Dear Mom and Dad: We Want to go to Belize for Christmas. Love, Your Kids
Is your family adventurous? Do your kids love new experiences? Sounds like Christmas in Belize is exactly what Santa would order if he was giving out advice!
Don’t take Santa’s word for it: According to a recent study commissioned by the Student and Youth Travel Association (SYTA), 74-percent of all educators surveyed say that overseas travel has the ability to seriously impact everything about the way a child develops.
Taking a child on vacations has far-reaching impact on intellect, development and creativity. True, you’re working, and the children are in school year round. That’s why it makes perfect sense to plan a Christmas getaway when everyone needs a sunny break.
Belize is an ideal destination because it’s just a couple of hours by plane from major U.S. cities, everyone speaks English and resorts like Cahal Pech in San Ignacio roll out the red carpet for kids (and their parents) at Christmastime.
Everything a kid could want is located in this area of Belize and resort amenities are bountiful. There are three freshwater pools, kids sleep in exotic thatched-roof accommodations that are artfully decorated Belize-style, and the views from each accommodations’s screened veranda give kids a bird’s eye view of the lush Belize Valley below.
Having gotten your curious little ones to Cahal Pech, ask them what they'd like to do first. Included on the resort’s tour menu are tubing into dark caves, exploring cave interiors, roaming Cahal Pech Maya ruins (the resort sits atop one!) and when you take them into San Ignacio, they will be charmed by the sights, sounds and friendly people.
Save a bundle by selecting a Belize vacation package that includes amazing food at the resort’s restaurant. Don’t be shocked to discover that your picky eater morphs into a mini-gourmet when confronted with yummy new ethnic food options.
But the trips likely to impress kids most are animal preserves, sanctuaries, jungles and rain forests filled with wildlife. If the only monkeys your children have ever seen are behind bars at a local zoo, the array of wildlife calling Belize home--like jaguars and other big cats, endangered manatees and aquatic animals living in the wild, could leave the biggest impressions of all.
Is there a downside to visiting Belize over Christmas? According to the aforementioned STYA survey, there is and in the interest of transparency we feel obliged to mention it: “Taking a kid on a trip will only make them want more”! It figures. Once exposed to other cultures, curious kids can’t stop wondering what’s next.
Having an opportunity to travel south with kids when the weather is lousy and everyone back home is stressed out by holiday obligations is reason enough to visit the Cahal Pech website to check out those packages. Give the kids an opportunity to peruse the site. You’ll have to ask for your device back when they start scrolling down the pages!
Kids prefer warm weather, bathing suits and scary trips into mysterious caves to spending holidays with the aunts and uncles, and if you play the below National Geographic YouTube video showing Belize's loudest residents, howler monkeys in the wild, the kids will run for their suitcases.
