When flying into Belize City, travelers will typically avoid the downtown area due to safety concerns and head directly to their jungle or beach retreat. If it works with your itinerary to include a stop at the Belize Zoo on either end of your trip, I highly recommend it! I was quite impressed with the scale of the outdoor facility, the variety of species, and the construction and maintenance of the habitats. Just 30 minutes from the international airport, it makes for a nice stop to stretch your legs and get accustomed to the heat and humidity, with plenty of shade and benches if you catch it on a particularly hot day (like we did!).
You can find over 150 species within the zoo, many of them native, and all either rescued from illegal wildlife trade or transferred from smaller rehabilitation facilities. It is a wonderful non-profit organization that was started in the early 80s and boasts over 40,000 visitors annually. It is fully accessible to visitors using wheelchairs, walkers, or strollers. Meander through the winding pathways and be sure to stop at the gift shop on the way out for a local souvenir.
Jess was so helpful in talking me through some of the trip options I'd told her I was interested in, and then also bringing up similar alternatives with more flexible dates. Now that everything is booked I realize all the extra things she figured out for us as well, besides booking the transfers from and to each location, she realized that we wouldn't make it to my desired flight time on three departure date and was able to easily add another day so that even our departure day is stress free!
Wendy
2 months ago
Good candid advice and suggestions; prompt replies.
Ken Johnson
2 months ago
Thoughtful and highly responsive service.
Robert Shwab
4 months ago
The trip planner understood what we wanted to do and see, and found what we hope to be a great match for our interests and style of travel.
Karen
6 months ago
Basically everything. The transfers from lodge to lodge were all timely and smooth (even though we arrived 3 hours late!) with great drivers. The lodges and food were all top notch. The guides were excellent and very knowledgeable about local history and wildlife. Chaa lodge stands out as exceptional. I ended up with an infection leaving Chaa, but they arranged for driver to stop at doctor, and he even got us to a pharmacy for prescription and a great drive to coast.
