To Ian Anderson's Adventure Company and Lodge

Trip Start Jan 31, 2007

Trip End Mar 02, 2007

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Where I stayed

Ian Anderson's Caves Branch Lodge Belmopan

(Belmopan hotels)

Flag of Belize Belmopan, Cayo, Belize
Wednesday, February 14, 2007

We caught the bus into Belmopan from the roadside at Clarrisa's today. It didn't take us long to get to Belmopan. We stopped there so I could get Internet access and catch up on my entries and have lunch. Then we caught the bus that goes down the Hummingbird highway and they dropped us off at the entrance to Ian Anderson's Adventure Lodge. It was a short walk, maybe 1/2 mile from the highway to the lodge. Of course it seems longer when you're carrying a full pack on your back. The lodge is in a deep thick jungle setting, really really think. So thick you can't seen through more than a couple inches. This is the REAL jungle! The grounds around the lodge and cabana's have been thinned out so you get a little more light and I'm guessing so you can orient yourself a little better. Otherwise, it would be really easy to get lost. The cabanas are spaced apart for privacy and they need to be because there are two large screens walls that look out into the jungle and anyone can see into your room. The shower has two large screened windows as well, looking out into the thick jungle

01 Ian Anderson's Bungalow

. The cabanas are beautifully decorated with a large jungle mural on the walls without windows. They provide drinking water in the room. That is a first and really comes in handy. The room is spacious with a couch and chair for seating, as well as, a queen bed and two bunk beds. Dinner is buffet style up at the lodge with everyone eating in a lunchroom setting. The one big drawback is they don't take Visa, but they do take traveler's checks. I guess many places won't accept traveler's checks because they have had problems where the customers report the checks as stolen after they get back to the states. The cabanas have electricity for a light in the bathroom and the ceiling fan but, they don't have outlets in the rooms and the rest of the lighting is by hurricane lamps. We have to use our headlamps for reading since the lamps do not give off enough light for us old folks to read.

Ian Anderson's offers a huge number of interesting trip packages such as tubing through cave systems, hiking, spelunking, mountain biking, kayaking, horseback riding and a number of combination trips. We've decided to do the Waterfalls cave trip. This is a spelunking trip through a privately owned cave system with numerous waterfalls. All the guides claim it is there favorite trip in all the packages offered. We thought about doing the Black Hole Drop trip. That is a trip where you start out with a strenuous hike up a hillside, then rappel 300 ft. down through the canopy into a sinkhole and entrance to another cave system. But, instead of exploring the cave, you hike back out from there and really don't get a chance to explore the cave, climbing back up the hillside to where you rappelled and then taking the same strenuous trail back out. I've done plenty of rappelling with all my climbing, even though I've never rappelled 300 ft.. I thought I would get more out of the waterfall trip and neither of us have gone as deep into a cave system. You go about three miles through rivers and climbing over waterfalls, six in all. You jump off the waterfalls into the pools below on your trip back out.