Kayak through villages and navigate caverns lit only by your headlamp, then explore ancient Mayan ruins and clamber through tropical jungle to the song of howler monkeys and squawking macaws. On your Belize Adventure Week, you’ll do all this and more, like examining shaman offerings in the Che Chem Ha Mayan cave – a ceremonial centre used for blood-letting rituals – then taking a boat to Long Caye, a private Caribbean island.
Continuing with the aquatic them, you’ll snorkel and dive through reefs before testing your windsurfing skills. Finish off they day by fishing for your dinner and retiring to your beachside cabana, where the sounds of the sea will lull you to sleep.
Considered one of the most stunning spots in Costa Rica, Gandoca Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge boasts more allure than just powder-white sand. On one side of its beaches you’ll find wetlands and lush rainforest, while the other side borders the Caribbean Sea, with its thriving coral reefs, manatees and dolphins. Scattered through the forest are 24 tents raised on wooden platforms. Walkways wind through the trees – look for howler monkeys, sloths and tapirs – and lead down to the beach.
During the day, book a massage at the Jungle Spa Pavilion or choose from a range of excursions offered nearby, including horse riding, canopy zip-lining, kayaking and diving. If the company of nature isn’t entertaining enough, you can relax in your personal hammock and hot tub.
Experience pura vida (the happy life) Swiss Family Robinson-style when you visit the villas of Tree House Lodge, set in a lush jungle with the Caribbean at your doorstep. The super eco-friendly guesthouses were built using recycled materials (the wood is sourced only from fallen trees), and are solar powered.
Check out the Beach Suite, decked out with a massive bathroom that’s a psychedelic mix between a space pod and a seashell. Spend your days snorkelling and practising yoga on the beach, or hang out in a hammock with monkeys and sloths perched nearby.
Give your zip-lining mates the look. You know, the one that says, “That is seriously lame.” While they spend their days zooming horizontally across the lush tropical canopy near Monteverde, you can get in on the original King of the Jungle act.
Beat your chest, grab the rope (alright, we know you’re wearing a harness) and fling yourself off the platform built 45 metres above the jungle. There’s no dismounting on the next tree though; modern-day Tarzans (and Janes) make like a human pendulum, swinging 150 metres before being deposited softly on the ground.
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