1 Chaa Creek

The Lodge at Chaa Creek has been family friendly since its inception in 1981, but Family Adventure will take an unprecedented new dimension with the introduction of the Eco Kids Rainforest Adventure, a new fun-packed educational program for school children and their families.

The Eco Kids Adventure program is a learning course steeped in active fun and adjusted to match the educational level, physical ability, and curiosity of individual participants between the ages of 6-10 and 11-15. It is a culture-based environmental program that introduces children to the tropical forest in western Belize where Mac, an irresistible, bright blue iridescent butterfly, is a prominent resident.

Mac Morpho will be their fluttering emissary, as young visitors to Chaa Creek join our naturalist guides on a stimulating journey of discovery.

During the course, children will have the opportunity to undertake a wide-range of activities including a “Nature Rules” treasure hunt along jungle trails. This is a fun-filled activity where kids will learn about tropical animals and plants, about insects and life cycles, and about the importance of conserving and protecting the fragile environments that we all share. Every family will have their own butterfly hatchery and hatch and release a Blue Morpho butterfly into the jungle.

As part of the archaeological component of the program, the children will travel back in time on horseback to on-site ancient Maya temples and become junior archaeologists learning about the mystery of a lost civilization. This will also include a family guided tour of the ceremonial Mayan Temple of Xunantunich.

The children will experience the cultures and people of Belize after canoeing downstream on the Macal River to meet a family in Cristo Rey village. After a walkabout, they will share a meal and perhaps even help prepare corn tortillas for a traditional meal.

Arts and crafts including weaving palm fans as the children learn about the many uses of the native Cohune Palm will account for one of the many rainforest activities on offer to the aspiring young adventurers.

Mom and dad can always share in their kids’ fun and also have some special rainforest time of their own with adventurous options big and small. In addition, they will be able to treat themselves to a wide range of specialized treatments for relaxation and revitalization offered by Chaa Creek’s full service Hilltop Spa.

Belize is a tiny nation with a wealth of natural resources, including one of the last remaining intact tropical forest north of the Amazon. The country has turned to ecotourism as its main means of income generation and set a sizable percentage of its land aside as reserves. Chaa Creek’s 400-acre Nature Reserve is one such reserve.