Green Hills Butterfly Ranch

The captivating Green Hills Butterfly Ranch, which is home to most of the butterflies found in Belize is spread across a lush hillside, eight miles to the south of George Price Highway, opposite the mountain equestrian center, which is a popular horse-riding destination. 

Trails. Although it is primarily a place for research, it's accessible to the public whose main attraction is the well-groomed, 3,300 square feet of air space in which a multitude of beautiful tropical butterflies dances about, stopping occasionally on blossoms to drink nectar. More than eighty species have been reared in the area, and you'll typically be able to see between 25 and 30 at any given moment, based on the season and breeding season. 

Local guides who are enthusiastic and well-trained provide excellent information. Visitors who arrive early may be fortunate enough to witness butterflies emerge from chrysalises with jewels; many of these chrysalises are sent to be displayed in the US. You can also, through appointment, watch the flying of huge owls, which occur at sunset. In order to keep butterflies in your garden, you should be aware of their diet. 

The adjacent botanical garden houses Belize's national passionflower garden, along with a myriad of epiphytes (air plants) including cycads and heliconias, and orchids, as well as an orchard of tropical fruits. The ranch is managed by Dutch biologists Jan Meerman and Tineke Boomsma Both of them have published extensively - such as a Checklist of the Butterflies of Belize that covers reptiles, insects, amphibians, and flowers. They've also found several new species, like one tarantula Citharacanthus meermani - in Green Hills itself. So, Green Hills Butterfly Ranch is a must-visit place for all nature lovers. 

The Howler Monkeys of Placencia Village Belize

WHY NOW To explore this compact wildlife wonderland before the rains descend 

WHERE Community Baboon Sanctuary

DATES - December to May - In Belize black howler monkeys are known as baboons, and the Community Baboon Sanctuary, 40km outside capital Belize City, is the only area established entirely for their conservation. It’s a community-based initiative, located in the village of Bermudian Landing. Landowners pledge to voluntarily manage their land in a monkey-friendly fashion, creating corridors for howlers. The scheme has spread to surrounding villages, resulting in the densest concentration of howlers found anywhere: up to 250 individuals per hectare. 

This density of monkeys makes for a particularly vocal population. When you hear their deafening calls resonating through the forest, you’ll quickly understand how they got their name. Although these howler monkeys are endangered due to habitat loss, and hunting. But thankfully, Belize still has a sufficient population of the loudest of primates. The Howler monkeys preferred to like vegetables and their diet consists of flowers, leaves, and fruits. Source - Charismatic Planet

Cayo District - Belize

The tropical broadleaf forest of western Belize’s mountainous Cayo District was the heart of the ancient Maya world. Of the 600 ruins buried in the jungle near the Guatemalan border—reachable by horseback or jeep— none compare to Caracol. Though not as well excavated as Tikal in Guatemala (see p. 970), it was one of the great Maya city-states, occupied from the 1st to the 11th centuries and known for its 140-foot-high “sky palace.” In its heyday, there were thousands of buildings across a 30-square-mile area that supported a population of more than 150,000. Set off with a guide to explore Caracol and other nearby treasures, such as underground river cave systems and natural pools and waterfalls that are perfect for a swim.

Or spend the day zip-lining, trekking, kayaking, exploring butterfly gardens, or spotting the birdlife for which the country is famous. The riverside Lodge at Chaa Creek features thatch-roofed cottages, an excellent hilltop spa, horses for jungle treks, and a large, airy restaurant. It is set on a private 365-acre riverside nature preserve, where guests can enjoy a butterfly farm, visit a Maya medicine center, and hike miles of trails. Guides point out exotic jungle residents, such as quarrelsome howler monkeys and some of the 300 species of tropical and migratory birds. A few miles away at the more rustic Mountain Equestrian Trails (MET), horseback riding is the specialty.

A guide will lead you along 60 miles of narrow, winding trails into the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve, pointing out wildlife and recounting jungle lore. Back at the lodge, repair to a kerosene-lamp-lit cabana, and in the morning feast on banana pancakes. Set by a scenic creek and a series of gentle falls, the nearby Blancaneaux Lodge, owned by filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, is the most stylish in the district, with 20 detail-rich accommodations ranging from modest cabanas to a sprawling villa.

Amenities include a riverside spa and a restaurant with the jungle chorus in the background. Worth the detour north of Cayo to Orange Walk, the jungle-enveloped Chan Chich Lodge lets you feel as if you’ve stepped into the ancient world. Built on a Maya plaza dating to the Classic Period (a.d. 300–900), Chan Chich’s elegant thatch-roofed bungalows are surrounded by 130,000 acres of vine-tangled wilderness teeming with more jaguars, jaguarundi, pumas, ocelots, and margays than you’ll find in any other part of Belize. Nine miles of trails wend around temples concealed under grass-covered mounds, and local guides are as well versed in the region’s flora and fauna as they are in the history of its ancient peoples.

Great Blue Hole, Belize

Most of you, may not know about Blue Holes? How they formed and what are most beautiful Blue Holes in the world. A Blue Hole is an underwater sinkhole created with erosion of carbonate bedrock. Its appearance seems a dark blue circle of water on the ocean. It developed in a bank or island contain influenced fresh water, marine, or mixed chemistry. The Halocline point of blue holes meets the freshwater and saltwater. At this point, corrosive reaction takes place which eats away the rock and create side passages or horizontal arms from the vertical cave. 

Blue Holes once lying above the sea level thousand of years ago, but as the time passes it open to the surface and formed by composed of a carbonate bedrock “limestone, or coral reef”. The Blue holes are illustrious from cenotes in that the latter are inland voids normally holding fresh groundwater rather than seawater.

The process of dissolution of soluble rocks and intense karst activity created large vertical caves. When the ocean level rose up due to melting of glaciers these blue holes became submerged. Owing to their depth, the greater absorption of sunlight increases their depth, creates a dramatic contrast with the lighter blue of the shallows around them and forms a natural outline that can be easily seen from the surface. Many Blue Holes provide access to submerged cave passages. 

Great Blue Hole, Belize

On the coast of Belize, a small country on the eastern coast of Central America. This country has the famous Great Blue Hole is a giant marine sinkhole near the small atoll center of Lighthouse Belize City. A circular shape hole formed with quaternary glaciation when sea level was very low. It is 1,043 ft across and 407 ft deep.

Great Blue Hole is a World Heritage site a part of Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System. Great Blue Hole shows formation took place around 15,000 years ago. This hole is among the five best widespread spots for recreational scuba divers.

The divers enticed the opportunity of dive in crystal clear water with mesmerizing fishes, Caribbean reef shark, bull shark, hammerheads, and other juvenile fish. Discovery channel ranked Great Blue Hole is Top Spot in the list of Most Amazing Places on Earth. Different fossils existed in blue holes, such as crocodile and tortoise fossils.

The Great Blue Hole, Belize

In Belize, a small country has a natural wonder of giant sinkhole named “The Great Blue”. Off the coast of Belize, it lies close to center of lighthouse Reef, 70 KM from the Belize City. The Great Blue Hole is in circular shape, 300 meter across and 124 meter deep which is the most often cited depth up to this day. The name “The Great Blue Hole” was devised by British diver and author Ned Middleton in the book “Ten Years Underwater”. So, this name is so popular nowadays. In 2012 Discovery Channel ranked the “Great Blue Hole” as number one on its list of "The 10 Most Amazing Places on Earth". Many different fossils have been discovered that indicate the type of life forms that existed in Great Blue Holes. Other life forms such as marine life and marine fossils have also been noticed Crocodile and tortoise fossils have been found in blue holes.

The Great Blue Hole formation took place more than 150,000 years ago, when it was formed during several episodes of quaternary glaciation when sea levels were much lower. However, with the passage of time, the sea level began to rise, the cave was flooded. The Great Blue Hole is considering one of TOP 10 scuba diving place in the world. Moreover, The Great Blue Hole is a part of the larger Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, a World Heritage Site of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Normally a day trip to the Great Blue Hole is full-day trips from the coastal tourist communities in Belize. Stalactites were retrieved from submerged caves, off-vertical by 5˚ in a consistent orientation, signifying that there had also been some past geological shift and tilting of the underlying plateau.

This is one of favorite site among the recreational scuba divers. They’re enticing by the great opportunity to dive in crystal clear water. This is a popular spot among recreational scuba divers who are lured by the opportunity to dive in sometimes crystal-clear water and meet several species of fish, including Midnight Parrotfish, Caribbean reef shark, and other juvenile fish species. There’re many types of sharks species reported here, like bull shark, hammerheads shark are among popular here, though not regularly sighted. Moreover, on-shore caves of related formation, as large collapsed sinkholes, are well recognized in Belize and in the Yucatán Peninsula, where they are identified as cenotes. Contrasting the mainland cenotes which frequently link to underwater cave systems, there is little evidence of horizontal development in the Blue Hole. The Great Blue Hole is not for all divers, you must be very perfect of having all types of diving skills, enables you to witness a dark cave with impressive stalactites.  Source: Charismatic Planet