The part of Belize nobody sees: Five reasons not to miss the country’s other side

by Aaron Hotfelder on

The Caribbean coast of Belize is known the world over for its spectacular scuba diving and snorkeling. In addition to the 180-mile barrier reef just off the coast and the famous dive spot known as the Blue Hole, the Belizean coast features the backpacker paradise of Caye Caulker, the more upscale San Pedro, and the laid-back one-horse town of Hopkins in the south.

But there’s more to Belize than scuba diving, snorkeling, and catching rays on the beach. Belize, Central America’s only English-speaking country, also has plenty to offer in its often-overlooked western half, including waterfalls and caves that pepper the highlands, ancient Mayan ruins just begging to be explored, and even a pretty, backpacker-friendly town or two.

Here are five reasons you shouldn’t miss the Cayo District, which makes up most of Belize’s other side:

5. Big Rock Falls Located in the heart of the wonderful Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve, Big Rock Falls (pictured above) is a 150-foot waterfall surrounded by, you guessed it, some pretty big rocks. As nice as the waterfall is to look at, it’s exponentially more fun to climb up to the 35-foot-high perch next to the falls, work up your courage, and take the epic plunge. For the less adventurous, like, um, myself, swim hard against the current to reach the spot where the water comes crashing down on you. It feels like getting punched in the head over and over, but, you know, in a good way.

4. Xunantunich Reached by a ferry crossing about 7 miles west of San Ignacio, Xunantunich (shoo-nahn-too-nich) is the site of Belize’s most impressive Mayan ruins. Though Belize is not usually known for its ruins, Xunantunich stacks up against most other Central American ruins not named Tikal or Copán.

Dating from the as early as the Third Century, these ruins, especially the imposing El Castillo (pictured), are a great place to stop and explore on your way to Guatemala.

3. San Ignacio A town that serves as a jumping-off point for the four other places on this list, San Ignacio is a quiet, backpacker-friendly town that comes alive, just enough, at night. A welcome respite from chaotic Belize City, and a welcome jolt after the tiny, somnolent capital of Belmopan, San Ignacio is home to several affordable hostels and hotels, some imaginative restaurants, and the Mayan ruins of Cahal Pech. If you’re spending time in Western Belize to explore the highlands or on your way to Guatemala, San Ignacio makes a worthwhile stop for a few days or more.

The best way to explore Western Belize, incidentally, is by renting an SUV in San Ignacio. The cost is about $60 per day, and the rental agency is located at… well, just ask around– there’s only one.

2. Rio on Pools Small waterfalls flowing over massive granite rocks create dozens of natural waterslides at Rio on Pools. Located about 20 miles southeast of San Ignacio in the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve, Rio on Pools is a great place to swim, slide, or just take in the natural beauty that surrounds you.

Side note: Swimming at Rio on Pools brought my girlfriend and I a special bonus– our first ever experience with leeches. A little gross, to be sure, but great for bringing you and that special someone closer together– there’s nothing like picking leeches off someone’s butt to create a unique and long-lasting bond.

1. Actun Tunichil Muknal Just because you can’t pronounce it doesn’t mean it’s not worth a visit. The cave system at Actun Tunichil Muknal (mercifully known as the ATM Cave) is reached only after an hour-long nature hike which includes three stream crossings. The hike is worth it, though, for the chance to see what the cave has to offer: ancient burial chambers which display Mayan artifacts and the calcified remains of the dead.

In order to preserve the site, only a few tour operators are allowed to offer tours to the ATM Cave. Though the tour (which is required) is not cheap at around US$75 for a full-day, the ATM Cave is an absolute can’t-miss.

There’s so much more to see and do in Western Belize than what I’ve listed above. If you’ve got a suggestion, question, or idea of your own about what to do in Belize’s lesser-known side, please leave it in the Comments.

Top 7 adventure activities near Arenal, Costa Rica

by Katie Hammel on
For travelers in search of a little adrenaline, the Arenal region of Costa Rica serves up adventure any way you like it.
The area around the Arenal volcano in Costa Rica, about 80 miles north of San Jose in the center of the narrow country, is known as the adventure capital of Costa Rica. With a diverse landscape that features erupting volcanoes, rainforests full of life, and cascading waterfalls, it’s a land perfect for active explorers. Here are the top adventure activities in the area.

Volcano Hikes
Just over 10 miles west of the small tourist town of La Fortuna, Arenal Volcano National Park is home to the big daddy of Costa Rican volcanoes. Those papier mâché volcanoes you made in 4th grade, with their perfectly formed cones, were probably modeled on Arenal. It’s everything you expect a volcano to be – lush and green on the bottom, gently sloping up its black rock sides to a pointed top with a near constant wisp of smoke wafting from its mouth.

Arenal isn’t the only volcano in the area, but it is the most impressive. It’s the youngest and most active. It’s been erupting daily since 1968.

On clear days (which are never guaranteed in the rainy season from May to November) you can see it from miles around and its fiery lava lights up the night sky like a fireworks show. Guides will lead hikes into the rainforest around the base of the volcano, though you can also drive yourself to the observation deck for a day or night viewing.
Rainforests and Wildlife Park Visits
The National Park surrounding Arenal includes a cloud forest and several thousand acres of rainforest filled with greenery, tropical plants, elusive colorful birds and butterflies, chattering monkeys, and dangerous reptiles and amphibians like crocodiles and poisonous tree frogs. You could hike through through these lush jungles with a guide, but there are other ways to see the forest.

The hanging bridges, a collection of walkways elevated above the canopy, provide a bird’s eye view of the forest. The walk is not strenuous (perhaps except for those afraid of heights) and can be done during the day or evening. An aerial SkyTram also elevates passengers to an observation deck in the rainforest canopy. Once there, you can peer out over the jungle or dine with a view of the volcano at the restaurant. To get back down, return on the SkyTram, take a shuttle, or for a quick return to ground level, zoom down the zipline.

For wildlife sightings closer to earth, visit the Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge. The wetlands area, about an hour and a half from Arenal near the border with Nicaragua, resembles the Everglades of Florida with a few more dangerous residents. In addition to turtles, three-toed sloths, iguanas, several kinds of monkeys and thousands of species of birds, you may also see crocodiles and freshwater sharks.

Ziplining
You’ll find no shortage of companies that offer ziplining tours through the jungle canopy. Prices range from $30-$60 per person depending on the number of cables and other extras offered with the package. Canopy Los Cañones operates on the property of Hotel Los Lagos and is a mid-priced option for a zipline experience that includes transportation from your hotel, 15 cables, and unlimited time in the hotel’s hot spring pools post-activity.

Each cable line is different and presents a new challenge. On some, you’ll coast slowly along a nearly flat line from platform to platform as you look for glimpses of toucans and howler monkeys. Other lines are much more steep and fast, making for an exhilarating pass over the blurry green landscape.

Waterfalls
While the rainforest is dotted with hidden waterfalls, you may have a hard time stumbling upon one on your own. Instead head to La Fortuna waterfall. It may be the area’s most famous falls, but it can still be nearly empty of other people, especially in off season. You can hike there on your own by following the signs and paying a small entrance fee, or book a trip with any one of the tour operators offering trips from La Fortuna town.

The trek down from the road to the falls is strenuous, so save your strength by riding there on horseback instead of hiking. Anywhere Costa Rica matches riders to the appropriate horse, and then leads them on an hour-long ride to the falls, where they dismount and head down to the pools to swim before heading back.

Canyoning
If swimming in the runoff of a waterfall and watching it rain down from above isn’t enough, try Canyoning. Pure Trek Canyoning Adventures leads outings that combine hiking and rappelling with waterfalls – basically you rappel down the side of a cliff through the waterfall – in an activity called canyoning.

The PureTrek adventure will have you rappel down one rock wall and four waterfalls over the course of four hours. You’ll also hike through the rainforest to and from the trails, and enjoy a “Tipico” lunch, usually rice and beans with pork or chicken.

White Water Rafting
The Desafio Adventure Company offers a variety of tours, including white-water rafting. They offer full and half-day trips on class 2-3 and 4-5 rapids near Arenal. All gear is supplied, and the river is dam-controlled so the water levels are perfect all year round.

You can also combine a half-day of rafting with other adventure activities, such as kayaking or sport-fishing on Lake Arenal, cave spelunking, mountain biking, or canyoning, or with more relaxing outings like volunteering, bird watching or wildlife refuge visits.


Hot Springs
Arenal is also known for its hot springs and there are several options to chose from, ranging from the pricey, elaborately-landscaped pools at Tabacón Hot Springs Luxury Resort, to the bare bones ones frequented by locals at Los Laureles. A good middle option is Baldi, which has over 20 hot springs of varying temperatures, a restaurant, three bars, water slides, and a spa.

Okay, relaxing in a hot pool isn’t exactly an adventure sport – unless you count dodging creepy couples at the swim-up bar – but after all that activity, you muscles will appreciate the soothing soak.

The Galavanting Girls help the children of Roatan

by Katie Hammel on

Travel writer, founder of The Galavanting Girls, and creator of the Travel Blog Exchange conference, Kim Mance will soon be setting off on a cruise to visit, among other places, the island of Roatan in Honduras. Rather than spend her time in port sunning on the beautiful West Bay or browsing the new shops at the Port of Roatan, Kim and her crew decided to do something a little more constructive with their time.

While their Princess Cruises ship is in port on November 11, Kim and the other Galavanting Girls will head to Elfrida Brooks School in the area’s capital city of Coxen Hole. Honduras is the second-poorest Caribbean nation (behind only Haiti) and the school, which educates 180 children, is desperately in need of funding.

The Galavanting Girls will be spending the day at the school and dropping off supplies they’ve rounded up. They’re also taking online donations, as little as $5 per person, through the Roatan Children’s Fund on the secure First Giving website. The Girls have already raised $550 for the project, more than double the goal. They’ll be videotaping their visit to the school and will post the footage on their website after November 11.

Not-so Dangerous Destinations

by Katie Hammel on

“You’re going where?!” my father asked when I told him of my plans to go to Colombia. The Colombia he knows of, the one from the 1980’s, is filled with cocaine, street violence, and Pablo Escobar’s thugs. The country’s days as a dangerous destination are gone, but its stigma still remains.

Colombia isn’t the only now-safe country still considered by the masses to be too dangerous to visit. Forbes Traveler has put together a list of other destinations that aren’t as dangerous as you might assume.

Along with Colombia, the list includes places many experienced travelers wouldn’t think twice about visiting – Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Laos, Sri Lanka, and Ethiopia are all included – plus a few a little farther off the beaten path, like Haiti and Tajikistan. The list also includes two spots that become a lot more dangerous if you travel there illegally: Cuba and North Korea.

There’s no such thing as a completely safe destination, but still most of these spots have earned their reputations. At one point, they were lands of famine, war, and strife. Now they’ve become safer, though in some (like Haiti and certain parts of Colombia, for example) problems continue and there are still areas you should not venture.

If you plan on visiting one of these “not-so-dangerous places”, do your research and be sure you know what you are getting into. The bad reputation in some of these places can mean lower travel costs and few tourists, but there may still be an element of risk.

The top 9 reasons to drop everything and visit Guatemala right now

by Aaron Hotfelder on

If you thought you could live a regret-free life without visiting Guatemala, think again. This diminutive Central American country, smaller than the state of Louisiana, packs in enough diversity to entertain you for months. And its low, low prices mean you don’t need to visit your neighborhood payday lender to afford to stay a while.

From active volcanoes to immaculate colonial cities to quite possibly the world’s most beautiful lake, Guatemala boasts plenty of reasons for you to bid farewell to your loved ones, return those outstanding library books, and spend a couple months in Central America. Here are the top nine:

9. The people. When a tourism slogan proclaims that “The best part are our people!” I roll my eyes and figure it must be a colorless place with nothing to offer. Not so with Guatemala. Within a period of three days, I had two different people sit down next to me in Xela’s Parque Centroamerica and strike up a lengthy conversation. One of them invited me to hang out with him and his friends that night at a local watering hole. The other only started talking to me because he thought I was gay. But still, that counts!

8. Volcan Pacaya. Bright red lava flows are the big attraction on Volcan Pacaya, located about an hour from Antigua. I’ve already sung the praises of Pacaya on Gadling before, but it bears repeating: You can put your hand literally inches away from a river of glowing molten lava. Great for family-and-friend-impressing.

7. Antigua. Is Antigua overrun with tourists and language students? Yes. Is it one of the more expensive places in Guatemala? It is indeed, although that’s not saying much. Will you earn any Traveler’s Cred Points for visiting this well-trodden locale? You will not. But is it still worth visiting? Damn right it is.

Situated between three volcanos, Antigua’s surroundings are as picturesque as its well-preserved colonial architecture. With cobblestone streets, arches, and a tree-filled central plaza, Antigua is the embodiment of the word “charming.” Don’t miss the Catedral de Santiago on the east side of the town square; its white facade is illuminated beautifully in the evening.

6. Volcan Santiaguito. The guidebooks give Santiaguito only a brief mention, if they discuss it at all, but this might have been my favorite place in all of Guatemala. Also my least favorite. The hike to this highly-active volcano, which erupts about every 45 minutes, is easily the hardest thing I’ve done in my life.

It’s ten hours, uphill, both ways, and when I finally arrived back at my hostel after this nightmarish hike, my leg and arm muscles were spasming uncontrollably and I couldn’t stop shivering. It took me about a week to recover fully.

On the other hand, wow:

Be sure to watch the entire video. Easily one of the top five experiences of my life (which I wrote about elsewhere here).

5. Tikal. Devoting any less than a couple days to the massive Mayan ruins at Tikal would be an injustice of O.J. proportions. Set among lush tropical rainforest, the views surrounding Tikal are just as impressive as the ruins themselves. Don’t miss climbing the ridiculously steep steps of Temple I and Temple V (pictured right).

Spend the night at the nearby Jaguar Inn to explore the ruins just after dawn, a time when the howler monkeys outnumber the tourists many times over.

4. Quetzaltenango (“Xela”). Sure, its Beauty-And-Charm Quotient (BACQ) can’t match Antigua’s, but Xela (pronounced “Shay-la”) more than makes up for this with its lower prices, its less tourist-jaded inhabitants, and its (as much as I hate this word) authenticity. Where Antigua is absolutely overcome with tourists, Xela is home to fewer language students and visitors overall, though it still offers all the services and high quality restaurants tourists expect. Its Parque Centroamerica is one of the country’s largest town squares, and the plaza is surrounded by the worthwhile, if quirky, Museum of Natural History.

About ten blocks north of the park is the Mercado La Democracia, a buzzing labyrinthine agglomeration of vendors selling fruit, vegetables, and fake Adidas. Don’t miss it!

3. Chichicastenango Market. A trip to Guatemala would not be complete without spending a Thursday or Sunday in the town of Chichicastenango (“Chichi”) and checking out its magnificent market. Whether it’s fruit and vegetables, tapestries, carvings, or an imitation Sony Walkman circa 1985, you’ll find just about everything you’re looking for here.

Don’t miss the Church of St. Thomas located at the southeast corner of the central plaza, where worshippers combine ancient Mayan rituals with a hint of Catholicism for some truly unique religious displays.

2. Lago de Atitlan. If there’s a more gorgeous setting for a lake in this world, I haven’t seen it. Surrounded by three volcanoes– San Pedro, Toliman, and Atitlan– as well as emerald green hills, cornfields, and traditional Mayan towns, Lago de Atitlan might be the best spot in Guatemala to spend a week or two.

And there’s plenty to do as well. Hikes up nearby Volcan San Pedro are a challenging day’s walk but provide absolutely breathtaking views of the lake and surrounding towns below. Kayaks and canoes are cheap to rent in just about every town on the lake, and the water is clean enough for a swim. The town of Panajachel, nicknamed “Gringotenango” for obvious reasons, has been one of Guatemala’s biggest tourist hangouts for decades. Take in the wonderful backpacker culture at the town of San Pedro or check out the hippie hang-out of San Marcos, where you’ll have plenty of opportunities to talk about your “energy” and get cheap massages.

1. Semuc Champey. Probably the most beautiful place on Earth you’ve never heard of, Semuc Champey is home to dozens of cascading turquoise and emerald lagoons. And there’s as much to do as there is to look at, like cave swimming, bridge jumps, and cliff diving. “A trip to Semuc will give you that sense of childlike wonder which Disneyland always promised,” says Guatemala veteran Violet Marcel. “Turns out, nature can do it better.”

For more on Guatemala, check out Gadling’s entire archive here. Any questions, comments, places I’ve overlooked? Leave them in the comments.