The view is just the beginning. This summer, staying mountainside makes it extra easy to experience the taste of Belize’s incredible adventures, and none more central (literally a stone’s throw outside the capital city) than the Lodge at Sleeping Giant. Whether you’re a staycation enthusiast (their year-round half-off local special makes it easy) or just blowing through for extra savings during Belize’s ‘slow’ season for tourism, here’s your summer-long guide to events onsite at Sleeping Giant Lodge. That is, not counting the year-round cliffside dining, horseback riding, jungle hiking, or ancient spelunking experiences.
Pupusa Nights
Originally hailing from El Salvador, guests can indulge in the tender stuffed masa pockets known as pupusas during Sleeping Giant Lodge’s Pupusa Night! A golf ball size of fresh ground corn dough is flattened before meeting traditional fillings like refried beans, mozzarella cheese, and pork chicharron. It’s sealed, then flattened once more into a thick disc. For US$20 a person every Monday and Tuesday, you’ll get an appetizer, a round of vegetarian or traditional pupusas, and a dessert. Topped with a quick pickled cabbage slaw called curtido and a tomato-based salsa roja, reservations are required to enjoy this Latin delicacy.
Twice The Slice
The open-air pizzeria is the first to greet you when you arrive at Sleeping Giant Lodge, if the smell of wood-fire singed pizza Napoletana doesn’t. Don Tonito’s, the pizzeria onsite Sleeping Giant amongst the foliage and bamboo walls of the property, is serving up 2-for-1 pizza every Wednesday, applicable to all menu items. If you’re coming from Belmopan, the pizza-centric road trip is 20-minutes enough to decide between the Arugula, Ortolana, or Meat Lovers.
Lights Out
A monthly event to celebrate the full moon, join in with dinner reservations for a truly moonlit feast. Across the property, candlelight takes the place of any traditional lighting in all common areas for one hour, adding to the rustic charm of the Belizean rainforest. Besides being incredibly intimate and ravishingly romantic, it’s also a conservation effort: staff calculates the wattage saved at the end of the night and shares it with guests. Why limit earth hour to once a year? Cozy up near the firepit with Earth-inspired cocktails in the evening at the bar cart and synchronize conversation with gleaming flickers of the flame.
Paint & Sip
Artists can take their paint palettes (or rather, leaves), brushes, and easels outside before setting up shop on the River Deck to put on canvas what they see in front of them. It’s called painting “en plein air,” which is basically French for “outdoors.” It’s available on request for both adults and children, with the class including a glass of wine or a cocktail for the former, and a hot chocolate or smoothie for the latter. Take your art with you back home, or leave it mounted in the resort amongst works from Marla’s House of Hope, a non-profit children’s home in the nearby capital City of Belmopan. Tap into your inner child and get involved in the life of a child, too: any sales associated with the paintings are donated to Marla’s House of Hope.
Daytrippers welcomed + how to get 50% off your next stay
From Belmopan, day-trippers can enjoy sophisticated picnics amongst citrus orchards; stand-up paddleboarding in the Sibun River; breathtaking (in more than one) views of the eponymous mountain on the gazebo hike; and perfect photo ops across the hammock bridge. Dine in, grab a complimentary bicycle, and explore the grounds of the Rainforest Lodge at Sleeping Giant.
Or with more time to travel, really soak in the Sleeping Giant Lodge with any of the ongoing travel promos, including a 50% off sale for locals and residents.
All images courtesy The Rainforest Lodge at Sleeping Giant.
