Length of Tour
10-Days/9-Nights
Basic Itinerary
Day 1 – Arrival and transfer to first night’s lodging
Day 2 – Drive to the southern Toledo District after a morning birding the beautiful forests surrounding St Herman’s Cave and Blue Hole National Park
Day 3 – From our lodge we’ll visit more broad-leaf forest and riverine gallery areas
Day 4 – Boat trip along one of the many forested rivers
Day 5 – Exploring the coastal mangroves and wetlands as we continue to our next lodge
Day 6 – Explore the beautiful forests surrounding our lodge where creeks and waterfalls attract many species
Day 7 – Boat trip to the cayes with optional snorkeling
Day 8 – Exploring the Cockscomb Basin Jaguar Preserve
Day 9 – Drive to lodging near Belize City for the night
Day 10 – Return Home
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1 – Arrival and transfer to first night’s lodging
Arriving no later than 2:30pm, we will take our group southwest to the Hummingbird Highway for our first lodge, surrounded by forest.
Day 2 – St Herman’s Cave / Blue Hole / Drive South
Early birding around the lodge. After breakfast, we will Drivea short distance to St Herman’s Cave and Blue Hole National Parks (the inland Blue Hole… not the one on the reef). The birding in this are can produce many colorful tanagers and hummingbirds as we al the possibility of Emerald Toucanet and Tody Motmot.
We will enjoy a box lunch as we then continue our drive to the Toledo District in southern Belize, added birding stops along the way will allow is to arrive in time for dinner at our lodge.
Day 3 – Birding the lodge grounds and nearby hotspots
While at our lodge we’ll explore the southern broad-leaf forest and riverine gallery forest areas. Many birds not found in northern Belize can be found here. All meals at the lodge
Day 4 – Mayan Ruins and River Boat Trip
Today we will have a boat trip along one of the many forested rivers in search of tiger herons, Sungrebe and so much more. After lunch we will explore the nearby Mayan ruins and birding in the surrounding forests.
Day 5 – Drive to our next lodge / Explore coastal mangroves
Exploring the coastal mangroves and wetlands as we continue to our next lodge may turn up Yucatan Vireo, Mangrove Warbler and Rufous-necked Wood Rail.
Arriving in time for lunch at our lodge we will certainly have more birding time here in late afternoon.
Day 6 – Birding the grounds around the lodge
Today we will stay put to explore the beautiful forests surrounding our lodge where creeks and waterfalls attract many species. The forests and trails here are full of feeding flocks of tanagers as well as Keel-billed Toucans, Collared Aracari and so much more.
Day 7 – Boat trip to the cayes with optional snorkeling
Today’s excursion will take us out to “Bird Island” which is loaded with Pelicans, Magnificent Frigatebirds, Brown Boobies and possibly Red-footed Booby. From here we will motor to a nearby island where we can enjoy the beach or do some snorkeling along the reef.
Day 8 – Exploring the Cockscomb Basin Jaguar Preserve
After an early breakfast we will drive to the nearby Cockcomb Basin Jaguar Preserve where in the 1980’s Alan Rabinowitz determined through his research that this area had one of the highest densities of Jaguars in Central America. Of course, they are tough to see, but keep fingers crossed as we seek the many birds and other wildlife found here.
We will have a box lunch so we can continue exploring the trails and walk along Stann Creek.
Day 9 – Drive to lodging near Belize City for the night
Today we will drive back north toward the airport for a night at a lodge not far from the airport, yet still has good birding!
Day 10 – Return Home
We typically check out at 11:00am, so we can have a relaxing breakfast and time to repack. We will target a 12 noon airport drop off, so plan flights after 2:00pm.
