I am standing alone atop the massive pyramid of Caana. From the nearly 140-foot summit, I feel like a bird soaring above an endless sea of dense jungle canopy. Scattered below me are the remains of Caracol, the most extensive Maya site in Belize. If I were visiting Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Machu Picchu in Peru, or the world-renowned Mayan city of Tikal 47 miles southeast in neighboring Guatemala, I’d be navigating selfie sticks and tour groups. But even on the busiest of days, it’s possible to find solitude in a slice of Caracol’s 30-square-mile complex. And since the pandemic, it’s not uncommon to have the entire archeological site yourself like my guide and I do today with the exception a few howler monkeys hidden in the treetops.
It’s hard to imagine these abandoned stone plazas were once home to a flourishing city with a population of 120,000 in the 6th century AD. And even wilder to think the jungle could swallow up such enormous structures and keep them hidden from the world for hundreds of years. It wasn’t until 1938 that a logger stumbled upon the ruins and excavations didn’t begin until the mid 1980s. Archeologists believe much of the site has yet to be discovered. As my guide and I descend the seemingly endless stairs of Caana, Mayan for Sky Palace, I marvel at the silence and scope of this mystical place. In an age where everything feels discovered, it’s reassuring to know the world still holds plenty of mysteries.
After nearly a year without travel, I was craving the exoticism of Southeast Asia, the wildlife of Africa, the beaches of Australia, the archeological wonders of Petra and the multi-culti cuisine of London. Given the complications of travel during a pandemic, and the fact that I only had one week’s time, I also needed an easy vacation close to home. The destination that checked all of my boxes: Belize.
The second smallest country in Central America and the least populated, Belize offers astounding diversity when it comes to both landscapes and culture. Though English is the official language, you’re likely to catch snippets of Creole Patois or various Mayan languages. A true melting pot, the customs, music, and cuisine found throughout the tiny country are reflective of its medley of ethnicities including Mestizo, Maya, Creole, and Garifuna.
With more than 400 islands, white sandy beaches and the longest unbroken barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere, Belize is well known as a diving paradise. But what I didn’t realize was that its interiors boast the largest concentration of jaguars in the world, more than 574 species of birds and a remarkable network of caves used by the Mayans for religious ceremonies.
Way before actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and billionaires like Bill Gates started buying private cayes off the coast, prolific director Francis Ford Coppola felt the pull of the country’s rainforest-covered interiors. When he first arrived in 1981, Caracol was still shrouded in jungle. The untamed natural beauty of Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve, just northeast of the archeological site in western Belize’s Cayo District, was exactly the remote setting Coppola was seeking for a personal writing retreat.
United Airlines and Southwest Airlines offer nonstop flights from Houston to Belize City. Rooms at Turtle Inn and Blancaneaux Lodge start at $299 a night; thefamilycoppolahideaways.com.
He purchased an abandoned lodge set along Privassion Creek and a decade later, in 1993, decided to take on the role of innkeeper, turning his personal escape into his first hotel. The property was rechristened Blancaneaux Lodge after the French botanist, Michael Blancaneaux, who originally owned the land. Today, the 20-room rustic-luxe hideaway is the perfect base for pandemic-fatigued travelers like me to soak in the healing powers of nature.
Each night, I leave the sliding glass doors of my riverfront thatched roof cabana open just enough so that I can fall asleep and wake to the gentle rumble of the waterfalls just beyond my deck. The lodge offers dozens of excursions to nearby attractions, including Caracol, the sacred caves of Actun Tunichil Muknal, and Rio on Pools, a natural water park featuring mini waterfalls and swimming holes. But you can also get a serious dose of nature right on property, following strenuous trails laced with around 150 orchid species and hikes through tropical pine forests that lead to refreshing swimming areas below the cascades of Big Rock Falls.
With so many options for outdoor pursuits, you’re guaranteed to work up an appetite. Montagna Restaurant pays homage to Coppola’s Italian roots while poolside Guatemaltecqua showcases Guatemalan specialties like salpicon, shredded beef salad.
But the real showstopper is the humble Garden Spot, an al fresco dining area set amidst the property’s organic garden that serves three-course, plant-based feasts paired, of course, with Coppola wines.
Even Coppola eventually fell for Belize’s cerulean-hued coast. After enough guests asked him about the country’s best beach retreat, he purchased a small diving resort on the tip of an exposed 26-mile-long sandy spit of land in Placencia, about 2.5 hour’s drive southeast of Blancaneaux. Soon after, in 2001, the property was destroyed by Hurricane Iris, leaving nothing but a picturesque patch of white-sand beach. Coppola rebuilt the hotel — called Turtle Inn — to epitomize barefoot-beach luxury with 25 Balinese-inspired bungalows steps from the sea.
This dreamy stretch of sand on the Southern Belize coast is just as dazzling as diving mecca Ambergris Caye in the north but has far fewer crowds. A conch shell ingeniously doubles as my land line “shell phone” to call in requests like a Thai massage appointment at Sunset Spa or a reservation at Auntie Luba’s, a low-frills diner serving regional fare like conch fritters and curry chicken.
An on-site dive shop can arrange underwater adventures just offshore from the inn, but I’m more interested in the lesser-known excursions, like an evening outing to Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary and Jaguar Preserve. Turtle Inn’s resident ornithologist, Melvin Arevalo, is my escort to the 128,000-acre protected area around one hour’s drive north of the hotel. More than a dozen trails of various lengths lead lazy river tubing runs and majestic mountain vistas. We opt for the path less taken, a challenging uphill trek that leads to the sapphire-hued pools at the base of Tiger Fern Falls. Along the way, I keep a sharp eye out for the reserve’s resident cats—jaguar, puma, ocelots, margay and jaguarandi. Melvin seems more interested in spotting a scarlet macaw or keel-billed toucan.
At the top of a forested clearing, Melvin surprises me with a white-tablecloth picnic. A just-plucked bouquet of wildflowers and a bottle of Coppola wine elevate the table to a five-star setting. Fresh seafood ceviche and plantain chips are delivered just as the sun starts to set, and a candlelit presentation of homemade chocolate chip cookies follows. Melvin leaves me alone to soak in the surreal juxtaposition of isolated wilderness and white-glove service.
We don headlamps on our slow trek down and while the reserve’s famed cats elude us, Melvin points out less charismatic residents, like a furry tarantula lurking in the shadows of our trail.
My last few days I succumb to the serenade of soft crashing waves just beyond my bungalow. I wake at sunrise to paddleboard on the tranquil waters offshore the hotel and indulge in a midday snooze on a floating dock a short swim from shore. In the afternoon I bike to the funky little town of Placencia to dine at family-run restaurants like Omar’s Creole Grub. My final night, I join a handful of guests aboard the Turtle Inn’s Chris-Craft boat, La Dolce Vita, for a sunset cruise to the new Placencia Yacht Club. As we toast another idyllic day with Belikin beers, I realize my short week was packed with experiences I’d typically travel half-way around the world for. Sometimes the most surprising adventures really are right in our backyard.