The Lodge at Chaa Creek’s events planner, Denise Duran, said that discovering that Belize was listed as one of the top five happiest countries on earth according to the global Happiness Index, comes as no surprise to her.
The owner of the Lodge at Chaa Creek said that the eco resort’s inclusion in a recent USA Today travel guide “bucket list” is good news for the nascent Belizean tourism industry, and further proves that environmentally sustainable, Green tourism can provide a high quality travel experience. Lucy Fleming, who with her husband Mick started Chaa Creek by accepting guests at their small family farm in a remote part of Belize in 1981, said that recognition such as USA Today’s provides an important boost to the Belizean tourism industry, which since it’s relatively recent inception has struggled to achieve name recognition in the highly competitive Caribbean travel industry.
If it wasn’t so exhilarating it would be exhausting. But Belizeans love a good party and have perfected celebrating down to a fine art. From September onwards the air is filled with music, the aroma of barbeques, laughter and singing. Which is why those in the know begin planning their Belize Holiday vacations now.
“Belize is definitely birding heaven, with over 308 species recorded in the Chaa Creek nature reserve alone,” Mr Choco said. “Even people not generally interested in birding soon become fans just by walking along the miles of trails and spotting the toucans, parrots, falcons and other birds that make their homes here. One such specie of birds is the bare throated Tiger-Heron, scientifically known as Tigrisoma mexicanum. This specie of heron is approximately 30 inches. It has a very slow, lumbering flight and a heavyset neck.
I left my home in Denmark at four am and after a very long and exhausting trip, including an overnight stay in Atlanta and a suitcase stranded in Amsterdam, I was finally reaching my destination and what would become my home for the next four months – the beautiful country Belize.
This has always been one of my favourite picnics spots in all of Belize. Even on the warmest days Mountain Pine Ridge is always refreshing and is one of those places that may seem like a bit of a drive, but once there you think, “That wasn’t far. Why don’t we come here more often?” About fifteen miles from San Ignacio, it’s on the sort of road you take your time driving on, but the views are so pretty you don’t mind.
Volunteers from Google and Belize teamed up with marine scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Hol Chan Marine Reserve and the University of Belize’s Environmental Research Institute to do a bit more than just search for turtles – they also captured, recorded and tagged the at-risk marine creatures before releasing them back into the sea.
“Honeymoons are such an important life event for couples that they’re willing to go that extra bit more to share something extraordinary, and more and more they’re discovering that Belize offers the same level of quality and service that more established destinations do, but at a lower cost.
As Eco-Camp 2013 comes to a close, the campers put together newspaper bags in order to carry home all the excellent arts and crafts projects they have done since coming to camp.
After perfecting their songs, campers headed over to the Chaa Creek conference room to listen to a presentation on Responsible Tourism by Mr. Larry Waight, which highlighted several of the ways in which Chaa Creek works to ensure that it remains environmentally responsible.
Today’s theme of Solid Waste Management meant that the day was not as hectic as previous days. Campers had a leisurely breakfast, and a couple games of “Wink Assassin” before diving straight into Arts and Crafts, recycling plastic water bottles to use as stylish bracelets. Some campers decorated their bracelets with the colors of the Belizean flag, while others went with more colorful heart stickers.
It is hard to imagine an environment that is more vividly alive than the jungle–lush, teeming, unfurling, changing, challenging, chaotic, diverse, primal, light, dark, and unpredictable. Embracing life’s unpredictability led Lucy from her New Jersey girlhood to finding her place in the world on the banks of the Macal River.
While preparations for the hike were underway, the campers sat down at the arts and crafts tables to make their very own wallets. Tastes in wallet decoration varied widely, with some campers using stickers, some drawing, some using leaves and sticks, and several using magazine cutouts
Mrs Salome’s presentation on medicinal plants highlighted several popular Belizean herbs, such as serosee, thyme, and aloe vera, and allowed campers got to practice their bush medicine skills. A couple lucky volunteers pretended to have earaches, and they were cured by using thyme. From the excellent bedside manner displayed by some campers, it would seem there are some future doctors in the group!
Once we arrived back at Chaa Creek, Mr. Awe gave a presentation on the history and culture of the Maya, from their origins as hunter-gatherers crossing the Bering Straits, to the decline of their civilization thousands of years ago. And just to make sure the campers were paying attention, he split boys and girls into two teams and gave a pop quiz at the end. It was a close call, but the girls scored higher by one point!
The first day at Chaa Creek Eco Kids summer camp began a little earlier
than expected for some campers. After all, it’s quite difficult to sleep
when a howler monkey troop comes roaring through at the crack of dawn!
“The winners were selected by Lucy Fleming (Chaa Creek co-founder) & Eco Kids organizer Roberto Harrison, categorized by districts and organized to meet at central points to be picked up by a Chaa Creek shuttle and transferred to the Macal River Camp,” said Mr. Harrison.
According to Chaa Creek founder and general manager Lucy Fleming, the innovative annual event gives Belizean youth an opportunity to learn about their natural world through a mix of adventure, social interaction, fun and hands-on education aimed at instilling a sense of wonder and responsibility for the environment.
I would like to become an Eco – kid because I have become aware that the flora and fauna are very valuable for the survival of our planet and the human race. I notice in the international news that the world resources are under constant stress. In our country, there is illegal fishing, hunting, cutting down of pristine forest. Our resources are being invaded by our neighbour, our own people are engaging in illegal activities to harm our environment and that is very sad.
The lights have gone up on the 8th annual Belize International Film Festival, bringing to a close four days of independent film industry networking and the showing of films from around the world, further cementing Belize’s reputation as something more than just a pretty face – the little country is maturing into a cultural and artistic powerhouse in the region and the world.
So it was interesting to hear that the Garifuna Collective has been touring Canada with Ontario singer-songwriter Danny Michel, proving that you don’t need swaying palm trees and sand under your feet to enjoy those majestic sounds.
And they should be proud. When you consider that this plucky team from a little developing country of fewer than 350,000 inhabitants had the skill and courage to take on the highly trained and richly resourced team from the United States, with a population of well over 300 million, you get an idea of what determination means.
I want to be an eco-kid because I care for my environment and caring for the present means protecting our future. As an eco-kid, I will protect my environment so that a change in the way we live may start to take place. Belize is full of nature; it is like a little paradise in the heart of Central America.
We’ve just received word that US President Barrack Obama has nominated a new ambassador to Belize, and by all indications Justice Carlos Moreno sounds like a very good choice.
While I was reading a book on ecosystem I became interested in the biodiversity, natural resource, conservation and the three ‘r’ reduce, reuse and recycle. I am very concerned about our ecosystem because we need to find a way of living, one that creates less pollution of the earth’s atmosphere and can lower the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere of the earth called global warming.
As an Eco conscious kid I practice conservation by doing things that should be done like if you are fishing you catch what you will eat, not what you don’t. As an Eco conscious kid I practice solid waste management by not throwing trash all over the place and not picking it up.
This Super Tuesday deal will offer discounts of 30% off rooms from July 9 until the end of August as well as a 20% discount off Chaa Creek’s All-inclusive Belize Inland Expedition vacation packages. And, once again, guests will need to act within a 24 hour timeframe, booking their accommodation or Belize vacation packages between midnight Monday July 8 and midnight Tuesday the 9th to secure the discounts, Mr Waight advised.
As mentioned here earlier (Let’s hear it for the Belize Home Team! 1 July), this is the first time the Belize Jaguars will compete in the tournament, and the eyes of the world are turning to what will be a true David and Goliath match as the Jaguars take on the US team July 9 at the historic Jen-Went field in Portland, Oregon.
I want to be an eco kid because I think it would be fun and I like to watch animals. I have five dogs and seven puppies. My favourite animals are cats, dogs, horses, bunnies, foxes and wolves. I also like butterflies and birds. I have seen morfo and monarch butterflies.
I am a smart, handsome and respectable young boy. I love travelling and meeting new people. Being Eco friendly is a good idea because it allows us to protect and preserve what valuable assets we have in our surroundings. We can practice being Eco- friendly by turning off lights when it is not necessary, turning off water sources when there is no need to use water and recycling asset that can do so.