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Editor's Note: BELIZE FIRST tries always to present a balanced view of resorts we review. To that end, here is a second opinion by a traveler who visited Jaguar Paw not long after Editor Lan Sluder.
By CYNTHIA ANDERSON
The Jaguar Paw Jungle Resort developed by Donna and Cy Young is a lush oasis in an incredible location.
Thick, dense foliage covered with drops of dew gave me the sense that the jungle could soon overtake the creatively designed structures. The main lodge and dining room has a beautifully crafted rock waterfall and a lovely replica of Mayan figures. The art (see example above) adorns the ceiling line and is a colorful and fitting touch.
Donna Young has made each of the rooms distinct, each with a different motif and theme. I found the variety, the difference in colors, paint and fabric used in decorations to be a visual treat.
The room we stayed in was the African Room, with black curtains, colorful patterns of zebra prints, hanging puppet giraffes and many objects of art. I did see all the other rooms, and some I liked more than others. My favorite was probably the Sea Shell Room, with the shower wall encased with shells and a more simple, restful room.
During our visit, Jaguar Paw was a little on the slow side, with four other guests in attendance our first night there -- but, hey, this was late August. We had a delicious, plentiful and beautifully prepared meal. Donna and Cy joined us for dinner, as did the other guests, and we had some lively conversations about Belize and life in the jungle. Meals the second day and when other guests were no longer there, were just as carefully prepared and offered some of the best food we had on our two-week trip to Belize.
After breakfast, we rounded up inner tubes, with Cy and three of the staff, for a most extraordinary experience! A short walk from the resort led us to incredible turquoise waters of the
Caves Branch River and the wide open mouth of a huge cave. The entrance was draped with hanging vines and a profusion of greens. For the next several hours, we were mesmerized by floating in and out of darkness through a series of caves, with huge rock formations, vast and beautiful stalactites, stalagmites and thousands of bats overhead. The lanterns on our heads made intriguing illuminations on the colorful rock. I've done spelunking, and this was as effortless as I've ever found: floating with the flow of water, easily through caverns and canyons. The cave-scape was unlike other habitats I've found and gave almost a surrealistic sense of being in another world and dimension. This was stunning! It was a highlight of our Belize experience.
The third morning, we opted to take a jungle hike with Donna and two of the guides. We followed the property line until we were in a dense part of the jungle. I was fascinated with the guide's knowledge of "bush medicine," the various trees and roots to stop bleeding, nausea, fever, skin eruptions or to avoid reactions to harmful plants. I felt reassured that the bush guide could "smell" snakes and put out of my mind the fear I had of the wicked fer de lance. The limestone outcroppings and unevenness of the jungle terrain made hiking more visually interesting. Here and there were ancient ruins; rock outcroppings and sandy depressions revealed potsherds from ancient times. The jungle at Jaguar Paw seemed more like a real jungle than some other places in Belize, with the thick, dense and lush canopy overhead, wild birds twittered and the verdant, rich, rotted vegetation underfoot.
Cynthia Anderson lives in Colorado and visited Jaguar Paw in August 1996.
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