Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1
INDULGING IN THE JUNGLE
It's all in the mud. Plumbed from the earth and brimming with minerals, this is the kind of rich
goop that you'll happily smear on your body parts, then submit to its rejuvenating tingle while
reclining in a breezy cabaña, eyes closed against the warm sun and hold on - is that a howler
monkey? Yes, it may well be.
Ma
ruba R
esort Jungle Spa
(Mile 40½ Old Northern Hwy;
T
225 5555,
W
maruba-spa.com;
US$155
) sits amid wild tropical foliage, near the tiny
community of Maskall, around 13 miles north of Altun Ha. The couples-friendly resort offers
pampering with a primal edge: retreat into a palm-shaded hideaway for the signature “mood
mud” body scrub rooted in ancient Maya customs, and then zone out to the low thrum of
piped-in drumbeats. Rooms and suites - like the “fertility suite” - are rustic-deluxe: gleaming
mahogany ceilings, billowing silks, feather beds and wafting incense, along with mosaic-tiled
bathrooms. The thatched restaurant and patio is surrounded by palms and bougainvillea and
serves excellent Belizean and international fare. What sets the
Maruba
apart from the usual
high-end resort are the quirky touches: a carved penis for a toilet-paper holder in a lobby
bathroom; rough-hewn walls studded with glass bottles of Belikin beer and Fanta; and palm
fronds as placemats. Little goes to waste at this largely self-sustaining resort, so not only will
you emerge with your pores clean and glowing, but your conscience too.
the Maya world. At the moment it's hidden away in the vaults of the Belize Bank,
though there is a splendid replica in the Museum of Belize in Belize City (see p.48).
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
ALTUN HA
By organized tour
All travel agents and most tour
companies (see p.54) in and around Belize City will arrange
tours, and increasing numbers of visitors come on day trips
from San Pedro.
By bus
Altun Ha is di
cult to reach independently, as the
track to the site is located along the Old Northern Hwy and
is not well served by buses. In theory there are buses from
the terminal in Belize City to the village of Maskall, passing
the 1.8-mile side road to the site from Lucky Strike, but
service is erratic and unreliable.
Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary
Visitor centre Mon-Sat 8am-4.30pm • Bz$8
Off the Philip Goldson (Northern) Highway, roughly midway between Belize City and
Orange Walk, lies the five-square-mile
Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary
, which
encompasses inland waterways, logwood swamps and four separate lagoons. It's an ideal
nesting and resting place for the sanctuary's greatest treasure: tens of thousands of
migrating and resident
birds
, including snail kites, tiger herons, snowy egrets, ospreys
and black-collared hawks. Representatives of over three hundred bird species
(two-thirds of Belize's total) have been recorded here.
The reserve's most famous visitor is the
jabiru stork
, the largest flying bird in the New
World, with a wingspan of 2.5m. Belize has the biggest nesting population of jabiru
storks at one site; they arrive in November, the young hatch in April or May, and they
leave just before the summer rainy season gets under way. The best time to visit is from
late February to early June, when the lagoons shrink to a string of pools, forcing
wildlife to congregate for food and water.
In the middle of the sanctuary is the tiny village
of Crooked Tree
itself, which straggles
over a low island in the wetlands. Over three hundred years old, it's the oldest inland
community in Belize, with an economy based on fishing, farming and, more recently,
tourism. The village serves as the main entry and information point for sanctuary. The
visitor centre here has a range of information, including diorama
displays with lifelike
models of the birds, mammals and insects found at the sanctuary. Here you can also
ask about guided
boat tours
(see p.64), easily one of the best ways to tour the
sanctuary, which travel on the lagoons and along sluggish, forest-lined creeks. Some
boat tours make a stop at
Chau Hiix
(“small cat”), a Maya site on the western shore of
