At ease amid the trees in Belize

What a great treat to see John Horn’s cover story on Belize [“Coppola’s Jungle Set,” Feb. 9] as my family (wife and two boys) spent a week in Belize last month.

We also split our time between Blancaneaux Lodge and Turtle Inn and did many of the same things as the author: visit to Caracol, Barton Creek cave and zip lining. We really enjoy going to places off the beaten path, and Belize certainly delivered on this front.

The local people as well as the staff at both resorts were excellent and very accommodating. I only hope that the additional publicity does not spoil the remoteness of these places, as we felt privileged to be among the few that experience this country’s charm.

Layth Carlson

Pacific Palisades

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Great Belize cover photo today … lush and green for parched old California.

Kurt Sipolski

Palm Desert

I don’t know how many furious emails Catharine Hamm has received from women, but I certainly take issue with men being able to read maps better than women [“What’s the Best Way to Go, Map or GPS?” Feb. 2].

I have been reading maps and navigating to places “unknown” for over 50 years. Yes, lots of my friends have a GPS, and it’s certainly easier when searching for a small restaurant in an out-of-the-way location, but I still prefer a map.

I started doing navigation for my husband when we belonged to a car club (well, the Volkswagen Club, if you must know) many years ago and can read a map with the best of them. Later on, as I traveled in an RV, I enjoyed a map even more. For one thing, if you are looking at a map, you get to see the whole picture. Many times when we would be in the Pacific Northwest, I would notice a town with an intriguing name. I could then take out my AAA tour book and see if there were things that might interest us in visiting. Yeah, yeah, I know now I could just pull up the info on my tablet, but I still say I love the feel, the look and the “romance” of maps.

Barbara R. Cloud

Santa Clarita

Christopher Reynolds’ Feb. 2 article on Moscow [“Fire And Ice”] was superb. Arthur Ashe said he never prayed for victory when he played tennis, and he wasn’t going to pray for healing from AIDS or heart disease, that God’s will alone matters. The Russians tried to be like that when they stood up to Bonaparte’s invading armies during the Napoleonic Wars.

Evan Dale Santos

Adelanto