96
FEBRUARY 2013
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HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
THREE PERFECT DAYS
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BELIZE
jademask that manages to bridge the gap
between scary and beautiful, you drive
seven miles of rough road uphill to the
trailhead. You don’t spot any jaguars, but
themoderately strenuous 90-minute hike
that ensues takes you past awaterfall and
up to Ben’s Bluff, a clearing with a terrific
vista of the surrounding forest.
The sun is setting as you pull onto
the Placencia Peninsula, south of Maya
Center. The road here was paved just
two years ago, triggering a boom that
transformed this formerly quiet string
of fishing villages into globally sought-
after real estate. You drive past hotels
and large waterfront houses under
frantic construction before reaching
the end of the peninsula and the town
of Placencia, which still retains plenty
of laid-back charm. You settle in at
Wendy’s
,
a beloved 10-year-old restaurant
specializing in Creole and Spanish food,
and order
chirmole
,
a traditional spicy
black bean soup made with chicken
and boiled eggs. You round out the meal
with the cheese Creole shrimp, which
comes in a delicate jack cheese sauce,
accompanied by a side of rice cooked
in coconut milk.
Sated, you shuffle back to the car and
drive north for 15 minutes to your next
hotel,
Robert’s Grove Beach Resort
.
The
most distinctive feature here is a mellow
thatched-roof bar at the end of a long
pier. It calls. You drop your bags, walk out,
grab a seat and nurse a Robert’s Punch:
rum, coconut rum and Nance liqueur,
plus pineapple and other fruit juices.
Staring out over the darkened sea, listen-
ing to the waves lap against the pilings
and enjoying the stiffening breeze, you’re
beginning to grasp the restorative proper-
ties of coastal Belize.
DAY THREE
| Robert’s Grove offers a full
breakfast, but given that you’re going to
spendmost of the day swimming, you opt
for coffee and toast at your table by the
beach. It’s a simple meal elevated by the
fact that, as you eat it, a pod of dolphins
wheels by and pelicans scour the waves.
Anhour later, you’re suited up and rock-
eting across the glassy turquoise water in
one of the resort’s boats. Robert’s Grove
provides snorkeling trips out to the Belize
Barrier Reef—the second longest reef in
the world, a er Australia’s Great Barrier
Reef—that are run from a private island
resembling something out of a
NewYorker
cartoon: tiny, with a few palm trees, a
barbecue pit and a couple of rudimentary
restrooms in a raised wooden shack.
It takes about 50 minutes, skittering
past a handful of other small islands, to
get there. You hop out of the boat and
wade through warm, shallow water to
the island to strap on your gear. The next
hour is spent exploring the nearby coral
reefs, occasionally lighting out in pursuit
of their many technicolor denizens,
including reef sharks, angelfish and the
mesmerizing trumpet fish. There’s a break
for lunch, a traditional Belizean feast of
barbecued pork and chicken with beans
and rice. You make quick work of it—
then promptly fall asleep on the sand.
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
THE INSIDE SCOOP FROMTHOSE IN THE KNOW
ILLUSTRATIONS BY PETER JAMES FIELD
Corbin Fletcher
MAYAWALK TOURS, SAN IGNACIO
“
A great cultural hot spot is
Dangriga, a small village. When
the Garifuna people migrated here
they came in dugout canoes, and
every Nov. 19 they reenact that day
with a big party.”
Kent Francis
JEWELER, THE SIDEWALK,
PLACENCIA
“
I’d recommend cave tubing in the
Caves Branch River outside San
Ignacio, in Cayo. It’s a natural cave.
It’s very exciting and it’s a taste
of Belize.”
Wendy Lemus
OWNER, WENDY’S RESTAURANT,
PLACENCIA
“
Go to Laughing Bird Caye from
April to June, and you can see
whale sharks. You don’t even have
to snorkel—you can see them by
just standing next to the water.”
CAT POWER
The road
into the Cockscomb Basin
Wildlife Sanctuary
