Fodor's Expert Review Pook's Hill

When the lamps are lit each night on the polished rosewood veranda, this low-key, remote jungle lodge is one of the most pleasant places in the Cayo. Pook's Hill (you remember your Kipling, don't you?) is located on 300 remote acres in the foothills of the Maya Mountains adjoining the 6,700-acre Tapir Mountain Reserve (open only to researchers) and Actun Tunichil Muknal National Monument. The original stone-and-thatch cabanas are laid out on a grassy clearing around a small, partially excavated Maya site, and newer "bird walk cabanas" are down a series of steps and across a stream. The cabanas have 24-hour electricity from a generator and batteries but not air-conditioning. A host of outdoor revelries are within a stone's throw—you can swim, ride horses, go birding, or boat up the Roaring River to a series of caves. A rare treat, guests can hike from the lodge to Actun Tunichil Muknal with a guide. Pook's Hill groups usually get to the ATM before any others. Dining is family style, so expect story swapping and good cheer with fellow guests over heaping plates of delicious Belizean and international fare from a buffet.