shabby

We are a family of 4 2A 2C- looking to do belize in 6-10 days..(we did Costa RIca years ago) Any suggestions on the"belizian experince" Ruins-caves-jungles-reefs....Lodges at with a Belizian flavor....Does anyone have a name of a good/resonable travel agent who has travelled to belize?

LanSluder

It's a little tough to give you a quick answer to your question, as there are so many different ways to appproach the "real Belize." I've spent a dozen years doing Belize and have written a half dozen books on the subject (and I've been to Costa Rica a number of times, first about 20 years ago.)

Certainly in six to 10 days you can barely scratch the surface of any country.

However, for an authentic Belize experience I'd mix both popular destinations such as Ambergris Caye and less-visited places like Punta Gorda, Sarteneja and Corozal Town (with days or less you can probably only pick a total of two.) And you can get a feel for the diversity of Belize (somewhat different from Costa Rica in that regard) by seeing areas where different groups live -- like Garifuna in Hopkins, Maya in Toledo, Mestizo in Cayo and Creoles in Belize City or villages nearby.

And it also depends on your budget.

As to travel agents who know Belize, I can recommend at least two:

Katie Valk at Maya Travel in Belize. She's lived in Belize for years and knows the country up and down. Katie posts here from time to time -- you can visit the Maya Travel Web site at www.mayatravelservices.com

Barbara Kasak at Barb's Belize, in Texas. (she has a Web site -- believe it's www.barbsbelize.com). She specializes in Belize and knows the country very well.

--Lan Sluder

shabby

Thanks for the information. I'm getting quite a few e-mails warning me of hurricane season. Should I be concerned?

LanSluder

Hurricane season in the Caribbean is June through early November (same as the U.S. East, Southeast and Gulf coasts.)

However, in Belize and the rest of the western Caribbean, hurricanes are rare until September. September and October are peak months. On average over the last century or so there has been one hurricane or tropical storm making landfall in Belize every four to five years. You're far more likely to be in a traffic accident than in a hurricane.

--Lan Sluder

bulamrpaul

Hi,

My wife and I spent eight days in Belize last May and had a wonderful time. We spent four nights near San Ignacio at the Crystal Paradise Resort (one night we spent in Guatemala at Tikal) and two nights on Caye Caulker. Crystal Paradise is a smaller not extremely fancy, family owned place. It is extremely clean, full of Belizean/Guatemalan culture, and the staff is amazing. The price includes meals (made by Mom/Grandma) eaten in a common dining area. We have extremely fond memories of staying there.

We went horseback riding, went to Carocal (largest Mayan ruin in Belize), went on a cave tour, spent one full day at Tikal... an amazing trip. There were very few American tourists, which we liked. Our day trips (Caracol and cave tours) were organized through Maya Walk and were exceptional.

We planned our whole trip ourselves without the use of a tour operator and had no problems whatsoever.

Our stay on Caye Caulker was fine, but did not have the wonderful memories and adventures that the interior of Belize provided.

I?d be happy to share more info with you if you like.

Here are two websites worth checking out:

http://www.mayawalk.com

http://www.crystalparadise.com.

shabby

Thank you so much....information was very helpful