OK, so we are days away from the predicted end of this Great Cycle (5,126 Years). So now, we reflect on the past, and more importantly, as we look forward to the start of the New Cycle, here’s our sincerest wishes for the new Bactun:

1. Spend more time with Family and Friends

2. Learn New Things 

3. Healthier Eating

4. Help Others

5. Enjoy Life more

These tender Short Ribs are seasoned with brown sugar and spices, oven roasted, then slowly reduced in Belizean Belikin Stout.  This platter is then served with mashed Cassava and Chaya, delicately sauteed with smoked bacon. It’s bound to please your palate with its unique flavor…

12/12/12 – It’s Never Been More Fun To Visit Belize!

For $2,012.12 get 3 nights in our 1-Bedroom Private Pool Villa with Daily Full Breakfast or make it a pool party by inviting 2 more friends and we’ll give you a FREE upgrade to our 2-Bedroom Private Pool Villa.

Booking Window: 12 days starting 12/12/12

Travel Window: January 12^th- May 12^th, 2013

Blackout Dates: March 17^th-April 7^th, 2013

100 years will have had to come and go before we see triple digits like these again – the next being 12-12-2112! Come back tomorrow to see our Super Commemorative Deal!

This isn’t your usual “Step on a crack – Break your Mama’s Back” –stuff. But you know, everywhere you go there are always some urban legends/superstitions and Belize is certainly no exception!

1.     Never sharpen your pencil on both sides, bad things will happen

This one was made popular by teachers, they would tell students that sharpening a pencil on both sides would bring bad luck and someone in your family could also die. Why would anyone want to sharpen both sides of a pencil? Well for starters, if a side broke, you’d have the other side to use, and second, kids also tried anything to seem cool and different. Maybe, since sharp objects around kids are dangerous, adults made up that saying so that kids would be safer.

2.  Bad Breeze will get you

A lot of the older folks used this to keep children/teens and even errant husbands from getting into the house too late at night. Telling them that spirits roamed the night and that if “caught” it would get them sick with terrible fevers, vomitings or diahreaah etc. The Bad breeze even caused them to bring sickness in the  house which often affected young babies/children who dwelled in the house.

3.  Boys and girls, when someone is sweeping, don’t let the broom hit your feet

If the broom hits your feet, that would mean that you’d have to marry an old lady or man. This was probably made popular by moms who didn’t want their children running around whenever they were sweeping and doing house chores. This was a hit among young girls as they surely didn’t want to marry an old grumpy man.

4. You have “Bad Eye” (Evil Eye)

Believe it or not – People still believe this! This is often told to you if you came around looking a newborn baby.  It was believed that an intoxicated person, women having their monthly, or anyone who has recently had sexual relations that looked at young babies often made them sick. These babies would often suffer colic like symptoms including puffiness in their tummies, fever, vomiting and diarrhea.

Oh! – The cure for these babies include passing a newly laid egg wrapped with herbs (Ruda) all over the child to ward away the evil!

 5.     Big Peteh or Tamales foot

Don’t walk around barefoot as you’ll grow a “Peteh” or “Tamales foot”. Peteh is the Belizean creole word for big, flat and broad feet.  Adults always warned about putting on shoes or sandals, but it was probably because they wanted us to protect our feet from prickles and bruises.

6. Swimming on Good Friday will turn you into a Mermaid

You never know – we might possibly have hundreds or even thousands of mermaids in Belize. Most parents do not allow their children to go swimming on that day for fear that they would turn into a mermaid. This sounds ridiculous, but possibly they said it because as Christians, Good Friday was meant to be a day to forego all pleasures and imitate the suffering and death of Christ.

7.    Don’t give away something then take it back or you’ll get a “Piscuch”

This one is funny. If you gave something away and later took it back later, you would catch a “Piscuch”, a small bump on the eyelid – which is actually a  Chalazion.  This was done to prevent kids from being mean and to embrace sharing their toys and snacks with others.

What are some superstitions you grew up with?

Belize and Ka’ana Resort featured in Svbscription Magazine’s Top 3 Winter Destinations

For those seek­ing a win­ter jaunt away from New York’s hus­tle, bus­tle and bit­ter temperatures, there is no short­age of luxe des­ti­na­tions state­side and across the globe offer­ing a dif­fer­ent (and hope­fully, warmer!) win­try feel.

A gem of a Cen­tral Amer­i­can des­ti­na­tion, think of it as a low-key and lush Mexico. Ka’ana Belize, one of my favorite prop­er­ties there, is offer­ing an espe­cially timely win­ter adven­ture — the Yaxha Overnight Expe­ri­ence pack­age, which offers intre­pid sybarites the rare oppor­tu­nity to spend the night on an ancient Maya ruin and get in touch with their spir­i­tual side. The pack­age fea­tures a ride through the Belizean jun­gle, din­ner for two at the ruins pre­pared by a tra­di­tional Maya cook, overnight accom­mo­da­tion in a lux­ury tent, and an authen­tic Maya cof­fee and yoga ses­sion the morn­ing after. If the world is indeed end­ing on Decem­ber 21, I think I can go hap­pily after this extravaglamp­ing experience.

Read the rest of the article here!

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. “-John F. Kennedy

Happy Turkey Day!

1. Wisteria Tunnel
Wisteria Tunnel is located at the Kawachi Fuji Gardens in Kitakyushu, Japan. Flowering trees hang overhead and the different colored rows speckle the garden

2. Cinque Terre, Italy

The Cinque Terre is part of the coast in the Liguria region of Italy. The terraces built on the rugged landscape are a popular tourist attraction.

3. Hotel La Montaña Mágica

Magic Mountain hotel is exactly what you think it is. It’s a hotel shaped like a mountain that spews water from the top. It’s located in Huilo Huilo, a private Natural Reserve in the Los Rios region of Chile.

4. The Crooked Forest

The Crooked Forest is located right outside of Nowe Czarnowo, West Pomerania, Poland. The grove contains approximately 400 pine trees with bent trunks. They were planted sometime in 1939, but why or who made them crooked is unknown.

5. Tunnel Of Love
Giant trees surround this old train tunnel located in Kleven, Ukraine. The magical-looking place is nicknamed “The Tunnel Of Love” by locals because it is a popular spot for couples to visit.

6. Blue Lagoon Hot Springs
The Blue Lagoon hot springs in Iceland are man-made bodies of water, but the springs are heated naturally with the volcanic activity on the island. The springs are especially beautiful in the snowy winter, and the water still quite toasty.

7. Ice Canyon
The ice canyons in Greenland were carved by meltwater and are as deep as 150 feet.

8. Ball Pyramid
Ball Pyramid is the world’s tallest sea stack. It is the remains of a shield volcano formed about 7 million years ago. It is 562 meters high and is located southeast of Lord Howe Island in the Pacific Ocean.

9. The Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system. It’s located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia. It’s so large, you can see it from outer space. The reef is a very popular destination for scuba divers and other tourists. (but you know we have to brag here that Belize has the second largest!)

10. Plitvice Lakes National Park
Plitvice Lakes National Park is the oldest national park in Southeast Europe and the largest park in Croatia. The park is filled with luscious green scenery, beautiful lagoons, and amazing waterfalls.

The Dream

After two or three fabulous days of preparing with your crew – you’re suited up and you’re raring to go.

There’s a countdown to release, a brief moment of quiet before a wave of unimaginable but controlled power surges through the craft.

You are instantly pinned back into your seat, enthralled by the howl of the rocket motor, which, as you watch the acceleration read-out, has you traveling in a matter of seconds, at almost 2500mph, over 3 times the speed of sound.

As you hurtle through the edges of the atmosphere, the large windows show the cobalt blue sky turning to mauve and indigo and finally to black.

You’re on a high; this is really happening, you’re loving it and you’re coping well. You start to relax; but in an instant your senses are back on full alert, the world contained in your spaceship has completely transformed.

The rocket motor has been switched off and it is quiet. But it’s not just quiet, it’s QUIET. The silence of space is as awe inspiring as was the noise of the rocket just moments earlier.

What’s really getting your senses screaming now though, is that the gravity which has dominated every movement you’ve made since the day you were born is not there anymore. There is no up and no down and you’re out of your seat experiencing the freedom that even your dreams underestimated.

After a graceful mid-space somersault you find yourself at a large window and what you see is a view that you’ve seen in countless images but the reality is so much more beautiful and provokes emotions that are strong but hard to define.

The blue map, curving into the black distance is familiar but has none of the usual marked boundaries. The incredibly narrow ribbon of atmosphere looks worryingly fragile. What you are looking at is the source of everything it means to be human, and it is home.

Then you’re back to your reclined seat and gravity is starting to return.

The deceleration produces strong G forces, but you’re lying down easing the intensity. You feel the feathered wings of the spacecraft producing a powerful drag as the thickness of the atmosphere increases, although out of the windows it still looks like space.

The G forces quickly ease off and you hear the pilot announce the start of the glide home. Later that evening, sitting with your astronaut wings, you know that life will never quite be the same again.

The Future is pretty much already here. Read more about this exiting new Space venture here: http://www.virgingalactic.com/overview/experience/.

The tradition of celebrating the life and death of lost loved relatives dates back to the ancient Maya, an indigenous culture of Belize and Mesoamerica.  November 2nd is the Day of the Dead for the departed spirits who passed on beyond the age of 12 while on earth and through adulthood and into elderly age

Families always make sure they have delicious traditional Belizean foods such as Bollos, Caldo de Gallina local, Chirmole and Ishpasha Atole. Here in the Cayo District, Tamales are called Bollos. While many may argue that there is a distinction between a Bollo and a tamale, what they will not argue about is that it is definitely an all around favourite throughout Belize and the world for that matter!