Monkey River, Belize - Wander the Planet .net

MONKEY RIVER, BELIZE

Monkey River is a pristine tropical rain forest environment. Monkey River flows 10-12 miles and then forks left to the Bladen Branch, and right to Swasey Branch. Both branches pass under the Southern Highway bridge.

It took about 45 minutes to boat to Monkey River Village - once we arrived we met up with our guide Percy Gordon. He was so cool and has the well-deserved reputation for being the most knowledgeable and cool guide in Monkey River Village. Percy can be reached at his cousin's hotel (Ennas Hotel 06-22014) in Monkey River Village. He also leads night tours and hikes - where you are more likely to see jaguars, snakes,and crocodiles.

After we arrived, we went to the restaurant to place our orders for lunch. We had a choice of chicken or fish - I had the fish and Mom ordered the chicken. After ordering lunch and making bathroom stops, we got back into the boat to start our tour up the river.

We immediately saw wildlife including countless birds (I always forget the specifics), giant iguanas in the trees, crocodiles, bats, huge insects, and fish. I definitely liked the crocodiles, but my favorite were the giant iguanas. I had never seen them before and the four feet creatures were climbing high in the trees.

After about 30 minutes, we rode up to shore to take our hike. There were tons of mosquitos on shore and I mean TONS. They were so loud - buzzing in our ears and were swarming all over us. Percy said that they have been gone for the last couple of days, so the weather must be changing as they are out again (sure enough it rained for a few hours that night and into the early morning). Percy gave Mom a big leaf which she used to swat the darn things and to swat them out of my hair.

Anyway, we came across a quite impressive bamboo forest and found Howler Monkeys pretty easily within minutes. (I remember in Ecuador in the Amazon - it took us 2 hours to find the Howler Monkeys - whew!). Percy smacked tree trunks with his machete and made sounds ooooh ooooh ooooh to irritate the monkeys and they hollered back at him. They were really getting agitated and shaking the branches above us.

Percy also showed us the medicinal uses of plants and trees that they use. We were laughing because he showed us a tree that causes diarrhea and a different one that stopped diarrhea. We kept getting the two mixed up - which would not be pleasant! Percy cutsome thick branches from a tree and we drank the juice pouring out of it - uh well it wasn't pooring but it was more than dripping. Anyway, it was very refreshing and tasted like good Bay Area water! He also showed us trees that healed sunburns and one of the people on our tour took a couple of leaves to soak in water later - as he had a bad sunburn.

After the hike, we were happy to be back in the boat and the cloud of mosquitos finally left. We stopped off for a quick swim - though Mom or I did not venture into the Crocodile-infested river. Two others on our tour took a quick swim and said it was "so refreshing." I on the other hand was not about to get in the water after picking up the parasite doing the same thing in Ecuador! We then made it back to the village for lunch - which was quite good.

I had fish, rice and beans - while Mom had the chicken and rice (no beans - mind you - she hates them). After lunch, Percy gave us a tour of his village and showed us his pet Gibnut (a huge rodent) which they may be eating for Christmas dinner. He showed us the small jail that they had but they had no police so didn't use it.

On our way back to Placencia, we stopped through a Manatee feeding area and saw a group of dolphins swimming around. We only saw one Manatee but it was impressive. Bobo told us that it is hit or miss whether manatees are visable or not. He said that they are extremely shy and timid and pointed out the mud clouds in the water that they made when they scurried off. There were four manatees in the area but we only saw one surface for air.

Belize flag

Monkey River Village has a population of about 250 residents and sits at the mouth of Monkey River - 10 miles south of Placencia.

The village was a town when the population was 2,500 - however the banana industry collapsed and residents moved on. Tourism is helping the village grow again.

River Tours originating in Placencia, usually go 3 to 4 miles up the river and include a 30-minute hike, a quick swim, and a lunch in Monkey River Village ($12 BZ set price).

We took a tour through Natural Tours in Placencia - at the end of the sidewalk to the right, across from the pier.

The tour was $38 US each and included transportation to/from Monkey River Village and Monkey River, river guide, juice and use of cooler on boat, and tour through Manatee feeding area.

This did not include lunch at Monkey River Town - which was $12 BZ fixed price. We left at 8:00am and were joined by 3 other tourists.