Belize: staying in a monkey sanctuary in Bermudian Landing

Winter is when we do most of our international travel and following the last trip to Colombia, we were looking for a new destination.Unlike Colombia, we did not have any particular country in mind.

After lots of googling and price comparison of flights, we picked Belize. It had everything we needed at the time: cheap flights, relatively close, a variety of geography and destinations.  For a country we chose at random this trip is now at the top of my list!

I didn’t want to stay in a resort and wanted to really experience the country. We decided to split our in two: five nights on the mainland and five nights on a coastal island.

Main land – Bermudian Landing

Many of the resorts in Belize are in the islands, but most of the “adventure activities” are on the main land.

We stayed at Nature’s resort in Bermudian Landing, which is a small town inside a monkey nature reserve off the beaten path in Belize. The town is small, so everyone knows everyone and it is safe to walk around. It is also very rural, which I found charming. Nothing like walking down the street, while waiting for some cows or horses to cross the road!

The resort is beautiful with small private cabins dotted across the property. The rooms are simple, but well taken care and in a beautiful private area. If you’re looking for nightlife, this is not the spot – as the location is very remote.  For us it served as the perfect spot to relax and kick off our vacation. We also used it as a base camp for all our main land excursions.

From the airport, we arranged the resort to pick us up – which was about a 40 minute drive from Belize City. After the first day, we decided to rent a car, so we could travel on our own terms and not use tours.  The savings on not using a tour group for activities nearly paid for the day car rental rate, plus the rental company will drop you back at the airport or water taxi, avoiding a cab fare.

From Bermudian Landing, we took day trips to Lamanai Ruins, the Belize Zoo, Lamanai chocolate, caving in Crystal Cave and swimming in an open cenote in St. Herman’s blue hole national park, and a city trip around Orange Walk and Belize City.

Bermudian Landing also happens to be in a monkey reserve. For a small fee, we went on a nature walk in the jungle with a local volunteer. He was very knowledgeable and had a unique bond with the monkeys.  Although wild, the monkeys would come when he called for a few pieces of leaves.

We also went on a night paddle in a jungle river to look for wildlife.  This guide was also local and could spot a crocodile from across the river, even catching a baby crocodile with his bare hands (and released him after).  The resort has a small herd of horses roaming the property, which was a great opportunity for a quick ride around the small town.

Watch for more information on our stay in Ambergris Caye, Belize and other day trips.

Tips:

• • English is taught in school in Belize, so the country is easy to navigate for English speakers. The next most spoken languages are Spanish and Creole. We found that most people at least speak to languages.
  • Safety: we found the country very safe overall, but there are some warnings for the cities. We were extra careful and mindful of where we were in Belize City and Orange Walk.
  • We stayed at the Nature Resort in Bermudian Landing. Breakfast and dinner can be included for an extra cost.
  • We booked all accommodations through booking.com.
  • We booked are car rental through Crystal Auto, which was easy with great transfer service. You can book in advance or just show up like we did – but availability can be limited this way.
  • We did use a taxi, but made sure to ask a business to call one for us.
  • Instead of booking our excursions through a travel group, we drove to the locations ourselves. This was more affordable and let us travel on our own timeline. It also meant we could get there earlier and avoid crowds. Most locations we showed up and paid to enter. Then we could choose to pay a tour guide there if we wanted.
  • I have had a few questions about how we pack and or travel when on-the-go. I have become a huge fan of using camping backpacks. I am also a little addicted to amazon, so I purchased mine that way. It makes life much easier than trying to pull luggage from hotel to hotel. Here is the Mountaintop Backpack that I use.