If you Belize, the wish will come true
by Michael McDermot, reporter

    On a strip of sand between brightly painted shops, houses and small hotels, a boy stands dripping from head to toe with paint as colorful as the nearby buildings.

    On the only other two streets running parallel to the shoreline, similar scenes are taking place.

    Girls and boys, even men, covered in paint, groups of dancers dressed as pirates, or with head dresses mimicking the colors of their native scarlet macaw parrots, all fill the streets with spontaneous music and laughter.

    It is San Pedro’s own version of the pre-Lent celebration known as Mardi Gras in New Orleans or Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.

    In San Pedro, the only town on the island of Ambergris Caye just off the shore of the country of Belize, the only one of those traditions that may be unique to these revelers is the throwing of different colors of paint on each other.

    Even with its recent fame, most people cannot find Belize on a map, or do not know that it exists at all, even though it was the shooting location of the highest-rated television show in January and February (besides the Super Bowl).

    Remember Temptation Island? What do you get when you take four unnaturally beautiful “committed” couples, fly them to a tropical paradise, separate the men from the women and surround them with a dozen or so uncommonly beautiful people of the opposite sex for two weeks? Mankind’s darkest hour … Wednesdays at 9, 8 Central.

    That was Belize.

    The beautiful country providing the backdrop for the controversial show offers travelers much more than reality television depicted. Contrary to its title, Temptation Island was not filmed exclusively on the islands.

    In true Hollywood fashion, scenes from all over the country’s interior, including the Mayan ruins and Blancaneaux Lodge, director Francis Ford Coppola’s place, were edited together with scenes from the island and San Pedro. All were referred to as Temptation Island, which can be very confusing for a first-time visitor to Belize.

    Most tourists range in age and appearance from the retired “snowbirds” of the northern United States to the young and semi-beautiful one sees at most resorts. In fact, Belize often attracts the more environmentally aware species of tourist because of its rare and endangered wildlife and their diverse habitats. From the reef to the rain forest, Belize has become well-known among the ecotourist trade.

    Adventurers also travel there for the culture and its ancient history. The Mayas—one of the most advanced peoples—once ruled most of what is now Central America for almost 1,500 years. Ancient Mayan ruins are peppered across the landscape of Belize.
Just across the border in Guatemala, travelers can easily experience Tikal, the most spectacular of the restored Mayan ruins. The arduous climb up 400 feet of steps is worth the incredible view overlooking the jungle, where visitors will hear screeching macaws and black howler monkeys roaring to each other.

    Other adventures to investigate on the mainland include tubing though caves at Jaguar Paw, trekking the jungles of the Jaguar Preserve in search of the rare cat or riding horseback through the pine ridge past beautiful waterfalls. The less athletic may visit a butterfly farm, stay at a jungle lodge or visit one of the many wildlife preserves.

    On the islands like Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker, one can scuba dive, the most popular tourist activity, with manta rays, sting rays and sharks.

    Parasailing and windsurfing are particularly good inside the Belize Barrier reef, the world’s second largest reef system. This reef system includes the spectacular Blue Hole, a collapsed underwater cave almost 400 feet deep made famous by Jacques Cousteau. Or one can lie around and enjoy the sand, the sun and the breeze.

    Belize has always been popular with the savvy tourist. It has never really needed the publicity offered by shows like Temptation Island.

    As one islander watching the show in a local bar said, “I live here, and I feel like I’m watching a show filmed in another country.”

    Belize offers plenty of wonder and beauty to be tempted by, but visitors might just be tempted to stay forever.