by Marianne Castillo

So there I was on a flight bound to Belize, Central America. My mind filled with all the picture-perfect images that my website searches had revealed. My boyfriend Ruiz and I were heading to Ambergris Caye, an island parallel to the second longest barrier reef in the world. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine my toes covered in white sand as clear sapphire-blue waters washed on shore at sunset. I could almost taste the frozen strawberry margarita in my hand. →

In 2009, brothers and avid fly fishers Seth and Parker Berling set out to bicycle from Alaska to Argentina to raise awareness.

about threats to the fishery of Alaska’s Bristol Bay from a proposed open pit copper and gold mine. Two years and more than eighteen thousand miles later, the “Pebble Pedalers” share the Belizean lesson they learnt at the end of the fishing line. →

There I was, chest-deep in the Maya underworld, the sound of slapping water echoing through the cavern. My headlamp washed through the crystal-clear water of this underground river, revealing tiny fish trying to nibble at my knees. I was in Actun Tunichil Muknal—Cave of the Stone Sepulcher.I was in good company too, tromping inside the earth with Belize’s top archaeologist, Dr. Jaime Awe, a Travel Channel film crew, and a small mob of porters and guides floating and lugging several thousand pounds of lights and batteries. →

Belize is taking the music world by storm. The country is in the midst of an exciting musical transformation. A new generation is taking the traditional music styles and mixing them together with modern influences. The result? A genuinely original and sincere sound that tells the story of the country. The best known collection of fresh new sounds deeply rooted in the past is Watina, a remarkable album released by Garifuna artist Andy Palacio. →

by Joshua S. Brown

Twenty feet below is hardly deep. Every day, hundreds of scuba divers challenge depths of 120 feet or more at the Blue Hole, Belize’s best known dive site. So twenty feet down and barely a quarter mile offshore, with a tank of air and a full day’s training, why is my heart kicking against my chest like a trapped jackrabbit? It might have something to do with a longstanding fear of deep water. →