This review is stressing me out! It feels impossible to put into words how lovely and special this place is and I want to do it justice. This was our first stop in Belize and myself, my husband and four teenagers had driven ourselves two and a half hours from Belize City. We were tired, stressed, and as always when traveling to a new country feeling shell shocked.
Once we opened the door to Alma, we couldn't believe it! It blends in with the surroundings and the interior feels natural and compliments the jungle around it. That first walk through had the hard to impress kids (18, 18, 16, 14) exclaiming at every turn. Of course the outdoor shower was always a hit and made everyone happy to clean up, lol.
Then, we walked into the screen porch, river view room and everyone just quiets down and has a seat. The birdsong, river view, treetops....breathtaking. My morning cups of coffee in this room were magical. The pictures of this listing are awesome, but being there was indescribable.
The owners handled a small water problem we encountered in record time. Ellis who quickly fixed our water and Dora cleaning/licensed massage are amazing, kind, talented, smart, and efficient.
My husband hurt his back falling in the mud at the waterfall hike and had a 90 minute deep tissue massage by Dora (set up for us by Alma, easy, fast, convenient) and it was a much needed treatment, keeping the injury from affecting the rest of our trip in Belize.
The resident dog "Akala" made us all happy! She will guide you on your kayak trip, it made the kids nervous because she just paddled along following them in the water, but she kept up with a doggy smile the whole time!
Ko-Ox Han Nah (recommended in Alma's excellent trip guide) was by far our favorite meal of the trip, don't miss it!
If you drive away from town (take a left leaving Alma), there is a little bakery restaurant Carms which became our favorite breakfast or dinner pop in. Their bread pudding was memorable and everything was delicious!
The Jawa coffee class was excellent. The teen crew wasn't overjoyed with excitement when we walked in, but they soon had our attention! Learning that something we snack on without thinking about is sacred to a people and important to their livelihood to this day really got us all thinking about where we are getting our chocolate from and how the growers are being compensated. The chocolate drinks were delicious, everyone's favorite was the chocolate with a pinch of chili.