My family will visit Belize in less than a week, yippee, I’m excited but really don’t know diddly squat about Belize! We will embark on a seven night Western Caribbean cruise and my parents are being dragged along for the ride. Hold on tight folks…..I’m about to clue you in on my findings.

Some of you might be thinking: cool, don’t care, or where the heck is Belize? If you were thinking the latter of the three, then I’ll school you on what Belize is renown for.
The country of Belize borders the Caribbean Sea between Guatemala and Mexico; it is the only country in Central America without a coastline on the Pacific Ocean. The country is 176 miles long and has a width span of 88 miles, in area it’s about the size of New Hampshire. The official language is English although some speak Belizean Creole and Spanish. I wonder if I could learn a smidgen of Belizean Creole real quick; nah, I doubt it.

Environmental protection is very important to the government of Belize; it has set aside approximately 20% of its land as nature reserves. The jungles of Belize are home to many mammals, especially the Jaguar. Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary is known as the premiere site for jaguar preservation in the world; it was founded in 1990 as the first wilderness sanctuary for the jaguar.

I was surprised to know that Petroleum is one of Belize’s chief exports. I guess I didn’t expect a jungle climate as having oil wells, maybe my hubby should think about a job relocation, food for thought. Another top export of Belize is Sugar.

Now on to the liquid fun, that sounds a tad distasteful, on with the booze, is that better?! Belikin Beer is the national beer; it comes in four different varieties: Belikin Premium, Belikin Beer, Belikin Stout, and Lighthouse Lager. We’ll have fun trying out the beer and report back to you when we see straight again, lol.

They also have popular local hot sauce made with a potent habanero pepper named Marie Sharp’s; it comes in three different flavors: Mild, Hot & Extremely Hot. Being a Louisiana girl, I know hot sauce and I’ll be happy to give it a try, now the only decision is which flavor.

*FYI, Belize has the highest concentration of Mayan sites of all the countries in Central America; Mayan sites are located on the mainland, such as Altun Ha (one hour from cruise port) and Xunantunich (two hours from cruise port.) Don’t worry; I can’t pronounce the names either, lol!

Belize’s main claim to fame; Scuba Diving, due to an almost unbroken line of reefs and cayes extending 150 miles along its coast that make up the longest reef system in the western hemisphere and the second longest in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. It’s continuous from Cancún on the north-eastern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula through the Riviera Maya and up to Honduras. Speaking of Honduras; Belize use to be named “British Honduras” until it became Belize on June 1, 1973. Pretty neat, you can actually learn something hanging out on my site.

Check out this special excursion, unique to Belize; Cave Tubing. No other Caribbean destination combines the excitement of floating down a river through a really cool cave system; you’ll be captivated as you travel through a living rainforest. If adventure is your middle name, you will love cave tubing.

If you like Sport Fishing like my hubby does then Belize is second to none. Bonefish are extremely popular in this neck of the jungle and they are fond of the warm Caribbean waters all over Belize. You can brag to all your buddies back home about how your fish was THIS big and actually mean it!

So many activities to experience, you’ll have to see it for yourself! So “come on down”, wait that’s Johnny Olson’s line from ‘The Price is Right!” (I’m showing my age now)

You will have an unBELIZABLE time, Woot!