Chaa Creek Celebrates The Maya Summer Solstice With New Belize Wellness Package
The Lodge at Chaa Creek is now accepting bookings for the 2015 Belize Summer Solstice Wellness vacation package, which be offered throughout the month of June this year, according to the eco resort’s spa manager Bryony Fleming Bradley.
Each year Chaa Creek celebrates the summer solstice in honour of Belize’s Maya, for whom equinoxes and solstices were important celestial events, predicted with absolute precision and observed for centuries throughout the ancient Maya empire, Ms Fleming Bradley explained.
“Summer solstices were important to the ancient Maya, who also believed that a balance between body and mind was essential. This year we wanted to combine those things in a Belize Summer Solstice Wellness vacation package that respected an ancient tradition with a modern emphasis on health,” Ms Fleming said.
“And, given the significance of the solstices to the Maya it seems only right that we continue to celebrate them here in the Maya heartland of Belize,” she added.
Ms Fleming Bradley said that the Belize all-inclusive vacation package offers everything for a complete Belize holiday for one set price. Eco-luxe accommodation, all meals, activities, tours, staff gratuities and access to all amenities within Chaa Creek’s 365-acre private nature reserve are included in the package.
“It’s an absolutely carefree and very affordable way to learn about Belize’s Maya culture while enjoying a vacation that will leave you looking and feeling great,” she said.
“People may remember all of the attention the 2012 Winter Solstice generated, when the media and Internet were alive with theories that the Maya predicted the end of the world on December 21 that year. There was even a major Hollywood motion picture called “2012” that was based on Maya solstice doomsday scenarios when, in fact, the ancient Maya had just highlighted that date as the completion of a cosmic cycle.
“Here at Chaa Creek we worked hard to debunk that nonsense and explain the real significance of the solstice celebrations by promoting a better understanding of Maya culture. Our Winter Solstice celebrations were sold out months in advance, and each year since we’ve marked the solstices with different Belize all-inclusive vacation packages.
“This year, for the June 21 2015 Summer Solstice, we’re offering a month-long wellness package featuring professional treatments at the Hilltop Spa, healthy activities and tours, wholesome meals with organic ingredients from our traditional Maya organic farm and fresh seafood from Belize’s Caribbean coast. There will also be opportunities to learn about Maya culture, traditional healing and wellbeing.
“It’s a great way to reconnect with nature and refresh your body and mind,” she added.
The Lodge at Chaa Creek sits within a 365-acre private rainforest reserve bordered by the Macal River and the foothills of the Maya Mountains. Miles of jungle trails maintained for horseback, mountain bike riding, hiking, guided and self-guided nature walks, birding tours and other activities connect the Gayot’s Guide-recommended Hilltop Spa, a butterfly farm, Natural History Museum, infinity pool, stables, canoe landing, fine dining restaurant, lounge, conference centre and other amenities.
The all-inclusive Belize Summer Solstice Wellness Package also includes a visit to the Belize Zoo, tours of the ancient Maya temple of Xunantunich, the Maya royal residence of Cahal Pech, a guided tour of the Maya organic farm and Maya Medicinal Plant trail followed by a session with a traditional healer as well as visits to the San Antonio Women’s Group Maya arts and crafts collective, a traditional Maya chocolate-making guild and other points of interest.
Activities include swimming, guided canoe excursions down the Macal River, and a choice of horseback or mountain bike tours through the rainforest with naturalist guides who explain the flora, fauna and local Maya settlement of Belize.
Ms Fleming Bradley said the Hilltop Spa will offer massages, facials, rejuvenating wraps and other professional treatments, including cacao-based chocolate treatments. “Given the reverence that the Maya had for cacao, which they first cultivated right here in Belize, chocolate will be featured in spa treatments, on menus and in drinks during the summer solstice, much as it would have featured in the ancient Maya’s summer solstice rituals,” she said.
She added that the 2015 Belize Summer Solstice Wellness Package is Chaa Creek’s most ambitious solstice celebration since 2012.
“We’re happy that for this year we’ve created a Belize summer vacation package that promotes health, wellbeing and fun with opportunities to learn about the ancient Maya during one of their most important annual rituals.
“It’s something we’re all looking forward to,” Ms Fleming Bradley said.