After spending days and nights searching for a better deal, I gave up Tahiti and turned to the Caribbean. The beach is still beautiful. Hotels, there were many that were very luxurious but they just weren’t exotic enough for my liking. I wanted palm-thatched rooms with elegant wooden floors and furniture – at least something like that, and the atmosphere that tells me “you’re in the Caribbean!” Since I didn’t know much about the Caribbean, I just googled images of “Caribbean villas.” There was one that looked “okay” in Belize. Belize? Where is that? I further researched the place through travel magazines and websites along with other places like Curacao, Turks and Caicos, etc. They all looked similar so I didn’t mind where I go as long as it had somewhere exotic for me to stay.

The Maya believed that every object contained a life force that toucans were sacred spirits, messengers between the gods and man. Inspired by this toucan’s passing in the early evening’s golden light, the Maya craftman might have begun carving its image into a limestone frieze on a ceremonial temple. As for myself, I retain just enough life force after a long day of exploring the rainforest to toast the toucan with another rum and fresh papaya, one of the bird’s favorite fruits.

By LAN SLUDER

Despite worthy and growing competition, Chaa Creek, which first opened its doors in 1981, remains the premier cottage colony around San Ignacio.

Mick and Lucy Fleming started Chaa Creek when tourists were almost unknown in Cayo. (In 2004, Lucy was elected president of the Belize Tourism Industry Association.) Over the years, they’ve expanded, improved and fine-tuned their operation until it has become one of the best-run, most-professional operations in all of Central America.
Everything works here: The grounds, comprising a …