Toledo Explorer

Day 1 Arrive Belize, Fly Punta Gorda (D)

Arrive into Belize and connect with your one hour  internal flight to Punta Gorda, making 2 other stops en route. Here you are met and transferred to the lodge which is situated on the banks of the Rio Grande.  The Lodge at Big Falls provides an exciting environment for wildlife enthusiasts and families. Enjoy relaxation or adventure as desired here. The lodge will be the base for your excursions in the Toledo District, the heart of the Maya world in Belize.

Day 2 Rio Blanco and Crystal Skull at Lubaantun (B,L,D)

Enjoy breakfast this morning and set off with your guide, driving through the Maya villages, on your way to Rio Blanco National Park. En route stop to visit the home of Florencio Mes, a Maya harpist and instrument craftsman, making harps, violins and guitars from tropical cedar. Visit with Florencio for a short time, enjoy a brief music demonstration, and possibly join him on an instrument of your own! From here continue on to visit the Maya site of Lubaantun, where the famous and controversial crystal skull was discovered in 1924. Explore the modest ruin site and learn a bit about the Maya people before journeying on to Rio Blanco National Park.  Here you can swim in the river and leap into the natural pool below the falls.

Day 3 Snake Cayes (B,L,D)

Today transfer towards the coast and embark on a vessel at Joe Taylor Creek in Punta Gorda for a day on the Snake Cayes, so called for the boa constrictors that inhabit the region. From the safety of your boat, search for a boa in the branches of the trees where they lie in wait for passing birds. Spend your time this day snorkeling on the reef around the cayes, looking for manatees, lounging in the sun or enjoy optional fishing outside the Port Honduras Marine Reserve. At the end of the day you return to Punta Gorda and head back to the lodge for the evening.

Day 4 Blue Creek Cave (B,L,D)

Early this morning is your chance for an optional bird walk around the lodge grounds with guide Steven Choco, a birding specialist with an unmatched eye and ear. Today head to the forest south of the lodge for a short hike to Blue Creek cave, where your adventure awaits!  After a safety briefing, put on your life vests and headlamps to swim and clamber hundreds of yards inside the cave to the point where the river emerges as a waterfall from the sides of the cavern. Learn about the religious and cultural significance of the cave to the Maya people and enjoy lunch beside the river. Spend the rest of your time swimming in the river and discovering medicinal plants along its banks before returning to the lodge.

Day 5 Cocoa Plantation and Kayaking (B,L,D)

Today you will visit Miguel Choco, an organic cocoa farmer in Silver Creek village. He grows cocoa for export to the UK for making Fairtrade “Maya Gold” organic dark chocolate. Miguel's kitchen garden boasts exotic fruit and vegetables and his wife Florentina helps guests roast and grind cocoa beans to make a traditional Maya drink of cocoa and corn.

This afternoon paddle by kayak with your guide from the bridge over the Rio Grande at San Miguel village for 3-4 hours downstream to the lodge where you will disembark. Along the way you can spot coatimundi, deer, herons and kingfishers among many other species.

Day 6 Return Belize City (B,L)

Transfer back to Punta Gorda this morning for your flight back to Belize City. Or transfer by land to the nearby beach town of Placencia.