Belize delights

“The Flying Sauna” was what we dubbed the 16-seat puddle jumper that flew us from Belize City to Placencia. My mother, brother and three-year-old nephew, Daniel, and I were on the last leg of the flight that began our 8-day vacation in Belize, April 21-30, 2010.

We’d flown from San Francisco to Houston to Belize City. Now, en route to Placencia, everyone was sweating inside the hot, humid interior of the plane, but we enjoyed gorgeous views of the blue waters of the Caribbean and the lush, green, tropical landscape of Belize.

The four of us stayed at a lovely resort, The Inn at Robert’s Grove (Placencia, Belize; call, from the US, 800/565-9757 or 888/501-3808). (Standard rooms from $155 per night and suites from $235. Meal plan, $75 per day, adult, or $37.50 per child 12 and under.)

We swam in all three of the resort’s pools. A resort staffer picked coconuts from a nearby tree and used a machete to slice off the bottom to make a flat surface and slice off the top so we could insert a straw and drink fresh coconut milk. We also ate bananas, papaya and pineapple. I enjoyed viewing the local reptiles: iguanas, geckos, lizards and snakes.

The inn offers adventure trips, and we took one ($112.50 per person) that included the Mayan ruins at Lubaantun, lunch at a restaurant and a cave swim at Blue Creek. A Mayan man who spoke English and Kekchi was our guide. (Despite using DEET and sunblock, in the 93ºF, 90%-humidity weather I sweated off any skin protection and ended up with mosquito bites and a sunburn.)

The highlight of this adventure was the cave swim. After hiking along a river to the cave entrance, we donned waterproof headlamps and swam inside to a waterfall. Swimming in the cool water was the first time I actually felt cold in Belize.

With the pitch-black darkness behind me, I swam back to the mouth of the cave with the beautifully lit jungle beyond — an image that will stay with me forever.

MAUREEN PARK

Elk Grove, CA