So we had a big giant trip to Paris planned with all four kids for the summer of 2020. COVID ruined those plans, but we were hopeful to rebook for 2021, which I did, and then I cancelled again since the rules were still weird about vaccines, etc. The summer of 2021 quite possibly may have been the last summer where we could snag all four kids and go on one vacation together since our oldest was starting college in the fall, so I wanted this vacation to be a banger. You can read about my amazing trip to the southern tip of Belize in 2019 here, and since my husband and I had such a great time in Belize in 2019, we thought it would make sense to take the kids there and explore a few different parts of the country. It’s easy to get to, they speak English, and none of the kids had been to that region of the world yet. And boy, let me tell you, this trip really was incredible and warrants two posts!

One of the best things about this trip was my choice of resorts. Francis Ford Coppola and family own a bunch of resorts in Belize and Guatemala called “Hideaways.” They are consistently ranked among the top resorts in the region, and they had large villas big enough to house the six of us together. The fact that they had properties in the jungle and on the beach was a huge draw for me, since we could plan activities in both regions.

Our first stop was Blancaneaux Lodge in the Mountain Pine Ridge reserve. This is more of a pine forest than a jungle, but the jungle was super close by. We arrived at the airport in Belize City, and our driver was there to greet us to drive us to the resort. I was expecting a long, 2-3 hour trip to the resort based on online reviews, and information provided by the resort, but it turns out that they were paving the main road to the area, so the trip only took about an hour. When we were there, the last mile or so was still unpaved, but the vast majority was smooth sailing. I’m sure the roadwork is all complete now.

When we arrived, we were brought welcome drinks and we completed the check in process on the comfy couches in the main lodge/lobby area. We were then escorted to one of the ends of the resort to the Francis Ford Coppola Villa, a private, two bedroom villa which is secluded at one end of the property. Cesar, our butler for the 4 nights, gave us a tour of the room. There was a bottle of Coppola wine and a large basket of fruit waiting for us, as well as a welcome note. The villa was incredible with views toward the river and the surrounding forest. There was a large, open middle space that included a kitchenette, sofas and a coffee table, and a large deck with a very large wooden dining table. The tables were adorned with brightly colored Guatemalan tablecloths and cushions – we were only about 10 miles from the Guatemalan border after all! There were two bedrooms, both with their own spacious bathroom. They had queen sized beds and rollaways, and the kids decided they all wanted to sleep in one room. There is no a/c here but it’s not necessary at all as the nights are cool, even in June, and there are some good breezes. There are also very solid ceiling fans in the rooms.

The rest of the resort is gorgeous, with lush greenery everywhere, tons of singing birds and even lizards running around. The natural flowers and landscaping are well taken care of and everything is extremely clean, but still had a rustic, forest-y feeling. Note that there are lots of stairs to get around. They are not steep at all, it’s just that the terrain is a lot of up and down, so if you have mobility issues, this might not be the place for you. I huffed and puffed a bit and took breaks the first few days, but then got pretty used to it. The pool area is also super chill and nice. The pool is large and we were pretty much the only ones using it while we were there. It’s surrounded by forest and palm trees as well as some landscape elements. We also had a small, private plunge pool at our villa, which we really only used the first evening we were there. It was definitely too small for all six of us, though for 2 or 4 people, is a nice size.

There are lots of activities available on and around the resort itself, and they also offer a ton of activities off the resort. On the resort, the three oldest and my husband went tubing down the river after a little hike. At the same time, Clara and I went to go check out the stables. A few days later, while the two oldest and my husband took a more challenging hike to the beautiful waterfall near the property, Eli, Clara and I went horseback riding through the Mountain Pine Ridge reserve and even down into the jungle a bit. One of the highlights of the on-property activities was the fact that you could jump off the rocks right into deep pools in the river, right outside our villa. The kids swam and jumped endlessly. It was like having our own private natural pool. Brian and I also got up early one morning to go bird watching, and added a few more species to our life list.

The off-resort activities we did were going to the Caracol Mayan ruins, as well as the Rio Frio cave and Rio On pools. This was a massive highlight of the whole entire trip. We started at the Rio Frio cave, which was a very large, open cave. The kids had fun climbing around on the rocks, and having their first cave experience. Clara and I stayed on the ground, were we belong! Our tour was private since there were so many of us already, and our guide Jose was knowledgeable and able to talk about the history of the area. I am pretty sure he could’ve talked for the whole 8 hours we were out and about without stopping, he knew so much! Jose also really loved doing panoramic photos and was a super-expert at these. The kids still talk about all the panoramics that he took!

After our first caving experience, we drove to the Caracol Mayan Ruins. This was the most impressive ruin I have seen, and was a very large area to cover. Again, Jose spouted endless knowledge about Mayan history as well as about the different trees and plants that were around. He showed us that termites are actually edible, and Eli, our most adventurous eater, actually ate some! We also saw a keel-billed toucan there, Belize’s national bird.

The kids and Brian opted to climb the giant pyramid for the amazing views, while I opted to keep my feet on the ground. Climbing and heights are not for me! After our tour around Caracol, we had a lunch which was provided by the resort and included in the price of the tour. It was a pretty epic lunch, and we were able to choose our main meal between sandwiches, wraps and salads the day before. There were also chips, lots of fruit, drinks and cookies to eat. The lunch was extremely filling, which was fine, since we had a ways to go to get back to the Rio On pools.

The Rio On pools are natural pools in the river and we had a great time cooling off and swimming around. This was one of my favorite stops of the whole trip, since it was so refreshing, and I loved watching the kids slide down the natural slide into the water. I will never forget the goofy faces that they made! When we returned, Cesar had set up some snacks and drinks for us in our villa so that we could wind down from our adventures. Massive shout out to Cesar who always knew where we were, what we were doing, and anticipated our every need. He really added to the whole experience in a huge way, and I would highly recommend if you stay at Blancaneaux, that you book one of the rooms with Butler/Concierge service. It just adds so much to the whole experience.

The food at Blancaneaux was top notch. We had a continental breakfast delivered to our room and we had a choice of having a hard boiled egg or yogurt with granola. It also came with a ton of fruit and different fresh bread and pastries every day. There was also fresh squeezed juice and amazing coffee as well. This was one of my favorite resort breakfasts ever.

Lunches were eaten by the pool, in the restaurant, or while we were out and about. They were always solid. One day, because there was a special when I booked the resort, we were able to get pizzas by the pool for free! It was served with a massive fresh salad and they were delicious wood fired pizzas. Did I say salad? Well, Blancaneaux has its own massive, and I mean MASSIVE garden where the grow most of their own fruits and veggies, and they have a bunch of chickens as well. For one dinner, we got a tour of the garden and then had a 100% vegetarian meal near the garden which was amazing. My family are all meat eaters, but were totally full and satisfied with this innovative and fresh multi-course meal. You absolutely MUST do this garden tour and dinner when you stay at Blancaneaux.

I believe we tried all of the other restaurants when we were there as well, the Guatemalan restaurant – Guatemaltecqua – being a big highlight. The best, though, was the absolutely huge barbecue in our room for the last night. This was an incredible feast with multiple different types of meat, tons of appetizers, and to top it all off, the biggest red velvet cake you could imagine. I had a choice of the types of meat and the cake, and boy, it was all amazing and so much food. We were incredibly stuffed by the end of this meal, but also super satisfied. Luckily, since we were traveling to another Coppola property, they were able to wrap up the cake so that we could eat it there.

Blancaneaux was full of super nice and unexpected extras, many of which were coordinated by our butler, Cesar. There was a large and pretty powerful telescope on the deck of our villa, and luckily we had an almost full moon when we were there, so we were able to check out some pretty epic views of the moon. There were walkie-talkies where we could communicate with Cesar or the Front Desk at any time, which was totally awesome. The guides around the property were all knowledgeable and fun to be around. This was easily one of the best resorts I have stayed at over-all, which is saying a lot. Two of my favorite trips of all time have been to Belize, and they were faves mainly due to the amazing places that we stayed, the people at the resorts, and the ultimate luxury service. Stay tuned for Part 2 of our Belizean adventure where we go cave tubing, and relax at Coppola’s other resort, Turtle Inn!