By Emma Dance
Miami has had a bit of bad press over the years. TV shows such as Miami Vice, and more recently CSI Miami, have painted the city as a grimy, crime-ridden den of iniquity. So much so that when I said that I had been the first question most people asked was if I had felt unsafe, or if it was as bad as it looked on TV. And I must confess that I was expecting something rather more gritty than what I found.
Because Miami’s reality is rather different …

By Rupert Parker
Named after the great curve in the Rio Grande River, the Big Bend region, on the border with Mexico, is one of the last remnants of America’s Wild West.  Whether you’re rafting down deep canyons, shooting six guns, or riding mountain trails, it’s the place to realise your childhood cowboy dreams.
Because the area’s so remote, it’s a long journey – fly to Houston, a one hour hop to Midland and then a three hour drive.  The flat Texas plains, full of Oil Derricks and Pump Jacks gradually give …

By Rupert Parker
Mayan Cave Adventure
I left Belize City on a “chicken bus” bound for the highlands.  On the radio, the President was giving his Independence Day address and his theme was peace and love.  He was pleading with Belizeans to stop killing each other and, more important, to leave tourists alone. And he had a point. With nothing to export, the country’s main income is tourism and the government has set up a vast network of national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and archeological reserves stretching from the Caribbean coast to the …

By Rupert Parker – Part 2 of a series
Caribbean Barrier Reef
What most people come to Belize for are the Cays, coral islands that run the 150 mile length of the country, rivaling Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. After a couple of sweaty days in Belize City I was ready to exchange the hustle and hassle for something slightly more laid back.
Caye Caulker
It’s a 45 minute ride by water taxi to Caye Caulker and you pass several other smaller Cays on the way.  Size isn’t an issue here, and Caulker itself is …

By Rupert Parker – Part 1 of a series
Belize City
Belize wasn’t top of my list of countries to visit but I had to get out of Cancun, an ersatz Vegas on Sea without the gambling.  So I decided to hop on the bus and find out what it was like.  If fact it takes a couple of buses, the first, modern and air conditioned, hurtles down the freeway to Chetumal in about 5 hours.  Then it’s all change to a Belize “chicken bus”, which, in a former life used to …