We booked the "Reef and Ruins" package and had no idea what we were getting into. Turns out that this was the best vacation ever. From the moment we arrived in Belize we felt so welcome. David greeted us at the airport with a big smile and took us on our first adventure, the Belize Zoo.

Our seven year old was already having the time of his life. After the zoo David drove us to the Jungle Dome. As we arrived at the Jungle Dome we were greeted by the sounds of howler monkeys and parrots. At that moment we knew that this was going to be some adventure. Karen ,the manager, greeted us at the front gate like we were old friends returning home. Her warmth and friendliness was so comforting. She showed us around the property and brought us to our room. The room was spacious and very clean and it looked out to the pool. There were warm chocolate chip cookies waiting for us. We were ready to see what was next for us.

During our stay we visited CheChem Ha and Xunantunich with our English speaking guide Luis. He was very knowledgeable about the Mayan Ruins and surrounding plants. We enjoyed his company and were lucky enough to have him as our guide on two other tours, cave tubing and Tikal. Our son's favorite outing was the zip lining. He enjoyed climbing through the jungle and climbing up to the first platform. If you could see his face coming across the zip line it was worth a millon dollars! The views from Xunantunich and Tikal were spectacular although the ride to Guatamala was a bit bumpy, but worth it. The horse back riding with Kim in the cocoa fields was great, the horses were friendly and easy to ride and the lunch served afterwards was the best.

After each day's exciting adventure we went back to the Jungle Dome and took a cool swim in their pool and settled down to a home cooked meal with the other families staying at the Dome. Over dinner we each shared our day's expedition in the wild and talked about how wonderful Belize is. We relaxed in the hammocks after the tasty treats the girls in the kitchen prepared and watched our son play with the local children.

Before we know it our "Ruins" part of the trip was over and we were on a small plane heading to San Pedro to experience the "Reef". We first did the snorkeling/manatee watching trip. The water was clear and the snorkeling was good, many interesting fish and coral to see. The BBQ lunch on the beach was delicious and the local tour guides were funny. On day two we went to shark alley and swam with the sharks and sting rays. Then back to the beach for a relaxing afternoon at the hotel. The hotel, Banana Beach, was older, but well kept. The two pools were nice and refreshing and the restaurant served good hot meals in a timely manner.

We decided to extend our vacation an extra day on San Pedro so we had an opportunity to drive a golf cart around the town to do some shopping. Unfortunately our trip was about to come to an end. We packed up our belongings, and souvenirs and headed back to the states. It is now 3 months later and we are still talking about this trip. We show our pictures to anyone willing to look at them.

It truly was the most amazing experience we have had as a family and the best vacation anyone could ask for. We feel very lucky to have had the chance to do this and look forward to being able to return someday.

To everyone who made this trip so great, Karen, David, Luis, kitchen girls, Kim, Miguel, William, and we can't forget Phoebe and Max, a HUGE thank you from the Wilkersons.

Wilkerson Family, Texas, USA

May 2007

Labels: belize zoo, cave tubing, che chem ha caves, guest comments, images, slideshow, tikal mayan temples, trip review, xunantunich mayan temples, zip line