Belize
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GLO GOES + TRAVEL | Travel
HONEYMOON IN
Jaclyn Youhana Garver
Traveling from Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Hopkins, Belize, takes at least four airplanes. For Kim and Josh Wickersham’s 2015 honeymoon, those planes flew from Fort Wayne to Atlanta to Belize City to Hopkins. There, in the small Belize City airport, Kim experienced the most unexpected part of the trip: “This lady was like, ‘I lost my boarding pass,’” Kim remembered. The airport employee said, “That’s fine,” and let her board. The plane to Hopkins had eight seats. One passenger asked the pilot, “Can I ride in the front with you?” He said yes, so she climbed up into the co-pilot’s seat. According to the travel site Trip Savvy, the most popular international honeymoon destinations for U.S. couples last year were what you’d expect: Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Italy, France, St. Lucia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. But what if you want something outside the norm? Maybe you prefer a honeymoon with fewer tourists or people in general. Maybe you enjoy adventure vacations, with less beach time and more crawling around in caves or hiking up to hidden waterfalls. That’s what the Wickershams wanted, and they found it at Beaches & Dreams resort in Belize. The country is on the northeastern part of the isthmus connecting Mexico to South America. Its western edge faces the Caribbean Sea. To its north is Mexico and to the west and south, Guatemala. Hopkins is on the coast in central Belize, a country known for its forests and jungles and for having the largest cave system in Central America. It’s also known for its Mayan ruins, especially in Xunantunich (say zoonan-TOO-nitch), which is on the central border with Guatemala. And it has the world’s second largest coral reef. The Wickershams took advantage of all that; their resort package included a number of excursions, which the couple took with a guide and driver from the hotel. Their favorite? For Kim, it was the caves. The hotel driver took the couple and one other person to a parking lot where they transferred to a van. “They literally drove us through a 32
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river,” she said. “The inside flooded. There were potholes everywhere, so we hit our heads on top of van as it bumped along.” Once they got to the cave, the only way in was to swim. “We jumped in a pool of water, it was a crystal blueish-green color, and swam into the cave,” she said. “Everything is pitch black, no lights.” At one point, the cave divers had to climb up a rock wall and remove their shoes so they didn’t damage anything; inside the cave were Mayan pots and pieces, artifacts that date back to between 650 and 1000. “I saw full, entire body skeletons that haven’t been touched,” Kim said. “There were creepy crawly creatures swimming around. Bats flying through the air. It was one of the coolest things that I think we’ve ever done.” When my husband and I honeymooned in Belize in 2013, the cave diving was our favorite part, too. What stands out in my mind is this: After having to get on our bellies and crawl under stalactites, then turn sideways to fit through narrow columns of stalagmites, in and down and around and through, our guide had us sit on a ledge with our legs dangling into a huge abyss. The only light came from the headlamps worn by everyone in the group, about 10 of us.
ADVENTURE TRAVEL TIPS Looking for an adventurous honeymoon? Josh Wickersham gives these tips for anyone booking something a little unexpected. • First, be willing to go somewhere new. “I feel like a lot of people only know about Sandals resorts,” Josh said. “You go to all the wedding sites, and that’s what’s pushed everywhere.” • Put in the research and have a plan in place before arriving. That way, you’re not on your phone looking up “What should I do today?” • Be flexible and prepared to experience something unexpected. At the last minute on his honeymoon, for example, he and his wife had the opportunity to go birdwatching with his resort’s owners and their friends.
Our guide told us that thousands of years ago, Mayans used to perform weeks-long solo rituals here on their path to become a shaman. This, mixed with the knowledge that we were, in fact, inside the planet, felt like an actual weight on our heads. “Everyone comfy?” the guide asked. “Now, turn off your lamps.”
The black was thick and tangible, like velvet, no matter how wide I opened my eyes. a
