4 Best Sights in Northern Belize, Belize

One of Belize's oldest inland villages, established some 300 years ago, Crooked Tree is at the center of the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary. With a population of about 900, most of Creole origin, the community has a church, a school, and one of the surest signs of a former British territory: a cricket pitch. There are many large cashew trees around the village, the serpentine growth pattern of which gave the village its name. The cashews are highly fragrant when in bloom in January and February, and when the cashew fruits ripen to a golden yellow color in May and June, they taste something like mango and smell like sweet grapes. The cashew nuts require roasting to make them edible. Villagers make and sell cashew wine. A Cashew Festival is held annually in early May.

The sanctuary's visitor center is at the end of the causeway. Stop here to pay your admission and arrange a guided tour of the sanctuary or rent a canoe for a do-it-yourself trip. The sanctuary, one of the country's top bird-watching spots, is managed by the Belize Audubon Society. You can also walk through the village and hike birding trails around the area. If you'd prefer to go by horseback, you pay by the hour. The visitor center has a free village and trail map. If you're staying overnight, your hotel can arrange canoe or bike rentals and set up tours and trips. Although tours can run at any time, the best time is early in the morning, when birds are most active.

Once part of the venerable Belize Estates & Produce Company that owned one-fifth of all the land in Belize, Gallon Jug Estates is now 130,000 private acres that straddle the Orange Walk and Cayo Districts. There's a 3,000-acre working farm that produces coffee, grows cacao and corn, and raises cattle; it's the only truly commercial coffee operation in Belize. Gallon Jug also produces hot sauces and delicious mango and other jams, which sell in Belize and elsewhere. Tours of the coffee plantings and the production facility, along with other farm and jungle tours, can be arranged through Chan Chich Lodge. Jaguar sightings are fairly common around the Chan Chich Lodge, averaging around one a week. You're likely to see toucans, many different hummingbirds, flocks of parrots and ocellated turkeys, as well as deer. Chan Chich, one of the best jungle lodges in Central America, is the only place to stay in the area. It's possible to visit on a day-trip from La Milpa Field Station, Blue Creek Village, or even Lamanai or Orange Walk Town, but you need your own transportation and advance permission to come on the gated, private Gallon Jug lands. Gallon Jug has its own private landing strip.

What makes Lamanai so special is its setting on the west bank of a beautiful 28-mile-long (45-km) lagoon, one of only two waterside Maya sites in Belize (the other is Cerros, near Corozal Town). Nearly 400 species of birds have been spotted in the area and a troop of howler monkeys visits the archaeological site regularly.

For nearly 3,000 years Lamanai's residents carried on a lifestyle that passed from one generation to the next until the Spanish missionaries arrived. You can still see the ruins of the missionaries' church near the village of Indian Church. The same village also has an abandoned 19th-century sugar mill. With its immense drive wheel and steam engine—on which you can still read the name of the manufacturer, Leeds Foundry of New Orleans—swathed in strangler vines and creepers, it's a haunting sight. In all, 50 to 60 Maya structures are spread over this 950-acre archaeological reserve. The most impressive is the largest pre-Classic structure in Belize—a massive, stepped temple built into the hillside overlooking the New River Lagoon. Many structures at Lamanai have been partially excavated. Trees and vines grow from the tops of some temples, and the sides of one pyramid are covered with vegetation. On the grounds you'll find a visitor center with educational displays on the site, and pottery, carvings, and small statues, some dating back 2,500 years. Local villagers from the Indian Church Village Artisans Center set up small stands on the grounds to sell handmade carvings, jewelry, and other crafts, along with T-shirts and snacks. Many visitors enjoy Lamanai not only for the stunning setting on the New River Lagoon, but also for the boat ride up the New River, where you are likely to see many birds, along with howler monkeys, crocodiles, and maybe even manatees.

Lamanai is a popular destination for cruise ship excursions; some days there can be large numbers of day visitors from cruise ships.