Placencia – The Perfect Barefoot

The Caribbean Sea caresses miles of secluded beach on the Placencia Peninsula. When the warm brown sugar-like sand gets between your toes, it feels like nature’s own spa treatment. Thirty years ago, Placencia was a quiet fishing village with a narrow meandering sidewalk that served as its main—and only—street. Today this burgeoning destination retains its traditional charm (and sidewalk) while offering first class amenities and…

An Overview of Placencia Belize

By Kirsten Hubbard Placencia Village, known more simply as Placencia, sits at the very tip of the narrow Placencia Peninsula in southern Belize. As a result, it feels more like an island. It’s just a few minutes walk from the lagoon side to the open Caribbean. Less than 500 people are lucky enough to be considered permanent residents of Placencia, Belize’s tranquil community. The majority are…

Celebrating Garifuna Settlement Day

Nov 10, 2011 (Caribbean News Now – McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) — The Garifuna people are one of the few remaining African ethnic groups in the entire Caribbean and Latin America who still maintain their culture. Some historians believe that these people were from the Mende ethnic group and migrated from West Africa to the Americas centuries before the other native people arrived in…

nim li punit

Nim Li Punit “The Big Punit”

The name Nim Li Punit is derived from a carving on one of the site’s twenty six stelae, which depicts a figure wearing a large headdress. In the Maya Kekchi language, Nim li Punit  means “the big hat.” The monument on which this carving appears is the longest stela in Belize, originally located in an area called Plaza of the Stelae. Nim Li Punit is…

Belize Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve

WHAT TO SEE Offering a bit of a respite from the hotter lowlands, Mountain Pine Ridge is one of the most heavily visited reserves. It’s a landscape of rolling pine forest spread over smooth granite hillsides, a slightly bizarre area with battalions of uniform pine sporadically dissected by fire breaks and broadleaf gallery forest. Established in 1944, the reserve has been logged on a carefully…

A short video about the Belize Rainforest

Over 40% of Belize’s land mass enjoys some form of legal protected areas area status and these diverse natural areas form the basis of Belize’s tourism offerings. This significant portion of the country under sustainable management is a testament to the diversity of plant and animal species and to the energy and enthusiasm of pioneers in Belize conservation.