Machaca Hill Rainforest Canopy Lodge
Machaca Hill Rainforest Canopy Lodge is an outpost in what is still considered 'wild Belize'. While we had read about the place and seen photos but none do justice to it. We have arrived at the end of the rainbow!
What words describe it? Pristine, untouched, tranquil, this is a true rainforest experience. And yet it is also the most luxurious rainforest lodge I have seen.
For those who want the over the water bungalow, how about the over the rainforest room? Each of the twelve rooms is suspended or perched along a hill of tall ferns and trees including cecropia, ceiba, gumbo limbo, and more species than I could ever name. The spacious rooms bring the outdoors in, as much of the room is enclosed but the porch or balcony, instead of being outside a door, is a screened-in part of the room. Thus even with all doors and windows closed the screened porch is part of the room.
All night long one hears the peaceful hoot of a Black and White or the Mottled Owl. Several times in the night troops of Howler Monkeys call. If you have not heard their sound, it is an amazing low guttural, hooting that can at first startle but later one considers how fortunate they are to be in a jungle location so remote that such wild creatures still exist. The sound could be used for haunted houses anytime. (click here for a link to Belize Zoo sounds http://www.belizezoo.org/zoo/zoo/mammals/how/how5.html)
Machaca Hill is like being on safari but you are in Central America. Only a few hours flight from NYC, Houston, Denver, Miami, etc, and a quick hop flight to Punta Gorda, you are smack in the rainforest. Why fly to the other side of the world when you have all the creatures (OK – no elephants!) and expected comforts of safari. The owners and managers have done a fabulous job or remodeling a once fancy fishing lodge into a luxurious lodge with very sound ecological practices. An on-site organic farm supplies most of the fruits and veggies at meals, most of the extremely friendly and attentive staff come from Punta Gorda area. All wood used in rooms or furniture comes from sustainable harvest or felled trees. Did I say safari? GM Brian and his wife Jane indeed hail from Africa and know the luxurious safari business. They even include high tea!
Whilst drinking coffee before breakfast on the upper deck, I saw birds that in other locations would take a challenge to look up to. At eye-level, I spotted Montezuma Oropendula, Collared Aracari, Keel-Billed Toucan, Red-legged Honey Creeper, Green Honeycreeper, Baltimore Oriole, Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Blue-gray Tanager, Red-lored Parrot, Black-headed Trogon, and LOTS of each of these birds. What can I say – there are lots more I did not identify. Barely had to lift my nocs to see them.
The spa at Machaca Hill is a new addition and a good one! The small room behind the swimming pool is like a little sanctuary in itself. Therapist Bertha has a sweet little set up with the therapy room a full window to the rainforest. While getting a lovely rub this afternoon, every now and then I would look up and see the greenest view ever to grace a massage table. Sounds of birds, monkeys and the fabulous fountain made of felled tree pieces make for a relaxing way to spend an hour after hiking trails or Mayan ruins or snorkeling the pre-reef of Belize.
This is a destination to itself and worth it. You deserve it, don't deny yourself.
