empty vessels. I dip shoulder-deep into the still bay and retrieve a few of them. On the bow of the boat, rays from the sinking sun burst across the pink interior of the shells with a tender and inviting light.
The laid-back pace of San Pedro suits our languid mood. We stroll late, eating ice cream and frozen custard first, then scouting seafood joints. The search culminates with a birthday dinner of fresh crab and conch in a sand-floored bungalow, where a trio of local kids does magic tricks and signs us up for a probably nonexistent school raffle.
Reefing
Our first reef excursion is close to San Pedro. Both casual snorkelers and serious divers find it all here. Dozens of outfitters line San Pedro’s piers, all offering treks to popular spots like the Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley. Longer dive trips venture out to the famed Blue Hole.
We sign up for one of the standard tours. The first stop is Hol Chan, a break in the reef where we spot a flotilla of patrolling barracudas and a sea turtle majestically riding the tidal current, along with armadas of neon-colored reef-nibblers, straight out of Finding Nemo.
At Shark Ray Alley, the guides chum the water to draw a school nurse sharks and rays to the boat. It seems a strange practice for a marine reserve, but the guides say fishermen have been cleaning their holds in that spot for generations, long before they started hauling tourist divers to the area.
Traffic at both sites is high during peak season. At times we feel like we’re playing footsies with scuba divers below and rubbing shoulders with passengers from several other boats anchored nearby. But the density and variety of marine life makes it worthwhile. As the swimmers disperse, Leigh and I are wide-eyed at the sight of a neon moray eel. We marvel at how close we can get to a golden curtain of fish, all swaying as one with the tidal current.
The half-day visits to Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley are action-packed and great for kids. But for Leigh and I, the eco-oriented Turneffe Atoll trip with Miller had a more rewarding flavor, well worth the exhilarating two-hour ride across choppy seas.
On our last island day, we ride the water taxi back to Caye Caulker, Miller’s stomping ground. We enjoy the mellow barefoot mood on the sandy main street. A squall moves in, and the beachfront vendors hustle to pack away rainbow-hued sarongs and strings of beads. For our last dinner of the trip we meet Miller at the Happy Lobster, curious to hear more of his take on the touris trade.
Cave relics
Ecotourism stems from the mindset of tourists as much as the number of recycling bins, Miller reminds us. That means when we travel, we must show gratitude and respect for the privilege of sharing other environments, cultures, landscapes and food. This attitude can pay off with access to amazing sights like the Aktun Tunichil cave system, where we visited on the first day of our trip.
Ten centuries before Miller started thinking about the sustainability of his guiding company, Mayan priests used the cave to appeal to a god for a balance between rain and sun. Danny, our guide, explains that, deep in the labyrinth, the Mayans prayed to Chaac, the sustainer.
The keyhole-shaped entrance to the cavern is draped with thick vines. Moss-covered boulders line the banks of the pool where we must swim to get inside the cave. We find our footing on a narrow ledge, one hundred feet past the entrance, and maneuver through a maze of stalactite-draped passages and sparkling caverns.
In the openings, 1,000-year old pots and bones are arranged around small sacrificial areas, including whole vessels, each one with a small piercing in the rim where a Mayan priest some thousand years before made an opening for the spirits believed to reside within.
At first look, the remains appear jumbled. But the ritual use of pottery may have included aligning the pots to mirror heavenly constellations, Danny explains. The caves themselves were part of the ceremonies as a place of emergence, he said.
Most archaeological evidence suggests that, along with symbolic offerings, dire times called for human sacrifice. Priests opened the chests of their victims to tear out a beating heart. The bones we see reflect the intent of the priests. Entire skeletons are covered with a thin layer of sparkly limestone, beautiful but grim. Other sacrificial victims were somehow tied to the cave walls and left to die in a certain body position meant to show intent to the gods, Danny says, as we view the skeletal remains of the Crystal Maiden.
Temples
Mainland Belize also has a rich collection of Mayan ruins. Early morning on our departure day, we hookup with Johnny, a hustling friend of Miller’s who runs a one-man taxi guide service out of the capital. As we speed north on the main highway, Johnny shows us pictures of his daughter on his cell phone while trying to keep the driver-side door closed with his left hand. By the time we’ve heard all the Ford (Fix-Or-Repair-Daily) jokes, we’re parked at Altun Ha, one of Belize’s important Mayan sites along with Caracol and Lamanai.
The ancient jungle cities stand tribute to the Mayan era. Along with human sacrifice, this era produced extensive trade signifying a well-developed economy. Arts, math and astronomy matching the levels of the Arab and Hindu worlds were prominent. Some of the older sites date back to 600 BC, and some were inhabited through 900 AD, spanning the entire range of the Mayans.
Johnny power-walks us through the old fortress and temples, making sure we stay just ahead of the throngs of bus passengers streaming in from the cruise ships anchored in the Belize harbor. It feels a little like a race, but we find a few spots where it’s quiet and we feel how the Mayans used the man-made mountains as look-outs to scour the jungle canopy for campfires or other signs of intrusion.
From the summit of the highest temple, it all seems so clear and orderly; the neat plazas and paths, giant steps leading up to perfectly proportioned plateaus. But it’s also a reminder that every edifice, every civilization is subject to decay and decline. Maybe Mayan civilization collapsed under the weight of civil and political strife as neighboring settlements battled each other for a scarce resource.
On the bumpy road back to the airport, we scarf down the last of the spicy chicken taquitos from the sidewalk vendor in Caye Caulker, our last taste of Belize on this trip. We wash them down with $10 see-you-later drinks at Jet’s Airport Bar in the departure hall before winging back to our snowy mountain home. All is well in the age of jet travel, as long as you have an open mind, a pair of flip-flops, a Bloody Mary in your hand and a smiling travel partner at your side.
Things to know about Belize before you go
Belikin Beer is served in tiny 10 ounce bottles, with very thick glass that help the brew stay cold. But be prepared to tilt the bottle up all the way and suck nothing but air — they go down quick and smooth.You can use U.S. Dollars to buy those Belikins; greenbacks are commonly accepted at a fixed two to one exchange rate. The language is English. As a Commonwealth country Belize currency features historic portraits of the British Queen.
Belize City isn’t touted by the guidebooks, but we stayed for two nights in the downtown Hotel Mopan, using the city as a jumping-off point for the cave tour at Aktun Tunichil Muknal. We enjoyed the scruffy but safe vibe of the port town, right down to quaffing beers alongside local fishermen and hookers at a canal-side red-light bar. Plus, it’s the only place we’ve been solicited for real estate by a sincere-sounding sidewalk salesman: “Pssst, you wanna buy 20 acres near the airport?”
The town is full of tumble-down clapboards, and since we’ve heard that Leo or some other celebrity has recently bought property in Belize, we fantasize about the interior mansions hidden behind the weathered façades. Since most coastal travel in Belize is by boat, the ferry terminal in the city is a central station of sorts, advertising connections via boats, planes and buses to many regional destinations. The well-stocked convenience store in the terminal will have anything you might have forgotten, from bottle-openers and batteries to ice-cold Belikins.
Stay away from Jet’s Bar in the Belize City airpor. It’s cozy enough, but beware. The charming owner will convince you he has the best Bloody Marys for miles around, but he won’t hit you up with the $10 bill until you’re running to your gate.
Caves and snakes: The deadly fer-de-lance lives in the tea-colored tropical Belizean rivers. Crossing the RoaringRiver crossing on our trek to the cave, the guide makes us all stand still while one of the zig-zag-backed serpents slithers out of the water and into a tree.
Aktun Tunichil Muknal is a two-hour drive, then a 45 minute hike from Belize City, in the Maya Mountain backcountry. Several tour companies run trips from the nearby town of San Ignacio, but PacZ tours picked us up at our Hotel in Belize City and offered first-class service and a friendly guide.
For cave tour info and reservations contact [email protected] and check out this blog post on the cave.
The reef is a highlight of any Belize visit. We were thrilled by the low-key, personal and environmentally oriented snorkeling tour to Turneffe Atoll with Carlos Miller, based on Caye Caulker. And Amigos Del Mar Divers in San Pedro offer a full range of trips, including the standard half-day excursions to nearby Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley. Amigos del Mar. Carlos Miller’s Red Mangrove Eco Adventures.
According to the CIA’s world fact book, Belize is slightly smaller than Massachusetts, at about 22,966 square kilometers. Most of the mainland consists of a limestone bench covered with jungle scrub, rising to mountainous terrain on the western border with Guatemala. Mexico’s Yucatan region is to the north, with Honduras to the southeast.
Belize became part of the colony of British Honduras in 1854 and didn’t gain independence until 1981, a move delayed by territorial disputes with Guatemala. According to the CIA, four out of every 10 people has a cell phone.
