Belize
San Ignocia
Feb 2023
(7 nights / 6 full days)
Jumping off city for all the fun jungle activities. City itself feels a bit run down. Bus station 2 blocks from the daily market (bigger on Saturdays). 7 nights was too long. 5 days would have been perfect in no particular order.
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Day 1: ATM
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Day 2: Tikal
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Day 3: Market, rest, etc
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Day 4: Cave tubing
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Day 5 Xunantanich, Ajaw chocolate, iguana conservatory
Favorites
🍴Meals
Lunch: El Fogon in the back of the market - best burrito
Dinner: Crave for fish and pasta dish, Guava Limb for food and relaxed outdoor setting
🍸Bar: The Spot
🏩 Stay: Ecolodges were magical Black Rock and Table Rock
Activity: ATM, Tikal - if not able to cross the border then Xuantunich, cave tubing for a fun a relaxing day, cooking class
Restaurants
$ amounts below include tips
Cenaida’s - good and popular for lunch. Basic Belizean food. Three tables out back. Right size portions. Good smoothies. Fajitas, veggie beans and rice, two smoothies. $16
Crave - very good. Favorite meal so far in Belize. Loved sitting outside at their small friendly sidewalk bar for a cocktail before heading inside to the strong AC for dinner. Very small restaurant so may want to make a reservation. Dishes were super flavorful. Sauces were more complex than anything we have had in Belize to date. Appropriately sized portions. $90
El Fogon - 👍 hidden gem in the back of the market above the river. Large portions. Best burrito I’ve had in Belize. Very flavorful. Enjoyed the quesadilla, chips and salsa and fruit smoothie as well. We had way too much food. Brought some back and gave to appreciative local laying on sidewalk. $17
Erva’s - 👍 cocktails okay but creole shrimp was excellent. Go with their recommendations on what to order. $45
Eva’s - 👌. Outdoor garden. Slow service. Indian. 2 entrees, appetizer, 2 rounds of cocktails. $50
Guava Limb - 👍. Very good. Sister restaurant to Chaa Creek Resort. Lovely outdoor area under “house” as well as 2 patio areas and upstairs. American service and portions. Pizza, salad, cocktails, red velvet cake (a must). $50. Shrimp pasta, chicken pasta, salad, two cocktails, red velvet cake. $57
Hode’s Place - 👌 huge open / outdoor space. Portions match the hugeness of the space. Don’t over order. Food just okay … but doesn’t break the bank. Quesadillas, nachos, salad and 2 beers. $31
KO OX HAN NAH - 👍. Good. Had 2 tofu veggie burritos, cheese cake. 2 drinks $33
The Spot - patio area. Had only cocktails. Good. Nice, comfortable space.
Stays
Don Santiago guest house - . Good central location. Hugo was a good communicator. Large common living room / kitchen area with free bottled water. Was clean. No outside area. Felt room got stuffy. Would not stay there again. $35 a night.
Venus Hotel - Clean. Small room. Mattress VERY firm. Decent shower but sometimes when we came back, bathroom has a sulfur smell (from drain maybe?), which did seem to disappear. TV with streaming services. Very central location. Staff super nice. Letting us get water from their water dispenser. Access to rooftop clothesline to dry our laundry. Big bonus was pool pass to hang out at Midas Hotel-10-minute walk. $35 a night. NOTE: G Adventures (tour company) stay here
Activities
ATM - 👍 about 1 hour outside of San Ignacio. It is quite the adventure. We went with Maya Walks- excellent guides. 2-3 miles round trip in and out. Walk along a fairly flat wide path. Walk thru a couple of rivers (have ropes to hold on to). Cave itself is 500 meters in. Wade along a river through much of the cave. Couple of fun tight spaces, climbing, etc but guides tell you exactly where to step or turn your head so all very doable. Cave is beautiful with stalagmites and stalactites, pottery artifacts and skeletons. Fascinating to learn about Mayan sacrifices and culture. No cameras allowed, so photos below from the web. Full day activity.
First of many cork trees
Tikal - 👍 full day activity. 20 min drive to Guatemala border. We walked across to meet a different guide and car for 2 hr drive to Tikal. A bit slow getting through border, but our guide knew someone and got us to jump the line. Each person crossing needs to pay $20. Ensure bill has no tears. Made a halfway stop for coffee, snacks, restroom, souvenirs, and view model of Tikal site. Once at site, you park and walk in. Plan to walk a few miles, as well as climbing many many stairs, with railings, so even those afraid of heights can make it to the temple tops for amazing views. This is one of the largest excavated Mayan sites and worth the trip. Stopped for good lunch and a drink on the way back to the border. Cost of $150 pp not including border crossings cash. Note visit to Guatemala does NOT reset the 30 day free tourist visa limit for Belize. We had to take a half day to go to the Belmopan immigration office and pay $100 pp to get another 30 days visa extension for our additional time in Belize.
Xunantunich - 👍 20 minutes from San Ignacio. Can take a tour, taxi $15 one way, drive yourself, or the bus $1.25 pp. Can get a guide before you go on ferry or easily guide yourself. About 1 mile walk uphill to temple area. $5 entrance fee pp. Took us about 2 hours to walk to from ferry and then walk around temple complex and museum. On way back into San Ignacio we got off the bus and did the Iguana Conservatory tour and then walked to AJAW for their chocolate tour.
Green Iguana conservation project - $11.25 pp. tour every hour on the hour. Purchase your tickets inside the beautiful San Ignacio Resort Hotel. 10- 15 minute walk from San Ignacio welcome center. One steep hill with little shade to conquer. Tour very informative about protecting this endangered species (although no such list or system exists in Belize). Locals eat them -“bamboo chicken “.
AJAW - 10 minute walk from iguana project. Down the hill and then back up another hill. Tours on the hour. Interesting if you aren’t familiar with the source of chocolate. Taste the cacao bean at different stages. Make the chocolate for hot chocolate drink - very good. $14 pp
Cave tubing - 👍 great day after 2 fairly active/ physical days. Beautiful and relaxing. Hour drive with a stop for snacks/bathroom. 20 minute walk with tube to starting point. Tie tubes together as a big raft. Very clear water. Spend 60% of time floating in cave. Guides pull you if river isn’t moving much. Chance to jump and swim in pools inside the cave. Balance of time floating down tree lined fairly shaded river. Got off tubes a couple of times for those that wanted to swim or jump off rocks. Good stop on way back for lunch. Rum punch was flowing freely. Party day if you have a fun group. Get back around 3pm.
