I was fortunate enough to visit the Central American country of Belize in November. It's situated south of Mexico and is the only country in Latin America where English is the official language. This tiny country was colonised by the British and formerly called British Honduras. What is inspiring is the Belizeans really care about nature and ecology.
I met ecologists and professors who spoke of sustainable tourism masterplans and proverbs such as "tourism is like a fire - you can cook a meal on it, or it can burn your house down". Belize actually has one of the lowest population densities in the world. At 186 miles, it also has the second longest coral barrier reef in the world, after the Great Barrier Reef. Most interesting to me was one of the professors quoting Sir Colin Marshall, CEO of British Airways back in 1994 who gave an interesting defintion of tourism: "It is essentially the renting out, for short-term lets, of other people's environments, whether that is a coastline, a city, a mountain range or a forest. These products must be kept fresh and unsullied, not just for the next day, but for every tomorrow."
When I ventured into the rainforest, or flew in a 10-seater 'plane along its pristine coastline, I saw Belize really is wild, green, unsullied and lovely.
Half Moon Caye: Robinson Crusoe, eat your heart out.
I also visited Altun Ha, a breathtakingly beautiful historic site, hidden away in the jungle and home only to howler monkeys and the Smooth Headed Basilisk.
Smooth Headed Basilisk
I also met Eladio Pop, one of the most curious and charming farmers I have ever met, at his remote farm deep in the jungle at San Pedro Columbia, reached by what is now a dusty, old track built over 100 years ago in the British logging days.
Eladio is of Keckchi Mayan origin and has radically different beliefs about life and food. He has fifteen children and plants banana seeds in his fields according to the state of the moon - if a crescent moon is in the sky, he believes the crescent shape resembles a banana, and he will sow his banana seeds at that time and be guaranteed a good harvest. He will only pick the bananas during a full moon. Eladio literally lives off the land - eating only plants and fruits - "My garden, it's God's garden. Look at this banana, its seeds were sown when the crescent moon was out. This banana is willing".
Eladio Pop offers me a banana
He shows me the Jippi Jappa plant, pear trees, coffee, lime, cacao, lemongrass, corn which he makes tortilla with, the pepper tree (the brightly-coloured local bird wildlife eat the peppers according to Eladio to "heat up their hearts"). And as odd as it sounds, he makes his own form of "champagne" from fermenting the cacao seed. You literally can eat and drink your way around his farm.
In just over an hour's drive back to the coast, you can call in at Garbutt's Marine & Fishing Lodge and be taken out by boat into the 322 sq mile Port Honduras Marine Park, with the misty mountains of Guatemala forever beckoning on the horizon.
First stop is the Ranger station. Among the species the Port Honduras Marine Reserve protects are dolphins, parrots, Indian manatees, and countless kinds of fish.
We then proceed to Snake Caye, a remote island with a splash of jungle, crunchy white sand and turquoise shoals. The snorkeling is the best I have experienced anywhere in the world - I see schools of fish undaunted by my presence.
Snake Caye
Isolation guaranteed: Snake Caye
Cyan waters: the view from a disused watch-tower on Snake Caye
And finally, also in the Punta Gorda region is Hickatee Cottages, an isolated, high-end set of cottages run by Kate and Ian Morton, originally from Kent and Berkshire (England). The cottages were only built a few years ago, but have a wonderful, colonial rustic charm. They are incredibly photogenic and a wonderful place to base yourself when touring Southern Belize.
We'll be publishing our feature on Belize in the next issue of Escapism Travel Magazine. To have a read of the current issue right now go here : www.Escapism-Magazine.com/digitalversion.html
