In Southern Belize, peace, tranquility, beauty abound

In the Belize village of Hopkins, population 700, Western luxuries are as rare as the tourists. Homes are ramshackle huts, children play barefoot in dusty streets and yards overgrown with jungle vines, and dinner depends much on the day's catch or harvest.

Chickens squawked and scattered as we rode rented bikes into town from nearby Jaguar Reef Resort. We turned onto a side street, where a lanky teenager in dreadlocks blocked our path.

"Hey, my name's Cliff," he grinned. "Welcome to paradise."

He said it without irony and with total accuracy. Just a few feet away, the warm Caribbean lapped bright ivory sand. Behind us, lush, verdant jungle swallowed all but the highest peaks of the Maya Mountains.

Unlike most tourists who flock to Belize's northern coast to fish or dive, we opted for southern Belize, an intoxicating melange of virgin seacoast, untouched rainforest and primitive villages. About the size of Massachusetts, Belize was once home to more than one million Mayans. Monday, it has barely 200,000 residents. Eighty percent of its rainforest remains under government protection, and much of it is unexplored.

We'd arrived in the Central American paradise a week earlier, connecting through Miami and Belize City. From there, an eight-passenger Maya Airways plane carried us to Dangriga, a fishing settlement where a landing strip had been carved from the jungle and ended abruptly almost in the Caribbean. The plane rolled to a stop at Rodney's Place and Taxi, a shack that serves as passenger terminal, snack bar, control tower and taxi stop. A worker from a local inn greeted two guests, loaded their luggage into a wheelbarrow and led a procession into town, a dozen dogs yapping at their heels.

It was just a short ride to Jaguar Reef Resort, nestled on a remote stretch of Caribbean beach. Each night we fell asleep to the rhythm of the sea. Each morning we woke early to watch the sun burst over the azure horizon.

A popular Belize bumper sticker reads, "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem," and that policy stands at Jaguar Reef. Each morning we kicked through the sand to a tiled patio, where we enjoyed eggs or breakfast tortillas and an endless juice supply from just-picked fruit. At night, we dined in starlight.

Jaguar Reef offers its guests free use of bicycles and kayaks, and we used both to explore the coast. The resort is new, and tourists are still a novelty in the region. Wherever we biked, adults smiled and children waved.

On our return from exploring the ruins of an old sugar mill, we stopped at a small shop for sodas, where owner Isaac Kelly joined us on the patio. The people of Belize are remarkably radiant in their happiness, their graciousness and their extreme pride in their country, and Kelly was no different. His greatest pride, perhaps, is in the peaceful relations between the country's many ethnic groups.

News From Hopkins And Placencia

• Many lots in the Sittee Point area have been sold, at US$39,000 to US$50,000 for 50-foot ocean frontage ($780 to $1000 a front foot). British American Cattle Co.
• Sugar Mill ruins near Sittee Point are now open and operating as tourist site.
• Toucan Sittee Lodge, once for sale for US$450,000, has been taken off the market.
• Cockscomb Preserve has built new cabin accommodations for overnight visitors. The new facilities have electricity (from solar panels) and rent for US$15 a night per person. The use of the kitchen facilities is US$1 per person extra.
• Raleigh International has built a hiking trail to Victoria Peak. This should open one of Belize's highest mountains to more visitation, via the Cockscomb Preserve.
• Growth continues in Placencia/Seine Bight: Green Parrot appears to be doing well; Hotel Seine Bight is getting good comments for its food and ambiance. New cabaņa lodges include Tarpon Village and Alfredo's. Rum Point has expanded with a new two-story unit.

Hopkins/Sittee Point Area

Jaguar Reef Lodge, Hopkins, Belize, C.A.; tel./fax 501-2-12041 or 800-289-5756 or email at jaguarreef@btl.net. Rates: US$120 double high season; US$75 off-season. Plus tax. Meals extra: dinner US$19, lunch $11, breakfast $7, per person including VAT. Free use of mountain bikes and kayaks. Jaguar Reed is located just south of Hopkins on the coast between Dangriga and Placencia. There are 14 attractive rooms in seven duplex thatch-roof cabaņas on the beach. Rooms are nicely decorated with original art and Mexican tile floors. This resort boast that it is 30-minutes to the Cockscomb jaguar preserve and 30 minutes from the road. Lots of tours nature and snorkel tours, most priced at US$42 per person. Dive instruction available and C-Breath Center. I like the Sittee Point/Hopkins area. Folks are friendly, and the area has not been spoiled by tourism. The beach is pristine and is one of the best on the mainland. There is a lot of seagrass, but this makes for a better environment for manatee and other sealife. Owner Bruce Foerster seems dedicated to preserving the environment and says he will donate profits from this and other resorts he plans to develop in Belize to eco-groups and other charities.   Sittee Point is likely to develop as a new resort and residential area for expats -- Foerster himself plans a new hotel just south of the Jaguar Reef site. Lan Sluder, August 1996

Jaguar Reef Lodge, Sittee Point/Hopkins
The first real resort in beautiful setting at what eventually will be another Placencia.

Hopkins/Sittee Point
That is what Placencia was 20 years ago, almost as pretty and even friendlier. If you want a place on the beach, prices are still relatively affordable here, but as anywhere in Belize, do you "due diligence" before putting out cash.

Belize now has legalized gambling.

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