Belize You Inspire Me

“Belize is definitely birding heaven, with over 308 species recorded in the Chaa Creek nature reserve alone,” Mr Choco said. “Even people not generally interested in birding soon become fans just by walking along the miles of trails and spotting the toucans, parrots, falcons and other birds that make their homes here.

Follow Sun Media national online editor Jenny Potter as she explores underground rivers, meets exotic wildlife and tries her hand at sea kayaking in Belize.

This month, she’ll be travelling off the beaten path with Island Expeditions and writing about heradventures along the way.

The Great Blue Hole is a massive underwater sinkhole that gives divers an almost perfect circle to dive in. The deeper you go, the clearer the water becomes, revealing amazing stalactites and limestone.

The motto on Caye Caulker is “go slow.” This motto is reflected in all aspects of life — from the fact that there are no cars at all on the island (transport is either by golf cart, bike, or on foot) to the speed of service in restaurants. Things just move at a more relaxed pace here; there’s no rush, mostly because there’s really no place better to be. This translates to a very chilled-out vibe that is infectious from the minute you step off the ferry boat.

You know when you riding in a car or train, going along at a pretty good clip, and your eyes just can’t quite move and adjust fast enough to fully bring the world outside the window into focus? When the landscape just kind of flickers and blurs past and you feel like you don’t have enough time to concentrate on any one thing?

That’s kind of how I felt when visiting Flores.

Obviously, diving, snorkeling and fishing are big in Belize’s Islands. However, Glover’s Reef Atoll, the southernmost of Belize’s atolls, might just be the prime destination for Caribbean explorers.

Sometimes, one needs a vacation after going on vacation. Belize, in December, was a perfect blend of adventure and relaxation. I felt refreshed when I arrived back in Seattle, but I was a bit sad to have had to leave. It was a wonderful trip—a reunion with Katie, my sister's wedding, and a Christmas holiday. And, although the world did not end on December 21st, 2012, there was a buzz of excitement to be with the Maya people, sharing their legend with them. And at the end of our voyage, the consensus was that we all want to go back.

But Central America is more than what the media leads us to believe. In fact, both countries I visited were so different that it was amazing to me that they existed side-by-side within the same region.