Belize is just blossoming into a tourist destination. We find these are the best places, because they're still filled with the true culture and true adventure. Roads are unpaved, relics aren't encased, nothing is overcrowded.
On Christmas day, our first stop is the Mayan temple at Xunantunich, which translates as Stone Lady. We drove our car onto a hand-cranked ferry; in reality, it is more like a floating dock than a modern-day ferry. One car at a time, back and forth. Our first looks at the temple, the steps seem never ending, but the view from the top is worthwhile. Monkeys howl from the surrounding trees - the sound is terrifying. We explore what used to be rooms, buildings, courtyards. Although mostly uncovered, you can see the earth trying to reclaim it. We eat Christmas lunch at the only local restaurant that is open, then hike up the hill to our hotel. Rice and beans. Ham. Fried plantains. Christmas dinner in the hot air on the wooden patio of our hotel boasts a similar menu.
The next day, we set out on a true adventure. We trek through the jungle, our guide chopping fallen branches out of the way; we wade through waist-deep rivers, keeping our balance as we go. We push off a rock and swim into the mouth of a cave, not knowing what is to come.
The reason we're here is to discover an ancient sacrificing site used by the Mayans. The ground is scattered with pots, bones, fragments. We walk on a taped-off path, being careful not to step on anything. A skull lays an arms reach away. It is unreal to be this close to such precious things. The cave is filled with stalagmites, stalactites and the occasional family of sleeping bats. When lit up, the view is incredible. Finally we reach the Crystal Maiden, an ancient skeleton of a teenage girl sacrificed by the Mayans and preserved by the caves. We begin our long journey out of the cave through another path, feeling our way through passages. At one point, the rocks come so close together that you have to get your head over and your body under, you neck being the only point thin enough to pass. I am in awe of how Mayans carried flame lanterns and supplies deep into the heart of the cave.
Caracol, next on our list, boasts the largest Mayan ruins in Belize. We climb temples, staircase after staircase, peer down tombs, imagine the life that used to go on here. Later, we visit the caves and natural pools of Rio On. History can be so complex. Nature can be so calming.
After my constant nagging, we spend a day at the Belize Zoo. No-one regrets giving in to me. The zoo is an orphanage for animals who have been rescued from various situations, and is by far the realest zoo I have ever encountered. All the animals seem natural in their habitats. From vultures to a Jaguar, to my new favorite animal, the Ociole. It looks like a snow-leopard and moves like a Cat, climbing trees at the flutter of a wing. If you stuck your fingers through the wire you could touch the animals, though you wouldn't dare.
Finally we are bound for the beach, where we will bring in the new year. A cabana with a hammock on a private stretch of paradise. An open-air wooden shower.
On new years eve, we drive to a local town where a family with a boat welcomes us into their home for lunch, and take us out on the ocean in their rickety fishing boat to watch for Manatees. This is their livelihood, and it is so far from what we are used to. The experience is humbling. Manatees pop their noses out of the water, teasing us with quick hellos.
My New Year's dinner is a seafood soup, with lobster and crab and fish and shrimp. All incredibly fresh. We bring in the new year dancing in the beach-hut with fellow guests. We walk down to the ocean and feel the breeze before heading to bed. What a way to wash away the old.
We Sea Kayak, splash in the waves and explore the local cuisine before journeying along roads winding through banana and coffee plantations that lead us back home to take on 2012.
