Recommend August 2011 - (Page 34)

central america ROADS continued from page 32 LESS TRAvELED belize Toledo District Sweetens a Great Outdoors vacation with Chocolate You may have missed it, the 5th annual Toledo Cacao Festival that is, held this year May 20-22 to celebrate all things chocolate—from cupcakes and kisses to cacao wine and chocolate cocktails—and to salute the local chocolate producers who all use hand-picked beans from local farms: the Belize Chocolate Company, Cotton Tree Chocolate, Goss Chocolate and Cyrila’s Chocolate. Chocolate touring is now a leading component in the Toledo District’s unique Maya village Homestay Network whose various communities welcome tourists with storytelling, music and dance, craft lessons, village tours and traditional foods. Some villages offer overnight stays here in the heartland of the living Maya. In San Felipe village, for instance, Cyrila Cho, whose family has been farming chocolate for generations, welcomes travelers to her “Chocolate Factory” to learn the traditional Mayan chocolate-making process on a farm-to-table tour. It starts by picking the organically grown fruits along the cacao trail, then adjourns to her kitchen for home roasting and crushing the beans into chocolatelovers treats. From personal experience, believe me, this is work; however, guest-workers revive with a traditional lunch and hot chocolate. Another sweet choice takes place at Cotton Tree Lodge (cottontreelodge.com), which hosts two Chocolate Week packages annually—one coinciding with valentine’s Day, the other with the Cacao Fest in May. Chocolate “trails” are only a small part of the scene in Southern Belize, a discovery land, where rainforests drape across the Maya Mountains GET AWAY FROM THE EVERYDAY. just an hour from the Caribbean shore; where ancient ruins (Lubantunn and Num Li Punit are the best known) share the landscape with 40 current-day Mayan villages; and where offshore, the Belize Barrier Reef (a UNESCO World Heritage site) provides a playground for world-class fly fishing, scuba diving and snorkeling. The gateway is Punta Gorda, a 50-minute plane ride from Belize City and roughly four to five hours by car from the capital, and the last port before the Guatemala border. This laid-back town (a.k.a. P.G.) comes to life on Wednesdays and Saturdays when the open-air markets throng with a cultural mix of Toledo folks, including the Kekchi Maya, Mopan Maya, Garifuna, Creole, East Indian, and Europeans. Staying in town, one good choice is Coral House Inn (coralhouseinn.net), a B&B occupying the highest point of Punta Gorda’s shoreline. It has four rooms overlooking the Caribbean, a pool and bar area. Catering to eco-tourists, The Lodge at Big Falls (thelodgeatbigfalls.com) sits on the banks of the Rio Grande outside the village of Big Falls. Its six cabins have verandahs with hammocks, and facilities include a pool. Top-ofthe line is Machaca Hill Lodge (machacahill.com), an all-inclusive resort set high in the rainforest. Its features include super-spacious bungalows, a pool, a spa, and fine wining and dining. Any of these hotels can assist with hiring a small boat for a day, enabling visitors to head offshore and north into the Port Honduras Marine Reserve that embraces 20 miles of coastline, a 500-sq.-mile area encompassing the four, white-sand Snake Cayes. This pristine reserve protects manatees, fish, birds, mangroves and reefs and offers activities such as birdwatching, snorkeling and swimming. Thirty-eight miles out is the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve (a 125-sq.-mile protected area) on the barrier reef. For divers and kayakers, this is a wonder-world of healthy coral reefs, abundant marine life and sandy beaches carpeting six islands. All of these offshore waters and some coastal lagoons and inland rivers offer superb fishing. In Punta Gorda, boats large and small are available for day charters, and such outfits as TIDE Tours (tidetours.org) and Wild Encounters are well equipped for adventure on both land and sea. Austin-Lehman Adventures (austinlehman.com) wraps up the whole outdoor experience of Toledo on its 8-day Maya to Moho Cay program that includes visiting Mayan ruins and villages, exploring caves, snorkeling the Snake and Sapodilla cayes, and kayaking to the jungle lodge for a stay at Moho Cay Lodge. costa rica Costa Ballena: A Whale of a Coast Along the southern Pacific shore, the new Costanera Sur Highway is now paved all the way from Quepos/Manuel Antonio National Park to the Panama border. In between the towns of Dominical and Palmar Sur is the Costa Ballena, a name that tells us only about one attraction: whales—five different species. But in this relatively new tourism frontier in this undiscovered corner of Costa Rica, you also find a bounty of long stretches of nearly deserted beaches and jungled forests, wildlife and birds galore, and active pursuits such as sea kayaking, horseback riding, surfing (or learning surfing), scuba diving, and fishing. You’ll also find that migrating whales share these southern Pacific waters with dolphins. To this recent visitor, a good map and a good ground operator can be essential in planning an itinerary, especially when continuing along the highway to include Golfo Dulce and the Osa Peninsula. recommend.com GREAT MEMORIES START HERE • • Hotel features 102 rooms most with a view of the Caribbean Sea, 2 restaurants, 2 bars, a café, 2 outdoor pools, a spa, Jacuzzi, fitness center, business center, and marina. Our tour desk offers packages to both inland and sea bound destinations. From ancient Mayan site to exotic wildlife, as well as snorkeling and diving our famous Blue Hole and Magical Barrier Reef. An adventure in paradise awaits! 2 Marine Parade Belize City, BELIZE 1-800-333-3333 www.radisson.com FORT GEORGE HOTEL & MARINA 34 august 2011 http://www.coralhouseinn.net http://www.thelodgeatbigfalls.com http://www.machacahill.com http://www.cottontreelodge.com http://www.tidetours.org http://www.austinlehman.com http://www.radisson.com http://www.radisson.com http://www.recommend.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend August 2011

Editor"s Notes/Agent Speak
Hotel Desk: Regent Hotels & Resorts
Tour Talk: The Wayfarers
Africa Travel Options Mix the Classic with the New
Thailand's Koh Samui
Jade Mountain, Saint Lucia
Escaping to San Juan's Condado
San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino
Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Central America: Roads Less Traveled
In Search of Flanders' Holy Ale
Downtown L.A. in the Thick of Things
Scrumptious Savannah
Cunard's Queen Elizabeth

Recommend August 2011