Belize Explorer

When you arrive at the Belize City airport, you'll be transferred to your jungle retreat. Time permitting, you may stop at the Belize Zoo, where in typical Belizean fashion animals roam 29 acres in large natural enclosures. Your jungle lodge is tucked next to the Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve and Roaring River. Surrounded by pristine forest, your days at the lodge will be filled with exploring the lush vegetation of the Maya Mountains and the mysteries beneath.

After a leisurely morning, set out down the Macal River for your first introduction to Belizean wildlife. Your guide will help you spot iguanas, peccaries, coatimundis, and a myriad of bird life. After lunch in town, visit the Maya ruins of Xunantunich, once a major ceremonial site and the second tallest ruin in Belize. From atop, enjoy a breathtaking panoramic view of the Cayo District of Guatemala.

Rise early for an unforgettable adventure into the Maya underworld. You'll begin your journey from your lodge doors, crossing creeks and traveling deep into the Belizean jungle to the opening of the sacred Actun Tunichil Muknal - the Cave of the Stone Sepulcher. At the entrance, you will be equipped with helmets and waterproof headlamps, then wade into the emerald waters that flow from the cave's gaping mouth. Your journey follows the flow of the river through wet and dry caverns surrounded by hanging stalactites and towering stalagmites. Your final destination is the spectacular Primary Chamber, where ancient kings and priests made blood sacrifices to appease the Mayan gods. Your lights illuminate the ghostly outlines of skeletal ritual victims and scattered ceramic shards from ancient rituals. Tunichil is an active archaeological site, so be careful not to disturb the sleeping skeletons and ceramic shards before returning to the light above ground. See Barton Creek Cave for an alternate excursion.

This morning, after an early breakfast, you'll depart for the three-hour drive to the magnificent Tikal ruins, just across the border in Guatemala. Tikal's towering pyramids rise above the thick jungle canopy like stoic sentinels of ancient mysteries. The ancient Maya began building this city around 600 B.C., and for the next 1,500 years the area was an important religious, scientific, and political center. Pyramids were built to honor dead kings, administrative buildings rose, storage houses appeared, and houses for royalty were carved out of the jungle. Tikal became one of the greatest centers of Maya culture and sprawled over 46 square miles with more than 4,000 structures in the main city center alone. Today, the pristine forest engulfing the ruined city is home to howler and spider monkeys, white-lipped peccaries, brocket deer, coatimundis, toucans, scarlet macaws, parrots, ocelots, and the seldom seen jaguar. After a tour of the ruins, you will return to your lodge in Belize for your last night in the jungle.

After breakfast, you will be transferred to the airport for your short flight over the crystal clear Caribbean waters to Ambergris Caye. Settle into your beachside hotel and relax into the Belizean spirit. 

This morning you're off on a snorkeling trip to Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley for your first introduction to the wonderful world of the Belizean reef. Sea turtles, eagle rays, nurse sharks, and hundreds of species of fish, corals, and sponges create one of the world's most diverse underwater ecosystems. The rest of the time is available for you to arrange activities locally. You can take a PADI Scuba Diver Resort Course, explore the island by bicycle, rent a catamaran, or just relax on the beach. The island has plenty of services for daytime adventures and nighttime dining.

Today is free for you to arrange activities locally. You can take a PADI Scuba Diver Resort Course, explore the island by bicycle, rent a catamaran, or just relax on the beach. The island has plenty of services for daytime adventures and nighttime dining.

Bid farewell to Ambergris Caye and fly back to Belize City in time to connect with your return flight home.

*Please schedule your international flight to depart 12:30 PM or later this day.