If You Go: Belmopan is located a short distance south of the intersection of the Western and Hummingbird highways, about 40 miles in either direction from San Ignacio and Belize City. There is frequent, inexpensive bus service to Belmopan from Belize City, San Ignacio, and Dangriga. Buses run about once every hour between these communities from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., less often on weekends and holidays.

Services in Belmopan include a bank, a post office, and several hotels and restaurants. Because most visitors are on expense accounts, most accommodations are pricey, although the Bull Frog Inn and Circle 'A' Lodge, both on Halfmoon Ave., are more moderate. Be advised that the Bull Frog bar can be very noise until the wee hours of the morning. The best budget hotel (and café ) is the El Rey Inn, located on Moho Street in a residential area. Free overnight parking is available to recreational vehicles at The Oasis, near Guanacaste park, which also has an inexpensive restaurant, restrooms, and a water tap.

Belmopan's restaurants are characterized by their overpriced, undistinguished food and slow service. The best establishments are Yoli's Lounge (Belizean, Mexican, Italian and American food) and the Bull Frog Inn, although the Chinese restaurants serve cheap, acceptable meals, as they do throughout Belize. An important exception is Little Dragon, near the Hummingbird Highway, where several travelers have reported intestinal distress.

Guanacaste National Park

On Earth Day (April 22), 1990, the Belizean government officially created 50-acre Guanacaste National Park in a lush parcel of forest alongside the Belize River. Located less than 2 miles from Belmopan, at the intersection of the Hummingbird and Western highways, the park is named after a huge guanacaste tree growing near the reserve's southwestern boundary. Also known as the tubroos or monkey's ear tree, the guanacaste is a highly prized hardwood known for its resistance to insects and decay. Guanacaste lumber is the material of choice for construction of dugout canoes, feeding troughs, and rice-hulling mortars. Cattle and monkeys love to nibble on guanacaste fruit, which appear as a shiny brown pod during the dry season after an explosion of small white flowers.

This particular giant (the species is one of the largest in Central America) towers more than 120 feet above the forest floor and was only spared the woodcutter's ax because naturally occurring splits in its massive trunk make it unusable as timber (all other guanacaste trees in the park have been harvested). The tree's broad, sky-seeking branches support hundreds of epiphytes, including many brilliant species of orchid and bromeliad. A short trail leads through the forest to the guanacaste tree from a visitors' center operated by the Belize Audubon Society. Known as the Guanacaste Education Center, this facility was dedicated to the U.S. Peace Corps as Audubon's way of honor the Corps' many contributions to conservation and education in Belize.

Other large trees seen along the trail to the Guanacaste tree include the mammee apple, bookut, ramon, quamwood, silk cotton, and raintree. Several mahogany trees have been planted near the park's visitor center as part of a reforestation program. One can hike a self-guided interpretive loop trail and view a display of native orchids at the visitors' center.

Despite Guanacaste's diminutive size, it harbors abundant wildlife. Species observed here include jaguarundi, kinkajou, paca, armadillo, iguana, deer, and opossum. Resident birds include the blue-crowned motmot, black-faced ant thrush, smoky-brown woodpecker, red-lored parrot, black-headed trogon, and squirrel cuckoo, among more than 50 confirmed species.

Guanacaste National Park is easily accessible by bus, taxi, private car, or package tour. Restrooms, drinking water, and picnic facilities are available. Cooking and camping are not permitted, however. There is a well-maintained trail network throughout the park, which follows a graceful curve of the Belize River at the confluence of Roaring Creek. Note that a German tourist was attacked while visiting the park in 1995.

Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve

Wedged between Roaring Creek and Upper Barton Creek in the northern foothills of the Mountain Pine Ridge, not far from the capital city of Belmopan, the 6,741-acre Tapir Mountain (formerly Society Hall) Nature Reserve is an intact block of tropical forest and home to all manner of flora and fauna. It has been kept this way because of the determination and foresight of its conservation-minded landowner. Svea Dietrich-Ward had for many years sought a way to permanently save this area. Finally, in 1986, the German-born conservationist (now a dual citizen of the U.S. and Belize who raises Arabian horses near San Ignacio) entered a long-term lease agreement with the Belize government on the condition that the property's natural resources be protected. Soon after, officials proclaimed it a "nature reserve." (In Belize, this designation is a subcategory of the National Parks System Act specifying that such lands be preserved for scientific research and education only.)

The nature reserve label means that Tapir Mountain is not a destination for the casual tourist: the only visitors legally allowed are researchers with specific scientific objectives or groups of students with competent leaders, all with prior permission. A separate permit is required from the Belize Audubon Society, since that organization is entrusted with management duties for Tapir Mountain.

Perhaps the greatest threat to Tapir Mountain is from encroachment into the reserve by farmers engaged in slash-and-burn agriculture. A growing number of Guatemalan and Salvadoran refugees are practicing this traditional form of agriculture in the area and there have been reports of this forest- destroying practice actually occurring within Tapir Mountain's borders, apparently taking advantage of the fact that the area is so remote. This is compounded by the lack of access for land managers to monitor and help prevent such deforestation. At Dietrich-Ward's requests, the U.S.-based conservation flying group, LightHawk, has monitored and shown law enforcement officers these incursions from the air.

The Tapir Mountain area consists of undulating limestone karst topography dotted with sinkholes, exposed rock outcrops, small streams, and bubbling springs. Middens-the garbage heaps of the Maya, consisting mostly of shells, pot shards, and bones- are concealed by a dense forest of climbing vines, cohune palms, and scores of other tree species. In some of the valleys and low-lying portions of this reserve, the forest canopy crests at nearly 100 feet. Massive brown termite nests envelop tree trunks here and there, while leaf-cutter ants march past brilliant red and yellow giant heliconias, methodically going about the rigorous business of collecting and transporting food for their vast colonies. Once the leaves are collected, they are masticated and regurgitated by the ants, who later eat the fungus-covered results.

Like much of Belize, Tapir Mountain has probably been selectively logged for such prized hardwoods as mahogany, Santa MarĈ a, and Spanish cedar. This species-specific logging has left the rest of the reserve's tropical broadleaf moist forest practically untouched. In 1994, a preliminary biological survey of the reserve began to generate baseline biological data and set the stage for possible development of a tropical research and training facility at Tapir Mountain. However, like other protected areas the Belize Audubon Society manages, Tapir Mountain needs financial support to help protect it over the long haul.

If You Go: Because of the reserve's protected status, access to the Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve is limited to scientists and other researchers. Contact the Belize Audubon Society in Belize City for specific information. Not far from Tapir Mountain is the Slate Creek Preserve, a private, community-based reserve spearheaded by Jim Bevis, president of the Belize Ecotourism Association. Contact Bevis at his Mountain Equestrian Trails for information on access to this 3500-acre wilderness.

//This article is excerpted and adapted from Belize: A Natural Destination, third edition, from John Muir Publications. _ Richard Mahler, Steele Wotkyns, and Kevin Schafer.//

BRIEF UPDATE ON CARACOL

By MARSHALL KRANTZ

Belize's largest known ancient Mayan ruin, the once- mighty city of Caracol, will be officially opened to the public in April, according to the Belizean Department of Archaeology.

The public is already allowed on site, but now independent travelers will no longer first need to get a permit and then have it signed by a Forestry Department official at Augustine. With the official opening, visitors will pay a US$5 fee at the entrance, according to Archaeological Commissioner Brian Woodye. Cayo District lodges that operate tours to Caracol already obtain permits, so lodge guests will notice no difference.

In further improvements, the notoriously rough, dirt road into Caracol has been considerably tamed thanks to continuing governmental road work. A half- dozen pieces of heavy equipment were grading and packing the road between the Macal River and Caracol, reportedly the worst stretch, when I traveled there in February. My companion and I never once had to switch our rented Isuzu Trooper into four wheel drive, although conditions were fairly decent as it hadn't rained in a few days. I'd still recommend four-wheel drive to be on the safe side, and if nothing else than for high clearance over a few watery spots on the road.

When Caracol officially opens, visitors will still be prohibited from wandering on their own. An official, park guide leads tours daily at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. The tours last about two-and-a-half hours.

A small visitors center, under construction in February, was expected to be completed in time for the official opening. The center will contain exhibits, a small store and gift shop, and enclosed pit toilets to replace the decrepit, makeshift outhouse now available.

A large, dirt parking area has also been graded, indicating perhaps that the government expects a significant increase in attendance from the few thousand visitors last year.

As for the continuing archeological investigation into Caracol, no new major excavations were planned this year, according to Diane Chase, a University of Central Florida archeologist who along with her husband, Arlen, heads the Caracol Project. Rather, she said, the Chases and their students will examine and catalog much of what they found last year. Previous finds include two royal tombs.

A sixth- and seventh-century superpower in the Maya world, Caracol was home to an estimated 180,000 people. Since excavation began in 1985, more than 4,000 structures have been discovered, nearly twice that found at Tikal in an equivalent area. Only the central core of Caracol has been extensively excavated, however, including the Canaa, or Sky Place, which served as Caracol's focal point of religious and state power. The 156-foot-tall pyramid remains Belize's tallest building.

IF YOU GO: Take your own food and water to Caracol, and make sure your tank is full. Allow about three hours for the drive from San Ignacio. Good, Cayo district lodges that also operate Caracol tours include Maya Mountain, Chaa Creek, Hidden Valley, Pine Ridge, Blancaneaux and Mountain Equestrian Trails (MET has discontinued its horseback trips into Caracol, the road being so good now). Camping at the entrance to Caracol or on site is prohibited.

BEST BOOKS ON BELIZE (AND SOME YOU SHOULD AVOID)

By LAN SLUDER

Sometimes I think there are more guidebooks to Belize than are tourists to this little country. At one time, it was difficult to find anything about Belize; now, the Belize information market is segmented with dozens of guides, covering every niche from diving to birding to ecotouring to Maya tripping.

The good news is that most of the guides are first-rate. Paul Glassman, author of five pioneering guides to Central America including Belize Guide points out that today's guidebooks are far superior to those available even just a few years ago: "If you can find a guidebook in the library from 20 years back, you'll find it woefully inadequate by today's standards -- basic maps, a quick once-over on food, recommendations that you take a tour rather than giving instructions for doing it on your own." Ironically -- see the review of the newly "updated" edition of Glassman's guide below -- the new Belize Guide, in its present form, and through no fault of Glassman himself, is a sadly deficient version of the earlier editions.

Here, to help you choose the guide or guides that are best for you, is a quick review of some of the best books on Belize. Volumes of particular value to those with an interest in Belize have been awarded the "Recommended by Belize First" seal. In the case of guidebooks, timeliness is vital, and an otherwise top guide may not earn the recommendation due to lack of recent update.

Note my biases: I prefer travel books that are written by a single author, rather than by a committee of writers and editors. I value books with the latest information and good maps. I don't care much whether there are pretty photos or not, although I recognize that many readers do. A good index (rare in travel books) is a plus. Other books on Belize of special note are also listed here. Unless otherwise indicated, all editions are paperback.

BELIZE GUIDEBOOKS

Belize Handbook, by Chicki Mallan. ISBN 1-56691- 030-7. Moon Publications, 3rd ed., 1995. 364 pp. US$15.95. Every Moon guide I've ever used has been wonderful, with solid research, readable design, good maps, and sensible views on environmental issues. This revised edition of the Belize Handbook is no exception. It's reliable, well-organized, easy to use, and packed with good ideas on enjoying Belize to the fullest. Chicki Mallan was visiting Belize before many of us had ever heard of the place, and she knows her stuff. The photos, mostly by Oz Mallan, provide a good, ground-level feel for the country and its people. Update research for the third edition was done by Phil Lanier (who has contributed several pieces to BELIZE FIRST). Although Belize is changing so fast in some places that no guidebook can keep up, in general this Moon guide does a good job on giving you the latest poop. I especially like the two separate indexes for hotels and restaurants, in addition to the main index. Maps? There are 45 excellent ones. If you're going to Belize, you need this guide. Period.

RECOMMENDED BY BELIZE FIRST MAGAZINE

Belize A Natural Destination, by Richard Mahler and Steele Wotkyns. ISBN 1-56261-221-2. John Muir Publications, 3rd. ed., 1995. 326 pp., US$16.95. Those who give a damn about the real Belize, the natural Belize, will find this ecoguide inspiring and invaluable. It covers just about everything you'll want to do and see in Belize -- Mayan sites, jungle trips, fishing, diving, kayaking, biking. True, A Natural Destination doesn't provide some of the nitty-gritty details of restaurants and hotels that regular guidebooks do. But one of the best things about it is the last 40 or so pages -- this "Inside Belize" section provides a surprising amount of hard information on Belize, including scores of information sources on Belize that many other guides just don't cover. A negative for me is the book's traditional design, without many boxes and breakouts. It's just not as accessible as, say, Moon's Belize Handbook, but the photos, by Kevin Schafer, are an asset. Co-author Rich Mahler has contributed to BELIZE FIRST, and his article on Cayo appears in this issue of BELIZE FIRST.

RECOMMENDED BY BELIZE FIRST MAGAZINE

The New Key to Belize, by Stacy Ritz. ISBN 1-56975- 034-3. Ulysses Press, 2nd ed., 1995, 209 pp. US$14.95. I'm a Stacy Ritz fan, more so than ever since I saw her Hidden Carolinas, which is one of the best guides to my home state of North Carolina and to South Carolina. I was less than impressed with New Key to Belize when it first came out in 1994, especially in comparison with the benchmark New Key to Costa Rica. But having used the original edition, I now find Ritz's judgments to be sound and insightful. The new 2nd edition has been sensibly updated and includes hotels and listings that some of the other new guides have missed. In fact, as of now this may be the most up-to-date guidebook on the market. Color photos by Doug Perrine; 14 maps but in need of more and better ones. "Green ratings" for environmental efforts go to 25 resorts.

RECOMMENDED BY BELIZE FIRST MAGAZINE

Adventure Guide to Belize, by Harry S. Pariser. ISBN 1-55650-647-3. Hunter Publishing, 3rd. ed., 1995, 366 pp. US$14.95. This is one of the most comprehensive and useful guides to Belize. It ranks with the Moon Belize Handbook and the New Key to Belize as a good traveling companion, and, like Belize, A Natural Destination, and the similarly named Adventuring in Belize, it takes an ecologically aware approach. Very detailed. Color photos; 38 maps. Harry Pariser's articles on Belize have appeared in past issues of BELIZE FIRST.

RECOMMENDED BY BELIZE FIRST MAGAZINE

Adventuring in Belize, by Eric Hoffman. ISBN 0- 87156-592-7. Sierra Club Books, 1994, 371 pp. US$15. A recent traveler to Belize told me he used several guides to the country, but he liked this one the best. Author Hoffman obviously knows a great deal about Belize and has a refreshing honesty when, for example, he admits to a lack of knowledge about Belize City restaurants resident Meb Cutlack to assess them. Still, the guide is now getting long in the tooth in fast-changing Belize.

RECOMMENDED BY BELIZE FIRST MAGAZINE

Insight Guides Belize. Tony Perrottet, ed. ISBN 0- 395-71053-7. Houghton Mifflin, 1995, 332 pp. US$21.95. Everyone has such wonderful things to say about the Insight series that it's almost heresy to express less than absolute awe for these lavishly illustrated and beautifully printed volumes. I wonder, though, if anyone actually reads one of these guides? The quality of the reportage certainly varies. In the case of the Belize volume, which has about a dozen different contributors, it seems to me that those who know Belize aren't especially good writers, and the good writers don't know that much about Belize. The photographs, mostly by U.S.-expat and Dangriga resident Tony Rath, are amazing, surely the best collection of Belize photos ever put together in one place. They alone are worth the price of the book.

RECOMMENDED BY BELIZE FIRST MAGAZINE

Guide to Belize, by Alex Bradbury. ISBN 1-56440- 532-X. Globe Pequot Press, 1994, 326 pp. US$15.95. Bradbury, both a professional diver and a biologist, brings a unique perspective to Belize travel journalism. I'd love to see a complete update of this well-done guide, because much of the practical detail on hotels, restaurants, and prices is now yesterday's news. Alex Bradbury contributed an article on Ambergris Caye to Vol. II, No. 4 of BELIZE FIRST.

Belize Guide, by Paul Glassman, updated by Ron Charles. ISBN 1-883323-25-8. Open Road Publishing, 7th ed., 1996, 332 pp., US$14.95. Paul Glassman is one of the best travel writers covering Belize and the region. He has contributed to BELIZE FIRST. But, in a dispute over royalties and other matters, the new edition of the classic Belize Guide, while showing a Glassman copyright, was not updated by him. Glassman says: "I did not have anything to do with the so-called 1996 update of Belize Guide, and the publisher has paid no royalties on it. I do not endorse it as being accurate or up-to-date." Myself, I find the updating spotty at best. For example, in the Placencia section, it leaves out most of the new places that have opened in the past year or two, and in the Mountain Pine Ridge such new spots as Five Sisters Lodge. A sidebar on the British Defence Forces is grossly out of date, including a mention of the closed Adventure Inn in Consejo. For a book that claims to be copyrighted in 1996, this is inexcusable. The new chapter on "Most Memorable Hotels and Inns" reads like advertorial to me. For example, the section on Maruba Resort goes on for a page a half piling adjective upon adjective: "Maruba is one of the most exotic properties anywhere in the world! The Nicholsons have spent the past 9 years creating this deluxe jungle resort .... you can't help but feel you have finally found paradise the moment you arrive here....The independent cabanas are the perfect choice for romantic honeymooners, especially the magic Chapel Room ... Guests are truly pampered with personalized service offered by the friendliest staff in Belize... Maruba gets my highest recommendation, and it should not be missed." The eight "most memorable" in Belize are, according to the non-Glassman chapter (it is not made clear who the "I" is who does these glowing recommendations): Ramada Royal Reef, Radisson Fort George, Serenity, Rum Point, Captain Morgan's, Duplooy's, Hidden Valley Inn, and Maruba. Although some of these are fine places, to leave out such truly memorable lodges as Chan Chich, Blancaneaux, Lamanai Lodge, and Chaa Creek shows, to put the most charitable spin on it, ignorance of what many Belize travelers want.

This new edition is NOT recommended by BELIZE FIRST.

MULTI-COUNTRY GUIDEBOOKS

Many guides cover several or even all countries in the region. These can be of value if you are traveling to more than one country. The disadvantage is that, in most cases, coverage of any one country -- specifically of Belize, which tends to get short shrift in regional guidebooks -- is less comprehensive than the single-country guides.

Mexico & Central America Handbook. Ben Box, editor. Passport Books, 6th ed., 1995. 927 pp. US$21.95. This and the South America Passport guides are almost universally recommended by seasoned travelers for those who are visited several countries. And no wonder. They pack tons of detailed information in hundreds of pages of tiny type on thin paper. The 47-page Belize section, while generally on target, is not quite as up-to-date as it could be, especially on Placencia and Cayo. Recommended if you are traveling widely in the region and wish to take only one or two general guides.

RECOMMENDED BY BELIZE FIRST MAGAZINE

Guatemala, Belize & Yucatç n, La Ruta Maya, by Tom Brosnahan. ISBN 0-86442-220-2. Lonely Planet, 1994, 2nd. ed., 508 pp. US$16.95. Meticulously researched, authoritatively written guide to the main Maya sites in the region. Good hotel, restaurant and other sightseeing information, although with changes since late 1993 and early 1994 not included it's getting to be time for an update. Tom Brosnahan is one of the world's most experienced travel writers, having penned more than two dozen guidebooks. A piece by him appeared in the Vol. II, No. 3 edition of BELIZE FIRST.

RECOMMENDED BY BELIZE FIRST MAGAZINE

Rough Guide to Guatemala & Belize, by Mark Whatmore and Peter Eltringham. Rough Guides, 2nd ed., 1993 (3rd ed., 1996, due out shortly). 512 pp. US$14.95. The new 3rd edition, although not available for review at the time this issue of BELIZE FIRST went to press, is expected to follow the path of excellence of the previous two editions. Rough Guides are known for their exacting research, and they often are the favorites of travel writers. The Rough Guide to Guatemala & Belize is, in a word, terrific, and I only wish the entire volume were devoted to Belize. The new 3rd edition will also cover the Honduras Bay Islands. An update on Placencia co-authored by Peter Eltringham is in this issue of BELIZE FIRST.

RECOMMENDED BY BELIZE FIRST MAGAZINE

Belize First Home Page