Be part of our next great adventure in Belize in March 2010! We're putting together the best of Belize for you this year. Our *exploratory trip is just unscripted enough to make it a very cool adventure. Explore the coral reef and the Mayan underworld in this laid back Caribbean country that is part of Central America. This year we are offering our first multi-sport and adventure trip to Belize. Let us take you on the trip of a lifetime to this gorgeous little country!

There are 2 options for this trip. Either one will be an incredible opportunity and mind-blowing adventure holiday! Option 2 is the only possibility if our group size exceeds 8 including your guide. Either of option 1 or 2 are available to us if our group is up to 12 including your guide. Option 2 is more expensive than option 2 because it includes 2 more days at an all inclusive "rustic/luxury" - is that an oxymoron?;-) - base camp on an island out on the barrier reef and includes 4 more expensive scuba dives while there.

If you are want to book either trip and it doesn't matter to you because they are both so amazing, please book by paying your deposit on line (or by cheque using the online form and then sending me it in the mail). If you would only like to go on one or the other and there are not enough clients of the same mind then you will have the option of a refund in full of your deposit, or whatever payment you made. If not enough clients sign up for either trip and the trip has to be cancelled, then you will be refunded whatever payment you made in full.

I'm REALLY looking forward to sharing this adventure with you. Let's make it happen!!

Option 1: Glover's Atoll

Option 2: Half Moon Caye

The following is a recent Toronto Star Article:

CENTRAL AMERICA: Belize's different beat
JEREMY SCHWARTZ
COX NEWS SERVICE Dec 18, 2008

Away from its Caribbean beaches and islands lies a rollicking melting pot with a unique history and an amazing geographic and cultural diversity


BELIZE CITY, Belize–It was easy to see Belize was going to be something different as soon as we got to the remote border crossing in southern Mexico.

As we got off our bus to get our passports stamped, a family of blond Mennonites waited to board. Wearing overalls and bonnets, they added their Low German to the cacophony of languages already on the bus.

We passed into the Free Zone, a no man's land between Mexico and Belize that's home to some dingy hotels, a broom factory and a casino advertising Russian showgirls. Blasting country music, our bus passed through Belizean customs.

As soon as we entered Belize, everything felt different. Houses were made of clapboard wood, not painted concrete, the distances marked in miles instead of kilometers, the signs in jaunty English. As we rolled through the countryside, which hugged the Caribbean Sea in some places, an amazingly diverse group filled the bus: in addition to the Mennonites, there were Mayan villagers, Chinese kids and black Belizeans, all speaking English with a distinctive Caribbean lilt.

Most visitors to Belize speed directly to Belize's main draw: its postcard-perfect islands that feature some of the world's best diving and snorkeling. And while a vacation featuring turquoise waters, colourful reefs and grilled lobster sounds hard to beat, island-hoppers risk missing out on Belize's unique diversity and intriguing history.

For inveterate people-watchers, it was impossible to pull away from the bus window. Teenagers blasted dance hall music from car stereos, Mennonite farmers sold wooden furniture, Rastafarian's hung out in front of Chinese supermarkets.

In the north Belizean town of Orange Walk, a vendor got on the bus urging us to "wahm up ya engines" with his "smokin' hot tamales," before translating his pitch into expert Spanish.

Belize is part of Central America, but feels more like a Caribbean island. Its unique history has set it apart from its neighbours and its small size – just 300,000 residents – belies the racial diversity within its borders.

Belize was a British colony called British Honduras until 1973. The country didn't achieve independence until 1981 and, despite being a majority black country for most of its existence, only elected its first black leader in February. More recently, immigrants from El Salvador and Honduras have made mestizos the majority.

The country is geographically diverse, too. In the flat, fertile north, Mennonites and British descendants live from farming. Southern Belize, with its perfect beaches, is home to the Garifuna, descendants of African slaves and indigenous people who came to Belize in 1832. In the mountains and jungles of western Belize, Mayan ruins rival the best Mexico has to offer. And in the middle of the country, teeming, boisterous Belize City hugs the coast, where it has weathered devastating hurricanes and absorbed generations of migrants.

Our bus arrived at the chaotic terminal in Belize City, a place most guidebooks urge tourists to depart immediately.

But the city offers an unparalleled, albeit gritty, glimpse into Belizean culture.

After taking a taxi across the Swing Bridge, which since colonial times has separated the city's poor and wealthy sections, we made our way along clogged streets to our hotel, the Great House. The century-old colonial mansion on the waterfront evokes images of British consuls in white linen suits fanning themselves on the veranda while sipping rum punch.

After settling in, we took a tour of the city, contracting with a taxi driver from the Radisson hotel next door.

Daniel Itza took us down streets named after British royalty, past shops owned by Chinese and Indian immigrants, an old cricket club (soccer and basketball are more popular today), and the unfinished Marion Jones sports complex (the disgraced American Olympic star is the daughter of a Belizean mother and remains a national hero).

On the street, Itza told us, you can hear Spanish, English, Creole, Mayan and Garifuna.

"Belize is like a big pot of rice and beans," he said laughing. "It's all mixed up.''

Itza took us through low-income neighbourhoods where brightly-coloured homes sat on stilts and the smell of grilling chicken and fish wafted through the humid morning air (big, barrel-shaped grills are everywhere in Belize).

Next, we stopped at one of Belize City's many record shops and picked up a CD by Mr. Peters, the self-proclaimed Godfather of Bruckdown, a hard-driving music born in 17th-century logging camps.

Belize is a paradise for music lovers, and the tiny country claims a number of unique styles, including drum-infused Punta music. Throughout the country, reggae grooves, African styles and Latin rhythms mingle in a unique blend.

Belize's most famous (or infamous) musical export may be the rapper Shyne, who also happens to be the son of the prime minister. Shyne Barrow was a protege of Sean "P. Diddy" Combs before he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a 1999 New York City nightclub shooting (Jennifer Lopez was the case's most famous witness).

From Belize City, it's just a short boat ride to Caye Caulker, the smaller and more tranquil cousin of Ambergris Caye, Belize's most visited destination.

No cars are allowed on Caye Caulker so we rented a golf cart to check out the island's colourful houses, dodging kids pedaling bikes and wandering backpackers. After a meal of barbecued whole red snapper we got back on the boat for Belize City.

Then it was on to the capital city Belmopan, one of the hemisphere's more unusual cities, made up mostly of federal bureaucrats in the middle of the jungle. (When Hurricane Hattie razed Belize City in 1961, Belize's politicians decided to set up shop in a safer place about 80 kilometers inland).

From Belmopan, many tourists journey to San Ignacio to explore Mayan ruins and the jungle.

But heavy flooding had cut off the western part of the country, so we headed back to Belize City, stopping at the Belize Zoo. The zoo is a sanctuary in a natural jungle setting with jaguars, howler monkeys and the beloved national animal, the mountain cow, which looks like a cross between an elephant, a rhinoceros and a horse.

Belize, it seemed to me, was as unique as its national animal – a strange mix of cultures that, once experienced, is impossible to forget.

Cox News Service