What Do You Know About Belize ?
Today Norm Goldman, Editor sketchandtravel.comand bookpleasures.com is pleased to have as a guest Joshua Berman,co-author of Moon
Handbooks Belize.
Joshua is an expert on traveling in Belize, and recently chose this tiny
Central American country for his own honeymoon; he has also lived in and written extensively about Nicaragua and Honduras.
Welcome to Sketchandtravel.com and Bookpleasures.com Joshua and thanks for accepting our
invitation to be interviewed.
NORM:
Please tell our readers something about yourself and your expertise pertaining to
Belize.
Joshua:
I have been living, working, teaching, and traveling in Central America since the U.S. Peace
Corps sent me to Nicaragua in 1998. I have been returning to the region ever since to write guidebooks, lead service trips, and visit friends and
adopted families.
Last year, I was asked by Avalon Travel Publishing to take over Chicki Mallan's Moon Handbooks
Belize, which, when it first appeared 15 years ago, was the first and most acclaimed guidebook to the country. I gladly accepted and proceeded to
research and write the sixth edition, which was released in early 2005.
NORM:
Where is Belize?
Joshua:
Belize is tucked into the northeast corner of Central America, bordering Mexico's Yucatan
peninsula to the north, Guatemala's Petn wilderness to the west, and the Caribbean Ocean to the east. Culturally however, Belize and its hundreds
of cayes (islands, pronounced keys ) is more Caribbean than Latin. English is spoken everywhere (along with seven other languages). The diversity
is astounding, especially considering there are only 260,000 people in the entire country.
NORM:
Would you consider Belize a good choice for a romantic getaway or wedding and honeymoon
destination? Why?
Joshua:
Absolutely. Belize's tourism board actively markets the country as a lovers' destination, and
there is no shortage of special honeymoon and romantic packages from which to choose:
They can rent their very own waterfall for the day at Hidden Valley Inn. Couples can get Mood
Mud Massages at Maruba Resort Jungle Spa.
They can rappel into a vertical cave shaft together, at the bottom of which they'll find a
flower strewn bed next to a subterranean spring at Ian Anderson's Caves Branch. The list goes on and on.
Belize's size (smaller than Massachusetts), easy access (only a two-hour flight from Miami or
Houston), and astonishing selection of small, intimate resorts and lodges seal the deal. In order to solidify my endorsement of Belize as a
romantic destination, I even took my own bride here on our honeymoon (ah, the work never stops)
NORM:
When is the best time to visit Belize from the point of view of weather, costs, crowds, and the
availability of flights from the USA, Canada and Europe and Australia, etc?
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