Here's an update on Chaa Creek the last time I stayed there. I'd suggest making reservations, as Chaa Creek can sometimes be full, even off-season.
--Lan Sluder
Belize books and publications by Lan Sluder:
Belize First Magazine (
http://www.belizefirst.com)
Fodor's Belize & Guatemala Guide (new 4th edition coming this summer)
Adapter Kit: Belize (the first and only comprehensive guide to living, retiring, working and investing in Belize -- a best-seller on Amazon.com)
San Pedro Cool (the first and only visitor guide to Ambergris Caye)
Belize First Guide to Mainland Belize
UpClose Central America
Belize Book of Lists
>>
THE LODGE AT CHAA CREEK (tel. 501-824-2037, fax 824/2501, e-mail chaacreek@btl.net,
www.chaacreek.com, 20 rooms, 2 suites, 10 safari cabins on platforms). The “Queen of Jungle Lodges” -- in Martha Gellhorn’s phrase -- is still as royal as ever. Mick Fleming, who just returned from Cambodia, Singapore and Sarawak, and Lucy Fleming, and their staff of more than 70, keep Chaa Creek purring like a finely tuned classic Jaguar motorcar. Everything works smoothly, and the grounds and facilities, including the new Conference Centre, look great. Chaa Creek’s Natural History Centre and Blue Morpho Butterfly Farm (admission US$5, free to Chaa Creek guests) continues to improve. Hundreds of Blue Morphos were flying in the butterfly cage, and the country’s “first natural history museum” has added several new exhibits. Mick’s new thing is a Maya farm and village which he is creating, with help from Maya families from Toledo, on about 30 acres near the main lodge property. This is still a work in progress, but the idea is to showcase traditional Maya cultures in an accessible location. Already, a Maya family from San José in Toledo has started a milpa, and a small cacao plantation has been established on the site where wild cacao trees grow. Not surprisingly, there has been some local criticism of this new project. Some say it amounts to creating a “Maya zoo” for tourists, and others wonder why Maya from Toledo have been brought in, when there are large populations of Maya already in Cayo. My own opinion is that I’m glad to see a new effort to expose the wonders of Maya culture to a wider audience. Since the early 1980s, Mick and Lucy Fleming have done perhaps more than anyone else to bring a variety of high-quality tourist attractions and facilities to western Belize, creating millions of dollars in annual economic benefit to the region, and I see this as another example of innovative development. I doubt if even one in 50 visitors to Belize now gets a chance to see contemporary Maya life up close. If Chaa Creek’s efforts educates more visitors about Maya life, I think it will be a positive thing. This visit, my family and I were lucky enough to have the honeymoon luxury jacuzzi suite, actually a double suite with the garden suite (US$295 now, US$365 in the coming high season, plus 7% tax and 10% service.) We’re not used to this level of accommodation, and our mouths dropped open at the acres of space and beautiful furnishings in the suite. It rivals Blancaneaux’s villas for luxury in the bush. We’re pleased to note, by the way, that Chaa Creek has abandoned its swishy nom de plume,“Chaa Creek Resort and Spa,” and is now calling itself The Lodge at Chaa Creek. If the Lodge at Chaa Creek targets baby boomers looking for a little creature comforts with their jungle adventure, Chaa Creek’s Macal River Jungle Camp attracts a fitter, hipper , more budget minded crowd. The Spa at Chaa Creek is still alive and well, easily the most professional and comprehensive spa in Belize. The Lodge at Chaa Creek also recently won an eco tourism award from Islands Magazine and the Caribbean Tourism Organization. Lan Sluder, August 2001
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