Welcome to Belize! This Central American country is smaller than the state of Massachusetts, yet it’s home to an astonishing array of cultures. The Mayan Empire stretched south from modern-day Mexico into what is now Belize and Guatemala, and there is still a sizable Mayan population here today. In this week’s video, we tour Ixcacao Maya Belizean Chocolate to learn how chocolate is made, starting from the fruit right off the tree!
Our journey began in Placencia, a peninsula on the Caribbean coast. We drove two hours south to the end of the country. Across the water in the distance, we could see the silhouette of Guatemala.
Then the family at Ixcacao Maya Belizean Chocolate welcomed us with a fascinating, hands-on look into how the Mayans originally processed cacao into chocolate. Little Caspian had so many questions. It’s fun watching the video and seeing how he got involved. Talk about an awesome day at school.
Take a look:
We also enjoyed a traditional Mayan meal, which was incredibly delicious. I think it was the highlight of the visit for me!
To reserve your tour at Ixcacao, you can visit their website.
What’s next?
The other highlight of our time in Belize so far has been The Belize Zoo. The animals are all rescue animals who seem well cared for. Someone with a witty sense of humor made the signs throughout the zoo, which all rhyme. We had so much fun reading them.
A standard tourist visa for Belize is 30 days. We are cutting our visit a little short, in order to see overlanding friends in Guatemala before they have to head back to the U.S. We’re in Belize for another week or so and still have many places we want to see. While the beach here is beautiful, the oceanfront is only part of what makes this country special.
Let us know if you have any questions about overlanding through Belize!
-B
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