We were nearing the end of our two weeks in Belize, and we were flying out on a Saturday at 2pm. When flying in and out of Belize City, travelers must make some choices.
When we flew into Belize City, we did ok, but the reputation for it being an unsafe place still bothered me. For our last night in the country, I had originally booked a place near the bus station, thinking that it would be convenient if we arrived a bit later by bus from Dangriga. But the area around the bus station didn't make me feel as comfortable, so I was looking into other options.
Many other travelers had told us that we had to take our kids to the Belize Zoo. It's on the way to Belize City, and you can spend the night at an education center next door. You can also arrange for airport transportation. Although we were initially turned off because of the cost, we decided this was a much more fun, educational, and safer way to spend our last night and to get ourselves happily to the airport.
That turned out to be a fantastic decision, and we would highly recommend to any traveler, particularly traveling families, to go with this option either when arriving or when leaving via Belize City.
After catching the speedboat ferry from Tobacco Caye to Dangriga, we walked to the bus station. It was Dec 26 and buses were not leaving as frequently as normal. Rachel and I were both surprised to see another passenger at the station nursing his wounds as he bled freely from his face, but we weren't quite sure if we could or should try to help. Bus stations are also one of the few places where we paid to use the restroom ($1). We waited less than an hour at the station before we caught a bus to Belmopan. This bus ride was a fun adventure just like the other bus rides, and we enjoyed watching the scenery and the people on the bus. From Belmopan, we got of our bus as it turned into an 'Express Bus' from Belmopan to Belize City, and wouldn't be able to stop to let us off at the zoo. So we entered the station and were expecting to wait a while. We paid to use the restroom there, and then considered buying some food, and were approached by drivers offering to take us to the zoo in a taxi, telling us the bus would be a while because it was a holiday. It turns out the bus pulled right in, and we hardly had to wait at all, taking away the business from the potential taxi drivers.
Our conductor helped us get off the highway at the Belize Zoo, and our walk into the zoo entrance was about 100m. It was only shortly after lunch, so we decided to store our bags in lockers and pay entry tickets to explore.
The zoo was awesome. We've been to some amazing zoos in the USA and this was right up there. All the animals are local to Belize, so they thrive in the local environment. We enjoyed seeing birds and cats. We watched the jaguarundis, jaguars and ocelots for several minutes each. The jaguars found Ava particularly interesting, and followed her every move along the fence with intensity. I was curious if the electric fence would really work to keep us safe! Then we enjoyed watching the spider monkeys for a long time. Rachel also held a boa constrictor.
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| jaguarundi |
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| coatamundis wrestling |
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| margay |
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| tapir |
We got a ride from the zoo to the education center and checked in to 'La Casita', a little house on stilts that we were going to sleep in. The center has trails to walk around, people volunteering and studying all around, and cool programs happening. We ate a nice dinner at the dining hall and put on bug spray to return to the zoo for a night tour.
We thought perhaps it would be a bit "too much zoo" since we had already spent hours there in the afternoon, but the night tour was a whole different experience. We went around with a guide to feed each of the animals.
Feeding the tapir was a cool starting point, but it only improved from there. We watched the zoo keeper feed raw meat to the jaguar by hand, through a wire fence. While the jaguar was occupied by the food, we could reach and touch the jaguar's paws! It was crazy. The zoo keeper proceeded to feed a cougar, an ocelot, and a margay and each animal was awesome and terrifying.
Our sleep that night was cool - the walls to the casita let in a cool breeze, and we reached for our extra packed blankets in the middle of the night.
We got a ride to the airport after a relaxing morning walking around the trails of our complex, and flew from Belize City to Calgary without any issue.
Another great choice: we opted to sleep in the airport hotel in Calgary. We didn't have to pack winter coats and we were able to sleep on crisp clean sheets, have hot showers, and sleep from about 11pm-5am before our early morning flight home to Victoria, BC.
We arrived home to find our stockings filled, house safe, and all things in order.
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We are so grateful to have had this excellent family adventure. We are proud parents of our amazing little travelers, and cannot wait for our next international exploration!
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