Beautiful Belize

It is possible to stand in the midst of a rainforest in Belize, surrounded by dripping trees and the cries of howler monkeys, and think that you’re in a particularly unspoiled corner of Costa Rica. Or maybe Brazil, before that country’s air was choked with smoke from burning trees and the ugly scars of clear-cuts. Possibly because of its small population of 200,000 scattered among 8,876 square miles of coastline, mountains and dense forests, Belize has escaped the headlong development that has marred so much of Latin America’s natural beauty. Even its largest metropolis, Belize City, is home to no more than 60,000 people.