Belize family wildlife vacation

Planet

General

Belize is literally about the size of Wales and most of it is sparsely populated and the eco-structure tends to be split between four categories: reef, rainforest, farmland and Mayan mountains. The preservation, and protection of these areas is paramount for us and for tourism in Belize. On this Belize family adventure we have combined three lodges that have a history of sustainable practices and community relations. As this is a family trip we are proud of the education being provided by our local guides, to the next generation, on our to respect and conserve their environment. We reduce and keep our carbon footprint to a minimum by buying from local cooperatives, reducing transport routes, reusing and recycling. Our partners provide development opportunities for their employees and partners throughout Belize. We actively prioritise suppliers who adhere to environmental and social standards and who exhibit a desire to continually improve in this area
We work to reduce our carbon emissions on an ongoing basis using best practice and aim to use suppliers who have the lowest fuel environmental impact vehicles.

Employee Training – Employee training includes on-the-job, periodically invited consultants and a variety of government and our Belize association membership opportunities. All employees are fully informed about the company policies and perspectives on sustainability and educated about the environmentally sensitive issues related to their particular area. Employees are encouraged to discuss the company’s environmental policies with guests.
They support multiple Internship programs We regularly work with both ITVet, which is essentially a 2-year trade school college, to accommodate interns for their study. A number of those interns have been hired later on after they graduate. They also work with the local high school for potential internship candidates and have utilized this method of finding interns as well.

People

People and Places

For us what really makes a difference with this particular trip are the people behind the lodges and the way in which they have helped to shape responsible tourism in Belize. Understated, independent, sustainably run small lodges who have been operating te same way since before eco-tourism became fasionable! Lamanai Outpost Lodge is in an a remote area of Northern Belize- when we visited some of the staff who had previously been crocodile hunters were now guides and boatmen. Crocodile tagging began in 2006 when the University of Florida wanted to study the habitat of endangered species of crocodile that lived in fresh and brackish water. Research still takes place and guests are always willing and openly encouraged to help the ‘science geeks’ and learn about the ecological issues that have affected the species since Mayan times.

The Lodge at Big Falls is owned and run by a former member of the British Council who at first meeting you’d think was from a different era but Rob Hirons is a also a true Belizean. His understated work with the community is immeasurable. He is a very active promoter of the local Garifuna culture and will take guests to Garifuna drum workshops where you might even get a lesson. There is nothing contrived about his community tourism. Knock at a local house to see if a mayan lady will let you help cook tortillas- if she’s not in then you go next door- simple as that!

At Chabil Mar Villas in Placencia all but one of their staff are Belizean, several of whom have been employees with them from the day they opened for business 15+ years ago and one even during their construction phase. They emphasize promotion from within to provide employees with the opportunity to develop long term career forming occupations. Our compensation package includes base, service fees, bonuses, paid vacation and health benefits.

Community Development – Our local community’s needs and support is a focus of our mission statement. We do so through local event sponsorships, such as, the annual Placencia Lobsterfest, Belize marathon, Art & Music Festival, Fishing Tournaments, Village-wide beach cleanups, Pack for a Purpose to support St. John’s School and Placencia Humane Society, along with a food bank during the early months of the COVID pandemic until the country of Belize was re-opened to tourism.