Toucan City? Five minutes down the road, I turned into the driveway of Toucan Sittee. The place was named after the Sittee Rive,r upon which it is located. I was there for less than five minutes when I heard a frog-like, scratchy "krrk" from above. There, just above my head, was my very first keel-billed toucan. It was a magnificent bird, resplendent in black, yellow and red with that humongous beak of lime green, red and orange. A magic moment, indeed.

Then over the next several days, once I made it to the Cayes (islands just off the coast and sitting nearly on Belize’s barrier reef), this characteristic was only intensified with the island culture mixed in. Everyone just wants to help.

One man even called me over as I was rapidly walking down the beach; he absolutely insisted that I come over to hear what he had to say.

“Slow down my friend. You’re on Belize time, what’s the hurry?”

I said, "If you thought the beaches of Belize to be the ultimate tropical escape, then you really ought to check out the back country, where there are really very few signs of the nine-to-five world. There is no radio, no TV. The lights always seemed dim. Hot water for our outdoor shower was practically non-existent. Yet, we didn't miss a thing. Mother Nature provided the music, the light and all the entertainment you might need.

As the day wore on, the wind and waves calmed down. The water was remarkably clear giving us a great view of the reef 60 feet down. We watched purple sea fans waving in the current and schools of blue tangs foraging among the coral heads. Spotted eagle rays glided gracefully along the reef. A hawksbill sea turtle surfaced for a breath of air before “flying” away.

What is there to do here? Well, San Pedro is trying hard to catch up with the rest of the Caribbean, with bars and nightclubs along its beach and all three of its main drags — they do have names, but everyone calls them Front, Middle and Back streets. But it’s still all about the sea: being on, under or above it, gazing at it or eating things that until recently called it home.

One a honeymoon, you can find romance just about anywhere. For Melody and Kevin, while in Belize, that sweet moment was in the dark of an ancient cave. She says, "I know it probably sounds crazy, but the most romantic moment for me may have been trudging through waist-high, freezing cold water in the cave at Actun Tunichil Muknal and feeling Kevin's hand reach for mine as he helped lead the way in the dark. There was something so spooky and cool about knowing how old those cave walls were and how many sacred rituals had taken place there – and there we were, quietly being a part of it. Even though we obviously saw other tour groups down there, at times it felt like we were the only two people in the whole cave."

You know before boarding the plane I had serious concerns if I\'ll be able to tear myself away from work and shut my mind off for a few days. Of course the minute I saw the palm trees and felt the warm tropical breeze on my face, work was the last thing on my mind. There is a reason people come here to relax!

We are in the land of \"Never ending spring\" Belize!

And right now I feel grateful to be able to experience this all.

My first stop was Ambergris Caye, the tiny Caribbean island off the coast of Belize that’s a fishing town-turned-dive destination. Home to the second largest barrier reef in the world where your odds of spotting marine life are as likely as a sports star getting caught in a sex scandal, I stayed in the city of San Pedro. The city is also known as La Isla Bonita (remember that 80’s Madonna song?), and golf carts rather than cars are the only source of the occasional traffic jam on these sandy cobblestone streets.

It was a week with a jam-packed itinerary of activities: snorkeling, zip lining, cave tubing, visiting Mayan ruins, deliciously colorful meals (local cuisine as well as restaurants with more ambitious takes on the former), small planes and lots of laughs. It was a perfect first taste of Belizean culture, cuisine and most of all its people – who are just as friendly as the brochures and guidebooks tout.

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