With the end of the Maya Calendar on 21st of December 2012 rapidly approaching, there has never been a more amazing time to visit the ancient Mayan Cities of Belize. To celebrate this once-in-a-lifetime occasion, Ka’ana is offering an unbeatable special offer.
Stay in a Casita Suite or Private Pool Villa at Ka’ana Resort in Belize for 4 nights or more during the last 100 days of the Maya Calendar and receive $100.00 OFF each night of your stay.
Booking Window: August 15th-November 30th
Travel Window: September 12th-December 21st
Inspired? Contact our team of Adventure Specialists to plan your ultimate Belize travel experience.
Choosing a destination wedding allows couples a level of freedom that just can’t be found when planning a traditional, hometown wedding. With the World to choose from, if you can dream it – it can become reality. We have the perfect example of a destination wedding experience ideal for adventurous couples at Ka’ana Belize. For those who may not know, Belize is an English-speaking country located in Central America and is easily accessible from most major U.S. airports. In this case, exotic doesn’t mean inconvenient.
Arguably the biggest perk of Belize as a destination wedding location is that it’s covered in Mayan ruins. Luckily for us, Ka’ana is located smack-dab in the middle of the ancient Maya civilization. Belize is the only country which allows wedding ceremonies to physically take place on Mayan ruins – offering the backdrop opportunity of a lifetime. As a result, Ka’ana offers couples everything from a ceremony for 30 guests at nearby Xunantunich (an ancient Mayan city one-and-a-half miles away from property), to a small, intimate wedding for two followed by an exclusive overnight stay on a ruin in a luxury tent complete with a traditional Mayan dinner cooked over a fire.
The Yaxha Overnight Experience is one package Ka’ana offers and would no doubt make for a night to remember:
A one-hour drive from Ka’ana Belize is a Maya civilization just past the Guatemalan border where guests can have an entire ancient city to themselves. Ka’ana’s Yaxha Overnight Experience Package begins with a ride through the Belizean jungle and into Guatemala’s Yaxha National Park. Enter the 1,100 year-old city just after dusk where an expert guide will lead guests to their meal prepared by a local Maya cook at the base of the ruins.
After dinner, the guide will lead the ascent to highest temple where guests can enjoy views of the Guatemalan countryside while an archaeologist expounds upon the intricate excavation of the Yaxha Temple. At the end of the evening, guests can retire to their luxury tent– a replica of the rooms at Ka’ana complete with a king-sized bed. After Maya coffee the following morning, guests have the option to cross Lake Yaxha via boat to visit another, not-yet-excavated Topoxte Maya ruins before returning to Ka’ana.
The Yaxha Overnight Experience Package starts at $4,500 USD and includes the following for up to two guests:
• Roundtrip road transportation to Yaxha
• Tour hosted by a licensed archaeologist and local guide
• Personal Butler
• Exclusive accommodations in a luxury tent in the plaza of Yaxha Maya City
• Turndown service
• Authentic Maya dinner & breakfast
• Sundowners with sparkling wine, cheese, and fruit
• Boat ride across the lake to Topoxte Maya ruins
Perhaps you and your destination wedding guests want a healthy balance of adventurous and traditional? Not a problem because Ka’ana also offers more traditional wedding packages on property. Despite being located in the epicenter of an ancient civilization, Ka’ana is a luxury resort which boasts modern design, private villas, impeccable service and fabulous food. If your destination wedding planning is already underway, consider Ka’ana for the romantic honeymoon of a lifetime. For more information on the resort or to start planning your very own Mayan adventure, visit kaanabelize.com.
The Owner’s recount of their first time at ATM Cave (actun tunichil muknal)!
What was your first impression when you saw the cave opening?
It was a little intimidating because there’s a big pool that goes into the entrance and our guide, Wilbert, looks to us and says we are suppose to swim into the mouth. You just hold your breath and jump in.
What was your favorite part of ATM?
Climbing (and swimming) into different cathedrals of the cave, they are massive!
What did you see while exploring?
It’s amazing because you walk along history following what the Maya did to reach out to their gods. Lots of ceramic pots, cave drawings and even human remains!
Hopkins was built in 1942 after a hurricane washed away Newtown just up the coast; it is a loose coastal colorful fishing village. Ignore the monstrous condos going up on either end of the Hopkins coast road—nearly everything in between remains chill, spread out, and reasonably priced. Hopkins’s thousand or so inhabitants are mostly Garifuna, making this one of the more exciting places to be for Garifuna Settlement Day (November 19).
Stay at our extraordinary two bedroom villa with a group of friends. Explore Belize on land and water with adventures that will transform into memories that will last a lifetime. Enjoy delicious farm to table cuisine at Ka’ana and sip cocktails under the stars with your loved ones.
Watch to pack: Men’s
1. Max Bill by Junghans Stainless Steel Automatic Watch 2. Oliver Peoples Sunglasses 3. Maison Martin Margiela shirt 4. Nudie Average Joe Straight-Leg Washed Denim Jeans 5. Car Shoe suede driving shoe 6. James Perse Crew Neck Cotton T-shirt 7. Orlebar Brown swim shorts 8. Havainas flip flops 9. Miansai Utility Rope and Anchor Bracelet 10. Paul Smith striped cotton beach towel
What the pack: Women’s
1. Day Birger et Mikkelsen ferdousi tasseled scarf 2. Equipment dress 3. Illesteva sunglasses 4. Proenza Schouler clutch 5. Chloe blouse 6. Aurélie Bidermann wrap bracelet 7. ALC skirt 8. Chloe ballet flats 9. Zimmerman bathing suit 10. K. Jacques St. Tropez sandals
When planning a trip to Belize, most people are faced with a tough decision. Do they head to the beach and linger by the water for the week, or do they trek to the jungle for adventure-filled days? However, there is another solution that offers equal parts sand and stone (for the Mayan ruins). For the indecisive, this is the ideal scenario.
The Sand and Stone package is jointly offered by Victoria House, located on the Belizean island of Ambergris Caye, and Ka’ana Boutique Resort (a Small Luxury Hotels of the World), nestled in the jungle of San Ignacio, just a few miles from the Guatemala border.
For those who want the adventure part of the trip first so second half is about relaxation, then Ka’ana provides pick-up service from Belize International Airport. The adventure begins with a two-hour drive with the driver pointing out the small villages of Spanish Lookout, Georgeville, and Teakeattle, while sharing the history of Belize, which has an eclectic mix of Mayan, Mestizo, Garifuna, Mennonites, and Chinese populations.
Excursions to the impressive Mayan ruins of Caracol (full day trip) or Xunantunich (1/2 day trip) are easily arranged by the front desk. For the true adventure seeking, caving, cave tubing, and zip-lining are all available.
When enough heart-pumping activity has been had, a quick 15-minute flight from Belize City will take you to Ambergris Caye, where Victoria House is located on a stretch of white powder beach, diligently raked each morning by the grounds crew. Swaying in a hammock, shaded by palm trees, with a drink in hand is the quintessential afternoon here, though many come to snorkel or scuba at the famous Blue Hole.
This tiny country has something for everyone, and the Sand and Stone package offers a perfect taste. As they like to say, “You better Belize it!
Great article from the nytimes that explores modern day society and it’s obsession with nomadism.
“For the most fortunate among us, our travels are now routine, devoted mainly to entertainment and personal enrichment. We have turned travel into something ordinary, deprived it of allegorical grandeur. We have made it a business: the business of being on the move. Whatever impels us to travel, it is no longer the oracle, the pilgrimage or the gods. It is the compulsion to be elsewhere, anywhere but here.”
