From the moment you arrive in Belize – whether you are an adventure traveler, part of a family trip or in the country for a relaxing beach vacation – Belizean people and culture make you feel as welcome and comfortable, like nowhere you’ve ever visited.
Jaguars roam Belize’s tropical Cockscomb forest, the heart of a pioneering plan to carve a green corridor linking the big cat species across the region.
![Garifuna-Collective-6[1]](http://www.larubeya.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Garifuna-Collective-61.jpg)
“I think we passed that point where we had to show people where on the map we were,” Duran says. “We [are now] developing the music and showing the world it is a very interesting living culture. It may not be your regular pop or reggae music, but for Belize, it’s … not something that you go into the village to hear.”
Belize’s culinary practices reflects the country’s multiethnic society and rich history. When you combine the numerous elements in Belizean cooking – from early Maya civilizations through to the British colonists, the vivacious African influences, the attempted Spanish conquest, the Mennonite farming communities and the more recent arrival of many other cultures and you have a recipe for something very extraordinary indeed.