Ian Anderson's Caves Branch Lodge Belmopan

I cannot say enough about this place! For people who want to sleep outside but didn't bring their bags, tents, thermarest, or other gear, this is luxury accomodations. This is NOT a resort, thank goodness, and everything's not sanatized from the surroundings. I would not recommend this place if you don't want to really be with nature, but considering I was prepared to pretty much camp in the jungle, this was 5star. The jungle showers were wonderful, and I was surprised to know the water was heated through a pipe, there were flushing toilets, and jugs of bottled water in our cabana! The cabanas are screened in, and well maintained, not many places for the mosquitos to creep in at nite. Spray a little Off! on your bedsheet if the bugs seem to love you, and enjoy a great nite's sleep. We stayed 3 nites, and by the second one, I was asking if they were hiring. The guides are the most knowledgeable of any I've encountered and knew alot about the ecosystem, history, archaeology, you name it. We did the black hole drop and cave tubing, and learned so much on each adventure. We had the pleasure of meeting the owner, Ian Anderson, and learned alot about all the social and educational programs they have going for the local kids. It's so nice to see a lodge living in harmony with the ecosystem and giving back to the local people. Proof positive that ecotourism works!

Our family spent spring break in Belize (2 adults, 1 child age 7). The people were wonderful and we felt very safe. The first part of our trip was spent inland near Belmopan at Ian Anderson's Caves Branch jungle lodge....utterly amazing. The location is spectacular...you stay in the middle of the jungle. If you have children aged 7 or older this is an exciting, wonderful wilderness vacation. When you first arrive at the lodge, you do sign a waiver recognizing that this is not a resort, this is a jungle adventure lodge. We stayed in a jungle suite with its own bathroom...you can stay in sparser accomodations if you prefer or even camp...the huts are beautifully thatched, have an electric ceiling fan and bug screens (bugs were not a problem while we were there in March ), lots of bottled water in your room, and you are nestled in the jungle. You hear amazing sounds at night. Food at the lodge was great, served family/buffet style....never got sick and I am always worried about stuff like that. But the most fantastic part are the TOURS. These are so fabulous...we went cave tubing (beware there are a couple versions and one is 7 miles of floating through caves, the other is going about a mile into the cave, seeing cool Mayan ruins IN the caves and then coming out, we did the later, so make sure you pick the one you want) and then to the Mayan ruins at Xunantunich and Cahal Peche. These were included in our lodge fee...check into these becaus eit can save you alot of money. These guides are NOT you ordinary guides. These people are super well trained in search and rescue as well as being certified tour guides.....they are part of some rescue group in Central America. I can' say enough good things....if you have time do the ZIP line through the canopy of the jungle....we missed out on it because we weren't there long enough.

We spent the rest of the trip out on Ambergris Caye at Paradise Villas. Good location, ok condo, central, clean, but more importantly had a well maintained pool. When the wind was high, you couldn't go out on the ocean so the pool was an excellent back up if you have kids. This location is also good because you can walk to many restaurants, and you can snorkel at the Hol Chan marine reserve....world's second largest barrier reef.

Honestly, this was an very fulfilling vacation is you want to see nature, explore, learn history or just bake on the beach. FYI a downside of Ambergris Caye is if you stay at one of the resorts out of the way you need to rent a golf cart to get around.....staying near town is more fun.

My family (5 & 10 year old daughters) and I went to Ian Anderson's Cave Branch adventure lodge for three nights in March 2006, and we all loved it. We did two full-day adventures.

The first day, my husband and 10 year old daughter went on the seven mile cave tubing trip though four caves. It was amazing. When my daughter's arms got tired from paddling the guides helped her. They guides were very helpful through the entire trip. That same day, my 5 year old daughter and I went horseback riding in the jungle and had a blast. One of the guides wasn't scheduled to go riding, but after realizing the adults may want to do more galloping than my daughter could handle, he stayed with the group and made sure everyone did want they wanted on the ride. The guides are great!

The next day, I took my 10-year old on the Black Hole drop (you repel 300 feet). This adventure began and ended with a stressful (and muddy) 90 minute hike. Everything about this was great. On the hike returning from the hole, my daughter started slowing down, and one of the guides stayed with us to hike at our pace. That same day, my husband and 5 year old daughter went river-cave tubing and both loved it. Again, since my 5-year old was the youngest on the trip (the next oldest was in college), one of the guides assisted her the entire time. This made her (and my husband) really enjoy the excursion. One night my 10 year old and husband went on an evening jungle walk. where they saw three large, but beautiful and harmless tarantulas.

The guides and excursions really are great. This lodge is really for for older children and adults. There weren't any more adventure activities for my 5-year old. It would have been nice if they had a two person kayak, since she was too big to sit with my husband in a single kayak, but too small for her own.

We stayed in a screened-in cottage, called a jungle suit, and we liked our room a lot. My daughters slept in bunk beds. Even though we had a shower in the cottage, our kids liked using the outdoor "jungle shower." All the food was good. At dinner bring a flashlight for when you return to your room, so you don't step on (large) creatures of the night.

The mosquitos were not a problem for the most part, except on one visit to the Blue Hole cenote (20 minute walk from the lodge). My daughter got eaten alive on the walk home and needed lots of Benadryl for the itching.

An unforgettable experience in every way!!! There is something for everyone - from luxurious bungalows to rustic cabanas ... Beautiful, delicious, exciting, entertaining and authentic. Great food, great company, and adventures that were out of this world. Thank you for a honeymoon to remember.

We stayed here for four nights in a bungalow and loved it. We did the river cave tour, which involved tubing, artifacts and the cave formations, the lost ceremonial cave, which was fascinating and a little off the beaten track (it was just discovered 3 years ago!) and the day trip to Tikal. The Tikal trip was very interesting but I wouldn't do that unless you have at least two other days for the adventure tours. It's a very long day.

The accommodations were rustic yet comfortable - even romantic. We had a bungalow, with a king size four poster bed, two windows with screens onto the jungle, terra cotta floor, wood furniture, electricity, a great ceiling fan, kerosene lanterns, etc. The cabanas looked great too, but we wanted our own indoor bathroom since we were going to be there for four nights.

Every night they come around and light the tiki torches which give the place a great atmosphere. The mosquitos can be a bit thick, but we didn't have any problems because the river was not running. I can imagine the setting would be much more attractive with the river in the background - but the bugs would be much worse. No kayaking or cave tubing (the 7 mile tour at least) because of the low water levels. Apparently the river normally dries up in April or May, but this year it was February. We saw howler monkeys, lots of birds, etc. There were a lot of families with kids and they seemed very used to that. They put a bottled water cooler in the room, which is a nice touch, and they provide plenty of bottled water on the day trips.

The food was great - squeeze your own o.j. and homemade tortillas, bacon and eggs every morning at breakfast - Belizeans believe in a big breakfast! - and plenty of good food at dinnertime. It is serve yourself, and they have a few different choices. The Belizean food is a little curious - a blend of Caribbean, Chinese and American - but everything we had was good. The open dining room with family style seating was very attractive and led to a social atmosphere - everyone comparing notes on their day trips, etc. It's a very convivial place. Bring your hiking boots and a sense of adventure and you'll have a great time!

A stay at the Caves Branch Lodge is a must when you are in Belize, but beware it as adventurous and un-luxurious as the website proclaims.

When we first arrived we were a little shocked at how rustic it really was. There is no a/c in the rooms, even the jungle suites and it is still a little sticky with the fan at night. There were bugs in the shower and a scorpian in our room at night...but the day adventures made the stay worth it. The guides are extremely knowledgeable and the crowds passing through the lodge every day make each meal interesting. If you go you must take the tikal trip, it is breathtaking. The river tubing was neat but 3 hours of being soggy was a little trying. However, once in the cave it is a very memorable experience.

The blakhole drop was amazing, but beware the hike up to the gorge is treacherous! After the adventure of the Caves Branch lodge I recommend a nice relaxing stay on the coast!

have fun!

Mar 12-19 '05 "alternative spring break" with Colgate U. soph daughter and two of her girlfriends...thru Reefrainforest.com booked 3 nites at Caves Branch Jungle Lodge and 4 nites at Ramons....expectations were fuzzy but open-minded...Caves Branch one of the finest vacation surprises anywhere ! Read thru their website; this is not a resort...more of an "adventure central". Cabanas were very spacious, but basic. Novelty was screen-only wraparound "windows" so felt immersed in the jungle vegetation and sounds. First time I've slept 8 hours in years ! Dining is all included and perfectly adequate, but you don't go here for the food...you go for the excursions, and they are excellent ! We did the very low-key river caving the first day....a bit of tubing, not a lot of exertion....outstanding limestone caves. Wow ! The water level wasn't hign enough to do the 7-mile cave/river tubing but that sounds great. We also took a 2 hour night-hike in pursuit of whatever we might see which wasn't much but it was a great hike with flashlights. The best was the Waterfalls excursion....about 90 minutes of caving thru fabulous caves and then up a series of underground waterfalls...much like canyoneeering or kloofing...a bit of swimming, pool jumping etc...outstanding ! We regret that we didn't have another day to do the Blue Hole climb and rapel. You won't get bored with three full days ! The last 4 nites were spent at Ramons on Ambergris Caye...perfectly nice place to stay as long as you're not expecting the Four Seasons (if you are, Belize is not for you). San Pedro is a funky, low-key, discombobulated, laid-back, easy-going beach town made up of locals, tourists and Jimmy Buffett wannabees. If you like Cancun, you won't like San Pedro. If you can imagine Key West 50 years ago, you're closer. Plenty of waterfront activity (fishing and diving are big), no evidence of college sleaze (go somewhere else for co-ed naked chugging contests) and a number of very decent restaurants (we enjoyed Mambo and Rendezvous...both accessible by "water taxi") on North Ambergris Caye which is less active..also the restaurant right on the beach at the SunBreeze Hotel...having spent my entire career in the leisure travel business, i was quite pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed the easy-going, barefoot, t-shirt ambience...as did the girls...bring flashlights; they buy their electrical power from Mexico and the Mexicans apparently turn it off more or less randomly !

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On my first trip to Belize, as an after-thought, I decided to try cave tubing. I ended up at Caves Branch and little did I know that a whole new world of adventure would be opened up to me. Cave trips for brginners to experienced and for teens to seniors, as long as you are reasonably fit.

Accomodations also range from an inexpensive bunkhouse for backpackers to jungle suites. I did say "Jungle", so don't expect a resort. I've been back to Caves Branch three more times and I can't wait to get back again next spring. Ian Anderson has enabled a regular guy like me to experience adventures as easy as a half day cave tubing trip to repelling down into a 300 ft sink hole, hiking another 400 feet down in a cave to an underground river, and then sleeping overnight near 1000 year old artifacts. I can't say enough about the guides. They are friendly and professional and enjoy showing their beautiful and interesting country to others. For the last two years their travel site, "Adventures in Belize" has arranged a "Jungle & Reef" trip for me. Last year I spent half my time at Caves Branch and the other half off the coast at Glovers Reef atol. I loved every minute of it!

Ian Anderson's is a great place to go for adventure; cave tubing, rapelling, biking, etc... but don't bring an expectation of comfort. The cave tubing trip was fantastic!

The outdoor lodges are simple but nice: fan palm ceiling, wood floors, but no electricity or lights, phones, and possibly spiders, grasshoppers, and moths in your room. Bring a few good flashlights and bug spray.

Wonderful outdoor showers (you do have showers in your room). The employees are fabulous. Try to schedule a trip to Tikal with Abel and sit up front with him. He'll tell you everything about Belize.

The grounds are lush but the 'jungle' was not as expected. It is 1 mile from roads, farms, and civilizaiton. The Howler monkeys were silent during our 3 days there......

Don't make the mistake we made. Our surf-n-turf vacation was island first, jungle second. We should have done the exotic/somewhat scary jungle first and then the lazy days at the beach last.

You can bus it to the nearby town ($8) and then take a taxi to the lodge ($25). And we had the same driver take us directly to the airport ($85).