|
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
Birds, birds, birds – In Belize, when kids go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning, there's a bird orchestra, the sounds of birds calling to each other.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One morning we took a walk with an experienced Belizean guide to learn about birds in the rain forest. Not only could our guide spot birds in the dense jungle vegetation, but he could identify birds by bird sounds, and do a perfect imitation. Most eye-catching birds on our walk – Keel-billed Toucan, Violet Sabrewing, White-bellied Emerald and Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds, and Red-legged Honeycreeper. |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
The best time to see birds is early in the morning, bring your binoculars (some of the birds are high in the trees). |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Zip line canopy tours – Kids love the sensation of flying through the trees, high above the rain forest below. Put on a hard hat and gloves, strap on a harness, the harness is clipped to a pulley, step off the platform and there you are, zipping along on a cable. Ask at your hotel or lodge to arrange a zip line canopy tour. |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Tip: Belize has two seasons – wet and dry. Dry season is December - May. Wet season is June - November. We visited Belize in summer, and encountered only a few thunderstorms, largely at night. Belize is the perfect spring break family trip. |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Fun food – |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
In the warm weather, kids will want to try refreshing fresh-fruit drinks – coconut, pineapple, orange and watermelon. |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Fun snacks are Salbutes and Garnaches, delicious little mini-tostadas, piled with chicken, beef, cheese, refried beans, cabbage salsa. The traditional dish of Belize is rice and beans, often made with coconut milk. Fry jacks, airy deep-fried dough triangles, are typical at breakfast. |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
Discover "cities in the sea" – the Belize barrier reef (second longest in the world)! Gorgeous illustrations, from tiny corals to the whale shark, mysterious plants and animals that live, hunt and hide in the reef, capture the wonder of this amazing undersea world. (Picture book)
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Coral Reefs
(National Geographic Kids)
Sylvia A. Earle, Bonnie Matthews
Before you go snorkeling in Belize, check out undersea world of coral reefs - different types of corals, sponges, octopuses, squids, spiny lobsters, moral eels, parrotfish, butterfly fish, grouper, hawksbill turtles. (Picture book)
Also: Snokeling Guide to Marine Life
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
A rhyming story with gorgeous collages takes you into the tropical rain forest. “Over in the jungle, wearing wings of shiny blue, lived a morpho butterfly, and her little morphos two.” (Picture book)
And also, Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Before you visit the Maya ruins in Belize, find out about the ancient Maya, their cities, temples and palaces in the rainforest, society, arts and religion, plus fun facts about the ancient Maya – flat foreheads
and large noses were considered beautiful, wealthy Maya wore jaguar skins,
jade was highly prized. (Picture book)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
In this Maya folktale, chocolate was the favorite food of the gods in paradise. Kukulkan helped the people of earth bringing corn, music, the Maya calendar, and then he gave them seeds from cacao tree, so they too could eat chocolate. (Easy reader)
|
|
