Mick Fleming arrived in dugout canoe; Lucy Fleming on horseback a day later.

There were no roads to the overgrown farm in the Cayo district of Belize that the young couple hoped to run. Their land was a jungle. "But there was something about the place," Fleming, who was raised in England, recalls more than 30 years later. Though the Flemings started out living in a cabin without indoor plumbing, electricity or running water, raising vegetables, the couple is now at the forefront of the burgeoning ecotourism movement in Belize. Chaa Creek (www.chaacreek.com), their 365-acre nature preserve in the Cayo District — guest accommodations include 24 thatched-roof cottages, kids stay free and those under 12 eat for half price — is a model for sustainable tourism and new-style adventure family travel.

"People want the kids to experience the real deal," explains Lucy Fleming.

So many adventurous families are finding their way to Belize, a small (less than 300,000 people), peaceful, English-speaking country that borders Mexico and Guatemala, where the U.S. dollar is accepted everywhere and the exchange rate is fixed, that the Flemings are launching a Mac Morpho Rainforest Adventure for kids and teens complete with horseback riding to ancient Mayan ruins on site, as well as offering guests the chance to learn how to make tortillas with nearby villagers and planting corn and beans in the big organic garden. But this place isn't for everybody. There's no air conditioning

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or TV. That's where Belizean hotelier Ian Lizarraga and his Irish partners come in. A few miles from Chaa Creek and just outside the town of San Ignacio (69 miles from Belize City) they've opened the 15-room Ka'ana Boutique Resort (www.kaanabelize.com). Set in tropical gardens, Ka'ana lets guests experience the jungle without giving up their creature comforts. There are AC, WiFi and plasma TVs. And then there's Ka'ana's stellar guide, 24-year-old Wilbert Moh. Lizarraga welcomes families with open arms. (Check out the second room at half price deal this summer.)

Still, when families think of Belize, they think of the beach, of snorkeling and diving along the reef that stretches nearly the length of the country. (More about that in another column.) "But there's so much more than that here," says guide Wilbert Moh. Go caving — on a tube, on foot, or in a canoe — in some spots you'll pass the remains of victims of Mayan human sacrifice, tour Mayan ruins or zip line above the jungle canopy.

Sustainable tourism, meanwhile, has been the Flemings' goal from the beginning. "We were eco before eco was a word," Mick Fleming says with a laugh. Lucy Fleming says family tourism has increased 100-fold at Chaa Creek in the last several years, even in summer — the traditional rainy season. The best part, Mick Fleming promises, "The kids will do things they never get to do at home."

Parents too.

Eileen Ogintz, author of "Taking the Kids" and a resident of Fairfield County, invites questions, comments and stories about your family travels. Write to Taking the Kids, 578 Post Road East, #566, Westport CT 06880, or visit www.takingthekids.com. PHOTO 1. CAPTION: The ruins of Xunantunich. PHOTO 2. CAPTION: The thatched-roof cottages at Chaa Creek. PHOTO 3. CAPTION: There's a lot to do in Belize. PHOTO 4. CAPTION: Go caving - on a tube, on foot, or in a canoe. PHOTO 5. CAPTION: The Blue Morpho butterfly. CREDIT: Chaa Creek. PHOTO 6. CAPTION: The pool at the Ka'ana Boutique Resort. CREDIT: Ka'ana Boutique Resort.