By Ken Paul Mink

The sound from the treetops sent chills down my back.
There high amid cecropia tree branches were two bands of black howler monkeys, arguing over who was stepping over each other's territorial boundaries.
The monkeys make some of the most eerie, haunting threatening growls I had ever heard, their deep-voice "whooooooooooos" echoing through the leaves like some vicious prehistoric creatures.
The fact the high-rise argument was occurring only a few yards from the ruins of an ancient 112-foot high Mayan temple further added to this sense of history being relived. Undoubtedly, eons ago thousands of Mayan natives explored the forests around the Lamanai temple and very likely dined on the ancestors of these same monkeys.
But no more dining on monkeys in Belize. They are like many other species of animals in this Central American country: Protected by the government.
Belize has become one of the world's most eco-friendly countries, protecting dozens of animals and plants.
Which is why if you are a nature lover or just plain love adventure, Belize is a great place to visit.
A recent five-day tour of some of Belize's more interesting rain forest, cave, beach and river locales proved to be a relaxing and interesting visit for me.
Arriving in Belize City from Houston late in the afternoon, our group of travel journalists were hustled by bus to a riverport, where we were to take a small boat some 27 miles up the New River to an outpost resort. The boat ride proved to be both interesting and exciting as our boat el capitan Reuel Cowo demonstrated superb skill and daring as he darted the boat around the zigzagging turns at high speeds. As the light was failing, he pointed out various birds along the route and even maneuvered us right over a crocodile some five feet under the water near a shoreline.
Soon, darkness settled over the river, but it did not deter Reuel as he zipped the boat along at a high speed. He obviously knew the river, but most of the rest of us sat in terror trying to ward off the 500 million insects that kept hitting our face and anticipating a crash into a riverbank tree at any moment.
But we arrived safely at the 150-foot dock at the Lamanai Outpost Lodge in the Orange Walk District and checked into our rooms -- cabanas perched on a hillside overlooking beautiful Crab-Catchers lagoon.
The cabanas were modern and very comfortable, with large ceiling fans, individual bathrooms and lots of room to stretch out. A cloth hammock was situated just outside the door on the small patio overlooking the lagoon. Food was excellent and a well-stocked bar was available.
The Lamanai Outpost is located only a short walk from the Lamanai Architectural Ruins, with lots of old Mayan facilities available to tour in what was once a major Mayan city containing thousands of residents. Most in our group managed to climb the 112-foot Mayan temple (thanks in large part to a rope assisting climbers the last half of the way). The view from the top was exceptional, with forests, mountains and lagoon stretching out for miles.
One of the first things we learned about doing walking tours anywhere in Belize was to be sure and use strong bugspray (with Deet) on all exposed parts of your body. Many people have come down with illnesses from many of the nasty insects that live in the country (inland and the beaches).
Belize is a major visit for birdwatchers, and as our guide Mauricio Augilar, pointed out some 575 varieties of winged creatures inhabit the country.
The Lamanai Outpost Lodge, like most resorts in Belize, can arrange special soft-adventure activities (including birdwalks, crocodile encounters, canoeing, fishing, etc.). Visitors can arrange package plans which include transportation from and to the airport and individual adventure packages. For complete info see the Lamanai Outpost Lodge web site at www.lamanai.com.
The third day of our journey we traveled by van to the Pook's Hill Resort, with a stop along the way at the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary. There is a quaint village at Crooked Tree, where many residents make a living harvesting cashew nuts for sale. I learned that cashews grow on trees and are inside a small fruit, which has to be trimmed to get to the nuts themselves. The fruit is used to make such things as jams and jellies (and cashew wine). Belize, we were told, is one of the world's largest producers of cashew nuts.
Pook's Hill Lodge is known as the "lodge in the jungle" and it is very true.
Reaching Pook's Hill requires a very bumpy seven-mile bone-jarring trip along a pothole-infested stone-and-dirt road off a paved highway at the foot of the Maya Mountains in the Cayo District.
The Lodge is basically a series of grassthatched cabanas scattered along a 300-acre hillside in the rain forest, looking somewhat like a remote African village. The cabanas are roomy and modern, with individual bathrooms. Being in a remote area, the cabanas are sometimes visited by local crawly creatures (spiders, scorpions, etc.).
Food is served at a 183-seat dining area and proved to be excellent.
From the lodge, various soft-adventure trips are available. I went on a birdwalk (about half a mile) to a beautiful small crystal-clear river (where tubing is another option), and a canoeing trip to the Barton Creek Cave. We canoed about half a mile inside the cave, viewing ancient Mayan digs, bats, blind fish and lots of stalagmite and stalactite formations.
Barton Creek Cave is just one of several cave-canoe trips available in Belize.
The birdwalk trips sometimes result in a rare look at a leopard, but you are more likely to see howler monkeys, mynah birds or tapirs.
For more info on Pook's Hill visit their website at www.pookshilllodge.com
After leaving Pook's Hill we stopped off at the nearby Butterfly Ranch and saw hundreds of colorful butterflies in about a half-acre aviary.
Day four also found us taking a tour of the Belize Zoo near Belize City. They call it "the best little zoo in the world" and they may be right. The zoo is actually quite large and features only animals native to Belize, including several leopards, tapirs, pumas (cougars), ocelots, monkeys, birds, etc., in natural-looking habitats.
From Belize City we took a 20-minute flight on a small Tropic Air plane to San Pedro in the 28-mile long Ambergris Caye area on the northern border of Belize (only a few hundred yards from Mexico).
After 12- minute boat trip from San Pedro we arrived at the modern Belize Legacy Resort and its 300-foot beachfront late in the afternoon and settled in for a great dinner at the resort's colorful and roomy restaurant.
While at the Legacy we were taken on a snorkeling trip to the Shark Ray Bay area where we swam with nurse sharks and rays. The sharks are not aggressive or dangerous and neither are the rays. They are so used to tourists swimming among them that you can (with some careful maneuvering) actually pick up the 3-4 foot sharks and three-foot wide rays and hold them out of the water. The azure water is very clear and in many places is only 4-5 feet deep (even though you are about a mile from shore).
We also took a tour of San Pedro, a quaint little town of about 3,000 where the cops all ride golf carts to patrol the four parallel dusty streets, punctuated by the ubiquitous tee shirt shops and restaurants. It is perhaps what San Juan was 100 years ago.
The Belize Legacy (www.belizelegacy.com) is a very tranquil relatively new resort offering a choice of 32 beachfront and seaview suites, featuring world-class amenities, freshwater swimming pool, the Katanga Beach Bar, overlooking the largest Barrier Reef in the Western Hemisphere, Mama Caribe’s Restaurant & Grille, featuring myriad cuisine, lush tropical landscape and a wide selection of diving and inland adventures.
The people of Belize still include many who descended from the ancient Mayans and no one knows exactly why the Mayans abandoned Belize.
Belize is a relatively small Central American country of 8,887 square miles where practically everyone speaks English.
The capital is Belmopan, a town of some 5,000 situated near the rain forest mountains. There are basically four paved highways in the country (one bisecting the nation, one circling it). It is on the Caribbean Sea, bordered on the north by Mexico and on the south and west by Guatemala. The land was once known as British Honduras (independent since 1981).
Currency is the Belize dollar (valued at the same rate as the American dollar), but American currency is widely accepted. Credit cards are accepted by most businesses, but be careful and ask about local transaction rates (which can sky to 12 per cent).
Several airlines fly into Belize City and local airlines serve the country and nearby Central America.
Police generally do not carry guns and there are only 3-4 traffic lights in the entire country. But in recent years crime by teen gangs has been on the rise.
Car rentals are available and can be expensive. Also, rental vehicle quality is sometimes less than desirable. International drivers licenses are accepted up to 90 days. Taxi and bus service is available just about everywhere, but be sure to establish the fee before going anywhere.
People of Belize are generally very friendly and helpful as tourism is the nation's most important industry, with some 120,000 visitors per year. Several cruise ships also stop at Belize City. Belize's population of about 275,000 is a multihued amalgam of Creoles, descendants of African slave blacks, Scottish pioneers, mestizos from Mexico and Central America, descendants of Mayans, Garifunas or Black Caribs with their own separate culture, Mennonites, Chinese and Americans.
With more than 40 per cent of the country's land protected as park and nature preserves, some of the best barrier reefs in the world (offering first-class diving and fishing), world-class birding and wildlife viewing, mountain rain forests, rivers and caves, Belize has become Mother Nature's Workshop.
For more information on Belize visit the website www.travelbelize.org.

This story was published on 12 Jan 2008.