The skies have opened over the rugged foothills of the Maya Mountains, the first deluge of the rainy season breaking the forest’s sticky heat with a tide of fast, fat droplets.
It draws a gauzy veil across the landscape, dulling the daylight that just moments before warmed the deck of my riverfront cabin, and fills the valley with a peculiar, powerful percussion. Rain ricochets off waxy foliage, drums onto craggy rocks and hammers against my body. A scent is rising from the earth in response to the water: something musty and mineral I wish I could bottle. Cowering from the storm, I watch almighty nature in conversation with itself; thunder answering lightning, streams feeding the banks of the thirsty Macal River. When, at dawn, the weather wears itself out, the sun reappears and the birds take up their chorus, it feels like something in the world has reset. It’s a dramatic welcome to the wild, western flank of Belize.
“Later in the season, when the river rises so high it floods this road, we just canoe the guests across — or put up zip-lines between the trees,” my guide Fernando Obando tells me as we navigate a water-logged road away from Black Rock Lodge in his 4x4. “We don’t stop for a little rain.” The off-grid collection of cabins, powered by water turbines and a new rack of solar panels, is a stalwart of the country’s blossoming ecotourism scene and a hotspot for birders in the know. But today we’re heading several hours south.
Denne historien er fra October 2022-utgaven av National Geographic Traveller (UK).
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra October 2022-utgaven av National Geographic Traveller (UK).
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Dianne Whelan
THOUGH NOT A SEASONED HIKER TO BEGIN WITH, THE FILMMAKER BECAME THE FIRST PERSON TO COMPLETE THE WORLD'S LONGEST TRAIL NETWORK
NIGERIA
The country's many communities come together over hearty meals with plenty of heat
Katie Hale
A VOYAGE TO THE GREAT WHITE CONTINENT IS BOTH A DREAM COME TRUE AND A CALL TO ARMS, TO PROTECT OUR ICY POLES AND, IN TURN, OUR PLANET
WILTSHIRE
BEYOND THE MAIN ATTRACTION OF STONEHENGE, WILTSHIRE HAS EQUALLY IMPRESSIVE ANCIENT SITES, GIANT CHALK HORSES AND COSY PUBS IN HISTORIC VILLAGES
BATH
Thermal baths and Regency heritage have put this Somerset city firmly on the travel map - and this year the spotlight will be on former resident and literary great Jane Austen, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of her birth
GRANADA
In this Andalucian city, flamenco is an art form as well as a way of life not just for traditional dancers and singers but also for hip-hop stars, classical guitar legends and street artists
India's Golden Triangle
LINKING DELHI, THE TAJ MAHAL AND THE PINK CITY OF JAIPUR, WITH DETOURS FOR TEMPLES AND TIGERS, THIS IS THE PERFECT ROUTE FOR FIRST-TIMERS. WORDS: POOJA NAIK
FORGED BY FIRE
A SUBTROPICAL ISLAND IN THE ATLANTIC, MADEIRA HAS RUGGED VOLCANIC MOUNTAINS THAT RISE ABOVE THE CLOUDS, NATURAL SWIMMING POOLS DOWN AT SEA LEVEL AND MORE THAN 1,900 MILES OF HISTORIC AQUEDUCTS TRACING THE LANDSCAPES IN BETWEEN
ADRIFT IN THE ARCTIC CIRCLE
A KAYAKING EXPEDITION THROUGH NORWAY'S LOFOTEN ISLANDS OFFERS WHITE-SAND BEACHES, ROYAL ENCOUNTERS AND THE CHANCE TO CHANNEL YOUR INNER VIKING
the RETURN
ON A PRIVATE GAME RESERVE IN SOUTH AFRICA'S KWAZULU-NATAL PROVINCE, AN UNLIKELY CREATURE IS MAKING A TENTATIVE COMEBACK - AND VISITORS ARE OFFERED A GLIMPSE INTO THE CONSERVATION EFFORTS TO SAVE IT AND OTHER NATIVE WILDLIFE
