Belize - Panama - or Peru
 

Considering the above for about 9 days. Anyone have any recommendation on which destination they would recommend? Or any others I should look at?

Depends on what you want. IMO, the ruins, rainforests, canyons and condors of Peru make it the top destination in SA with Venezuela in second place. The only problem with Peru, is that with 9 days you really only scratch the surface.

We absolutely loved Belize. We did a combination of jungle and beach that was really nice - did some incredible snorkeling, saw great ruins in Guatemala, saw wildlife, etc. Lots of nice adventure tours as well. Very easy since English is the official language. Our favorite spot is Costa Rica, but Belize was wonderful too.

Of the 3 I have only been to Belize so can't compare, but Belize is so compact that 9 days is doable - split between inland (caving, hiking, waterfalls, villages, Maya sites) and blue water. My photos with blog and travelogue links on the main page of each collection are below in case you're interested - all my recommendations are embedded there. Happy trails! http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

I would choose either Belize or Peru. Have been to both and both are great.. Peru of course has Machu Pichu, Easy to book hotels, transfers etc yourself. Hotels were great staying in the $80 to $150 range. The extra course of airfare to Peru is balanced by the cheaper hotel and tour prices. Food in Peru was good and inexpensive, transportation as well. For nine days I would split between Amazon and Cusco/Machu Pichu or skip the jungle and split Arequipa/Colca Canyon and Cusco/MP which is what we did.

Just judging from your screen name, you may want to know that Peru has a cold ocean. It is a surf destination, but not one for snorkeling and white sands.

However for scenery, hiking, historical ruins, food, shopping, nice people, good value, generally good tourism infrastructure, ease of travel, it's one of my favorite countries.