Dazed from a very early morning get-up we reluctantly headed to the airport to leave the paradise island of Roatan for Belize.

We’d considered Belize as a travel destination in the past (pre James) but it’s not a straightforward country to fly to from the UK so we never ended up going. Known for its dense jungles, reefs and minimal tourist attractions we were unsure how many toddler friendly things we’d find to do there – But since we were going to be in that part of the world it would have been rude to miss it this time around. Plus it seemed like a good end point for the Central American part of our trip.

After we checked in at the airport in Roatan there was a bit of a surprise in store for us. There was only one aircraft on the runway and it was tiny! With only three others passengers we bagged seats directly behind the pilots. What a way to get to the next country. James however was more interested his impromptu carrot cake breakfast (the only thing available at 06:00 in the airport) and left our seats covered in crumbs… there’s no hiding the whodunnit on such a small plane 😳

Safely back on terra firma our first stop was Chaa Creek lodge near San Ignacio which is nestled in the Belizean jungle on the banks of the Macal river. Being cheapskates we opted to stay in the jungle campsite with no electricity and a shared wooden shack toilet block, rather than the posh lodge complete with spa and swimming pool. Despite the lack of luxury there’s something special about being lulled to sleep by jungle nighttime sounds under the light of a hurricane lamp. So too is a 05:30 wake up call by a troupe of howler monkeys in the trees overhead.

That said Lucy did get a reminder that we were in the jungle for real when one evening she discovered a scorpion in the campsite toilet cubicle. Thankfully both made a hasty retreat and neither were harmed.

It turns out that filling our time with toddler friendly things to do in a jungle was easier than anticipated. The camp had canoes for guests to use so we spent a morning paddling up river spotting wildlife along the way. There were even a few light rapids to test our canoeing skills but we failed at the first hurdle and had to get out and push. As you can imagine James isn’t the most helpful in such situations. We made a pleasant lunch stop at a botanical garden then it was a leisurely float back downstream to camp.

River tubing seemed to be a big tourist draw in that part of the country but came with an expensive price tag. Again, being tight northerners at heart and unsure whether James would enjoy it we found a way of trying it out for free. The posh lodge had inner tubes we could use to float our way downstream back to our campsite. An hour later we arrived with wet bums and with only a slightly bored toddler. It seems James tubing highlight was actually the al fresco wee he did at the end of the jetty!

The rest of our time at Chaa Creek was spent lazing by the posh lodge pool, walking the many jungle trails and visiting an on-site butterfly farm which James surprised us again and loved.

The local family who ran the campsite looked after us beautifully. They cooked us amazing food and helped entertain James when he was being grumpy, we couldn’t have asked for better hosts. Thank you Chaa Creek.

Our next stop was San Pedro town on the island of Ambergris Caye, one of the many small coral islands that line the Belize barrier reef. Considering that ambergris is a grey waxy substance produced by the digestive tracts of sperm whales you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s probably not really worth the 90 minute long water taxi ride from Belize City to get there. However it’s actually a beautiful tropical island surrounded by white sandy beaches, warm turquoise sea, with a friendly laidback Caribbean vibe.

The main mode of transport on the island for locals and tourists alike are golf carts. So not wanting to miss out on the fun we hired one for a day and headed north along potholed roads to the ‘secret’ beach which was touted (so clearly not secret) as being the best on the island. It didn’t disappoint and James spent the day playing in the water with his two newfound friends from North Carolina.

We’d hoped to be able to take a reef snorkelling trip whilst on the island but none of the operators would let James do the snorkelling so instead we spent our last day on the island chilling Caribbean style – checking out the local playgrounds, eating ice cream, afternoon beers, diving off jetties into the sea… at which James excelled and impressed everyone with his daredevil antics.

In the end Belize turned out to be one of the best places to entertain a toddler that we had visited yet. Mainly down to the openness/tolerance of the local kids to playing with a slightly loopy English boy.

It was sad to leave Central America but it was time to head north to San Diego in the US. Despite loving the last month and a half in the tropics we were both looking forward to some time without applying sunscreen, constant sweating and the ever present nighttime threat from mosquitoes. City life, craft beer and food that doesn’t contain rice & beans here we come….