Belize | Boomers Daily

If you only have 24 hours in a location, it’s hard to decide how to plan the perfect trip and not feel like you’ve missed any must-see locations. That’s why SI Swimsuit tasked tour guide Edward Cano in coming up with an amazing list of stops for Jasmine Sanders and Leyna Bloom during their time in Belize.

Placencia is a beach resort on the Caribbean coast of Belize. It’s at the southern tip of the Placencia Peninsula, known for its palm-lined beaches. Between the peninsula and the mainland, Placencia Lagoon is home to manatees and saltwater crocodiles. Offshore, there are dive sites on the coral Belize Barrier Reef. To the north, the Garífuna community of Seine Bight is a hub for traditional drumming and dance.

Belize City is a port city in the Central American country of Belize. It’s divided into north and south sides by Haulover Creek, which opens into the Caribbean Sea. The manually operated 1920s Swing Bridge, a busy crossing point, links the two. On the north side, the Museum of Belize traces the country’s history, with exhibits including Mayan artifacts. The Image Factory gallery shows local contemporary art.

This is a BIG DEAL—literally.

Belize just announced the world’s largest marine-focused debt conversion to date, helping it to reduce debt AND protect 30% of its ocean territory. https://t.co/KX7tsBci3c #NatureNow pic.twitter.com/Q0cPswAWA5
— The Nature Conservancy (@nature_org) November 5, 2021

The Belize Barrier Reef System features three of four coral atolls in the Atlantic, lush mangrove forests, numerous offshore islands, and one of the most extensive seagrass areas in the Caribbean. It hosts 77 species listed as threatened by the IUCN, including a sizeable population of West Indian Manatees.

Now, Belize has reaffirmed its environmental leadership by becoming the first country in the Americas to finalize a debt conversion for ocean conservation—and one that represents an impact investment for marine protection that’s unprecedented in scale. This commitment will enable Belize to restructure approximately US$550 million of external commercial debt—an amount that represents 30 percent of the country’s GDP—and reduce the national debt by 12 percent.