This holiday season two Central American resorts with a tradition of giving back will provide their guests ways to participate in their charitable efforts.
Travelers to Central America often look for ways to give back to the less fortunate in the communities they visit, especially around the holidays. This year The Phoenix Resort, a luxury resort located on Ambergris Caye, Belize and Tambor Tropical, a romantic boutique resort on the Pacific Ocean in Tambor, Costa Rica are helping guests celebrate the holidays in a meaningful and memorable way.
Each holiday season The Phoenix provides toys for less fortunate kids around San Pedro, where the resort is located. This year The Phoenix has organized a Toy Drive where guests are invited to contribute gifts. On December 23 guests will be invited to a complimentary gift wrapping cocktail party, where guests and resort staff will wrap the gifts, while sipping on spiced cider with Belizean rum. Gifts will then be distributed in the community on December 24 by members of the community.
In addition, guests will enjoy a hot cocoa bar and cookies on the morning of December 25 in the resort’s lobby, while the grounds will be decorated with lighted holiday trees.
In Costa Rica, for the last 17 years the owners and staff of Tambor Tropical have helped celebrate the holidays by distributing learning toy gifts in their community. Each year several hundred packages of school supplies, Frisbees, marbles, jacks and donated items from Rainforest Publications make their way to the resort. This year guests are invited to bring down similar items and help wrap gifts. In anticipation of this annual tradition the children line the village streets with their parents on the morning of December 25 as the Tambor Tropical staff, wearing elf hats, drive through the town and greet the children.
Throughout the year Tambor Tropical also gives guests the ability to give back through its volunteer program at the Tambor Bay School, a nearby elementary school founded by the resort’s owners. Guests are invited to create and present lesson plans at the school, teaching students about where they are from, a subject they are familiar with, or another topic, often leaving the students with small gifts from their hometown.
