I don't think I'd base my stay on the wildlife in Belize. I'd base it more on the sights you want to see. The wildlife in Belize just is nothing like CR. For example, if you want to go to Tikal and ATM, you'll want to stay closer to those areas. If you want to spend time on the beach and snorkel, choose the Caye that suits your needs the best.

If you do an excursion to various places you may see wildlife - for example I hear on the tour to Lamani Ruins you'll see a lot of wildlife. And when we went to Tikal we saw monkeys, Toucans, foxes, coati etc.

For us, we wanted the adventures to be relatively short in driving time so we picked locations based on that and they were great choices!

Junglegirl, I think you're ready for the Amazon. It's like the Osa, but a denser jungle and more and larger wildlife. This is the trip we took, and it was one of the best trips we have taken. You can even go fishing for piranhana. http://www.ietravel.com/amazonexplorer/index.asp?itinid=794&ieid=628612

Shooie, the Amazon does look amazing!

What about Chan Chich - has anyone stayed there? It seems like it has spectacular wildlife. Would that be a convenient place to do any of the tours, or is it really isolated?

We absolutely loved Chan Chich, but it is pretty remote, and probably not a good base for side trips. There are wonderful birds and howlers, and the staff there found a giant Fer de Lance when we were there.
(Not as much wildlife as the Amazon

We had similar priorities when planning our upcoming trip (along with Maya ruins).

For wildlife, we included a stay in the Tikal national park itself and a stay at the Lamanai Outpost Lodge. We also considered Chan Chich lodge, but found the range of activities (e.g. night lagoon safaris) to be a superior value proposition, along with its location next to the very remote Lamanai archaeological site.

We can tell you our thoughts in February, but given your enthusiasm for BdC, those kinds of places might make sense--though Tikal will be much less luxurious and much cheaper than BdC, with the Belize ecolodges being even more expensive.

I can't compare wildlife-wise with Costa Rica as I've never been there. As with ShellD we've chosen Belize (and will likely never visit CR) because we're more interested int he villages, culture, ruins, and blue water activities. Our best inland wildlife viewing has been Tikal (yeah, I realize it's in Guatemala) and Cockscomb Reserve. The success of the Baboon Sanctuary means packs of howlers have been established in other areas; this trip they were close and active for various members of our family group at Tikal, Ixpanpajul (near Flores), the Baboon Sanctuary, Caves Branch, Lamanai, and Caracol. Lots of spider monkeys at Tikal and along the river to Lamanai, too.

Where Belize wildlife really excels is underwater, where big things like nurse sharks, Atlantic rays, spotted eagle rays, manatees, and turtles were commonly sighted when we dove and snorkeled; one dive trip a dropped into the water and a 4' long remora kept bumping me, wanting to attach - a first! I really love the small, colorful reef fish, especially juveniles and Glovers Atoll is amazing for that. I identified more than 60 species on my 1st dive and continued to see something new every time I dove or snorkeled (4 or 5 times most days) for the week we were there and 4 days on Caulker, nearly 120 fish species altogether. Snorkeling was almost as good as diving.

So I guess it depends on what kind of wildlife you want to see.

I agree hopefulist - the Belizean wildlife is underwater. I was telling my husband I could snorkel all day, everyday and never tire of it! That part of my report is coming up - but the variety of fish was just amazing! I can't imagine going ot Belize and not spending part of the trip in the water....That's where the wildlife is for sure!

VG for wildlife Peru Amazon

www.inkaterra.com Amazon Lodge

or

www.explorama.com Iquitos

or

www.pmexplorers.com Manu Biosphere Reserve tours.

Do this from Cusco also visit MP.

Have fun,

I live in Belize and have seen lots of wildlife. The main thing to remember is that the wildlife in general is very shy and generally nocturnal.Also remember you must know how to look for it !! Night walks with an experienced guide could be very helpful I was tubing on the Macal River one afternoon and spotted a huge orange iguana in a tree and the folks accompanying me could not see it. The animals have camoflauge and a trained eye is very helpful. A lot also has to do with the human population in the area , the availability of food for the animals,and time of year, and weather.

Great birding in Belize. . .does that count? Wildlife. . not so much; I agree that you'd be better off going there with other interests in mind. Definitely agree that the water wildlife is awesome; that seems to be the focus. That and ruins.

And an impressive variety of cultural groups! We had a wonderful time in Hopkins Village this summer, listening to the Garifuna drumming and being pulled out to dance with them, eating (really unusual) traditional Garifuna food, and talking with folks who remember our hometown friends who were Peace Corps volunteers there 20 years ago. We've enjoyed Creole and Maya villages in the past, too, and would like to explore a Mennonite community more on a future trip.

I know the diving, snorkeling, and sea life are great there. We could even see the beautiful blue water as we flew over on our way to CR. I guess I was just looking for recs for more places like Chan Chich; the pics of the wildlife that I've seen there are amazing.

From what I understand, and I may be wrong, Chan Chich is fairly remote as far as going to destinations for your excurstions - for instance Tikal and ATM. So while the wildlife is better there, that may be your destination. I do remember looking at their website and thinking it looked really nice but they didn't offer the packages or day tours to the sites we really wanted to see that made Belize what it was for us.

I think if you wanted you could do a split of something like Chaa Creek in that area to get Tikal or other ruins in that area along with ATM or other caves like Bartons Creek. Then there's the Lamani Outpost Lodge with that ruin but has more wildlife and then head out to the Cayes for the ocean. I was considering a 3 stop trip, but one thing important to my husband was not moving around too much, and for us 3 hotels this trip was actually perfect. You can also do the Lamani ruins as a day trip from Ambergris Caye and they tell me you see quite a bit of wildlife on that. You travel in by boat I believe.

Also, Chaa Creek is part of a Howler Monkey program to repopulate them in the wild. I know that's not the correct term at all. But they're working with various scientists to bring them back throughout the region so hopefully in years to come they will begin to be seen more in the wild. And as I mentioned there are at least 4 on their property. I was told that there are toucans there on their property as well that hang out by the pool in the morning, but we never did see them. Only saw the toucans at Tikal.

Thanks for all the details, guys. It's fun to hear all about an area that's new to us.

We have not been to Belzie in many years but we have been there and Guatemala twice and once to Costa Rica.

One of our greatest traveling experiences was scaling the temples at Tikal. Once when he reached the summit of Temple IV, we were about 50 feet above the canopy of the rain forest. If that is still a possibility it is a must.

We took a canoe trip up the Macal without a guide and the wildlife was wonderful.

Our lodging inforamtion is so obsolete as to be useless.

Regarding Chan Chich, that was our first choice, vgirl. I tried to book a year in advance (well, 9 months), and they were full, pending final confirmation of a birding group. They were asking me to wait 2 months and check back with them. I went ahead with Chaa Creek and didn't regret it for a moment.

As shell said, Chan Chich, as wonderful as I am sure it is (and there's not much question about that), is definitely out of the way with regard to Tikal, ATM, and some of the things we so enjoyed doing. It's location (although I wasn't aware of that at the time I was trying to book there) wasn't the best for the itinerary that we ultimately enjoyed so much. The prices were comparable.

Speaking of flying over, now that we have been there, I can spot Ambergris Cay as we fly over returning to the U.S. from Costa Rica, particularly when we are flying into Dallas on American. It was so cool to look down and see San Pedro; we could even see "the cut". And of course, the reef is really visible from the air. That's pretty cool. . .gorgeous water!

Hi V-girl, I saw many of your posts when we were doing our trip to CR last January,and they were so helpful. So you are branching out... We went to Belize first--way before CR and I think I like it better. Look at Duplooys--it was fabulous for birding and on a river for canoeing and close to cave tubing. Also close to some excellent ruins. Did not do Tikal as we had small kids and there were several military skirmishes in Guatemala at the time. We also used IZE--don't know if they are still in business, but they do a lot of combined wildlife trips. We used them for the island part--I think it took us to Middle Long Key, way down south and the ocean stuff was second only to Great Barrier Reef. And away from crowds. We did not ever go to Ambergris key--were turned off by what we had read about it. Good luck!!
Joan

For the ocean part of your trip, consider Thatch Caye Resort. Right off the island there are manatees, dolphins, and spotted eagle rays and they are in a marine conservation zone. My wife and I had a truly wonderful experience there and they showed us areas on the barrier reef that did not have another soul around besides our little group. Huge amounts of biodiversity and even a bird sanctuary nearby.

Thank you, guys - I'm going to have fun looking at all these choices!

Volcanogirl

It has been many years since we stayed at Duplooy's. Ken and Judy were unqiue and great hosts. When we returned one year, we complained to Ken that, we had seen not caiman. The next day, without charge, Judy packed a picnic lunch and my wife and I and Ken and Judy went in a canoe looking for cayman. We did not find any, but that is besides the point.

Ken bragged that he once chased a guest around the lodge with a wrench because he would not leave him alone. And Judy bragged she once called a guest an a--hole and the guest's wife agreed.

Judy told us NY'ers were the worst guests and since we are from NY, I gave her advice. I told her you stick your finger in their face and say. "When your in Belize, you listen to me. When I am New York, I will lsiten to you. Got that."

She said would try it with overbearing Ny'ers.

http://www.duplooys.com/about-us.php

I stayed at duPlooys two nights ago and have to add to this their formidibly botanic garden on premises which is fascinating. Along with the view from the verandah and the river below. Great choice. I'm a former NYer; they have much experiance with folks like us.

I love the DuPlooys story - very witty.

We have travled indpendently for almost 40 years, and I think I only remmber the name of one other innkeeper.

Katie Valk

Is Judy still invovled?
Do they still turn off the generator at 10 PM?
And yes, gatehring on the deck, while people tried to identify birds was a wonderful and natural experience.

Yes, Judy still runs duPlooys. Ken died about 8 yrs ago, his legacy not only his wonderful family and the lodge but a formidible botanic garden his daughter Heather has been running. Yes, they turn off the generator most nights, but will keep it running for ceiling fans if night temps are too high for comfort. The birds and deck are still there and a delight to have morning coffee watching toucans.

VGirl,
Really, do check out Duplooys--with these more recent comments and with Judy still owning and running it, you cannot go wrong. From all your posts on Costa Rica, I would say it is definitely your kind of place !
Joan

Thanks, joan - I know my husband would love all those birds. The pics I've seen are amazing.

Volcanogirl, I wouldn't dismiss Chan Chich too quickly if it is wildlife you are after. Yes, it is more remote and side trips are more expensive and time consuming (but doable). But, why take a side trip when there is so much to explore there? I have past posts out here (maybe under edh_traveler) that compared the two resorts more.

Pictures and trip reports from Chan Chich can be viewed here:
http://www.focusedonnature.com/gallery/6360693_Qmm68

Just click on the "belize" tag to read the reports.

We would not hestitate to go back to CC. It is one of the best places to see wild cats and the bird life was really good too. We were lucky enough to see an ocelot and cub on our trip.

at, I won't discount it. I do think it looks like a good spot for us. Your pictures are absolutely beautiful.

We stayed near San Ignacio and took a day trip to bird watch, sea caves and a waterfall, there were a decent number of birds, but no where near what I think I'll see on my CR trip coming up. I saw more wildlife visiting the Tikal Mayan ruins in northern Guatemala than I did on land in Belize. Perhaps souther Belize would be better.

The wildlife in the water however was top notch and in my oppinion better than the GBR in Australia.

Thanks, Katie.

Thanks, koala!

I stayed at Lamanai Outpost Lodge and Chan Chich earlier this year and found both to be good for wildlife http://www.fodors.com/community/mexico-central-america/belize-trip-report-and-photos-febmar-2009.cfm

I especially loved the water activities at LOL - canoeing, boat rides, even the transfer in was wonderful! I would probably go back to LOL before I'd go back to CC because of the activities and lagoon setting but that's highly subjective and I'm sure others might feel the opposite. Both are excellent and we never left the immediate area in either case. They're really places where you go and just stay there and aren't jumping off points for other places. LOL worked out to be slightly cheaper as transfers and most activities are included in their rates whereas you need to add charter flights or a road transfer plus any guided activities at CC. CC also offers a one way transfer via Lamanai which might be interesting if you opt to stay there but still want to see Lamanai. It's a whole day trip so you'll need to overnight in or near Belize City.

We've also been to the Cayo district previously and saw less wildlife there but I have to add that like others, we were mainly there for the access to activities nearby and not so much for the wildlife.

While I haven't been to Costa Rica, I do get the impression that CR may be better for wildlife overall than Belize so I'd probably not go with the same wildlife expectations. Have fun whatever you decide!

RAC,
Hope you have a great stay at LOL!

Thank you, Patty - I remember seeing your pictures and thought they were beautiful!