Belize Zoo & Baboon Sanctuary Combo

per person

Belize Zoo
Baboon Sanctuary

Belize Zoo

Be amaze by the different stories of each animal you encounter and how the zoo has changed their lives with love and protection.

The Belize Zoo was started in 1983, as a last ditch effort to provide a home for a collection of wild animals. Today, The Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center is settled upon 29 acres of tropical savanna and exhibits over 170 animals, representing over 45 species, all native to Belize. The Zoo keeps animals that were orphaned, rescued, born at the zoo, rehabilitated animals, or sent to The Belize Zoo as donations from other zoological institutions. The Belize Zoo has become the first nature destination in Belize that is fully accessible to visitors with physical disabilities. It is a non-governmental, non-profit organization focused on wildlife conservation through wildlife rehabilitation and environmental education.

Starts: 8:00AM Ends: 11:30AM

Itinerary

Getting There: The journey begins at 8:00AM with a 1 hour 15 minutes’ drive on the George Price Highway. The Belize Zoo is located 30 miles west of Belize City on a remote tropical savanna fostering the animals in a natural habitat.

At the zoo: Upon arriving at the zoo, we check in at the visitor center. Here we can access a map of the zoo’s layout. We can choose to tour the zoo and take any rout we wish. At the visitor center you’ll find reptile display which hosts various local species of snakes. The friendly Boa Constrictor is something to strike a pose with as you put it over your shoulders for some pretty cool photos.

The zoo is home to many local species of animals including deer, peccary, tapir, spider monkeys, howler monkeys, turtles, parrots, storks, ocelot, mountain lion, jaguar, crocodile, and many others. A lot of these are rescued animals. Some of the jaguars were found abandoned by previous owners, others were rescued from being hunted down as they came too close to livestock and humans.

After touring the zoo, we’ll return to the visitor center for a delicious lunch. This is the perfect spot to browse through many cool souvenirs while you await your lunch orders.

Departure: After lunch, it’s time to head out to the George Price Highways once again and make our way onto our next destination, in this case the Baboon Wildlife Sanctuary in Burrell Boom.

Durations: 3.5 hours

Difficulty Level: Easy

What to bring: Camera, sun glasses, sun hat, sun screen

Provided: Lunch, snacks, water.

Baboon Sanctuary

Aiming to preserve the extensive forest habitat for Black Howler Monkeys

The greatest threat to the monkeys continues to be habitat disturbance due to agriculture, logging and hunting. The Sanctuary was established to help address this threat by showing landowners the benefits of preserving their lands for the monkeys. The Sanctuary helps educate both the local community and visitors about the importance of biodiversity and sustainability.

Starts: 1:00PM Ends: 5:00PM

Itinerary

Getting There: After lunch at the zoo, we make our way onto the Baboon Wildlife Sanctuary. Upon arriving at the visitor center there, we’ll check in as we’re introduced to our guide there.

At the site: The guide starts with a tour of the museum at the visitor center. Here we’ll learn of the center’s efforts, purpose, and achievements. We’ll also learn a bit more about the local flora and fauna there.

After our tour of the museum, our guide will take us through a wonderful nature hike where we can expect an exciting close encounter with the Black Howler Monkeys as we experience and learn about the traditional rainforest medicine along the way.

There are many cashew trees in this area and the monkeys love feasting on them. We will reach a point where the guide calls out to the monkeys to come down and share some snacks with him. This offers the perfect opportunity for us to view them up close and even pet them if we wish or simply strike a pose with them for the camera.

Departure: After the hike and tour, the guide then leads us back to the welcome center where we say our goodbyes, board our vehicle, and make our way back to San Ignacio, arriving around 5:00PM.

Durations: 4 hours

Difficulty level: Easy

What to bring: light clothing, tennis shows and bring along water, sunscreen, hand towel, bug spray, and a camera.

Provided: Lunch, snacks, water.

Note: Howlers monkeys are one of the loudest creatures on earth and they tend to be somewhat territorial. They will start making lots of noise as they see humans approach but its only that they’re letting you know you’re entering their territory. These monkeys at the baboon wildlife sanctuary are used to seeing humans around and they’ll even let you pet them.