©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd

Best Places to Eat ¨ Celebrity Restaurant

(p62)

¨ The Ice Cream Shoppe (p62)

¨ Nerie’s II Restaurant (p62)

Best Places to Sleep

¨Crooked Tree Lodge (p72)

¨Maruba Resort Jungle Spa (p75)

¨Black Orchid Resort (p69)

¨ Tropical Education Center (p78)

Belize DistrictWhy Go?What a contrast is the district that shares its country’s name! Belize District comprises 1600 sq miles at the heart of the country, and includes its largest population center and some of its most pristine tropical bush.

Belize City gets a bad rap for its impoverished areas, some of which are plagued by crime and violence. But the seaside city also embodies the country’s amazing cultural diversi-ty, its neighborhoods packed with people, restaurants and shops that represent every ethnicity.

A few miles out of the city center, the gritty Caribbean urbanism crumbles, revealing a landscape of vast savannah that stretches to the north, dense tropical forest to the west, and lush marshland to the south. There is plenty to see and do in Belize District – so much that a weeklong visitor could spend their entire vacation here, sampling the coun-try’s Maya heritage, Creole culture and luxuriant wildlife, all within an hour’s drive of the city.

When to Go ¨Mar Baron Bliss Day and Ruta Maya canoe race are both

accompanied by colorful parties.

¨May Crooked Tree goes nuts for a weekend during the Cashew Festival.

¨Sep Belize City engages in two weeks of festivities from National Day (September 10).

Includes ¨Belize City . . . . . . . . . . .54Burrell Boom . . . . . . . . .68Community Baboon Sanctuary . . . .69Rancho Dolores . . . . . . 71Crooked Tree . . . . . . . . . 71Old Northern Highway . . . . . . . . . . . . .73Old Belize . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Hattieville . . . . . . . . . . .76Belize Zoo . . . . . . . . . . . 77Monkey Bay . . . . . . . . . .79Gales Point . . . . . . . . . 80

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Ladyville

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PrisonBelize Central

& EcoparkBacab Adventure

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Visitor's CenterCBS Museum &

Wildlife SanctuaryMonkey Bay

Wildlife SanctuarySpanish Creek

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Belize District Highlights1 Belize Zoo (p77) Getting a firsthand introduction to all of the zoo’s native species .

2 Community Baboon Sanctuary (p70) Spending a night surrounded by the roar of howler monkeys .

3 Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary (p71) Cruising the lagoon and marveling at the birdlife .

4 Altun Ha (p74) Admiring the view from atop the Temple of the Masonry Altars .

5 Maruba Resort Jungle Spa (p75) indulging in an afternoon of luxurious pampering in the jungle .