Horseback Riding in the Rainforest?

[Lilly<3]

Hi everyone, I'll be in Belize on my cruise May 27th. I would love to do a horseback riding in the rainforest excursion...has anyone ever done it before? Or can anyone recommend a good place for it?

 

Thanks!! :)

[Cruzin in NY]

Hi Lilly

 

Wife and I went in February on the Glory, we choose a horseback adventure in the jungle through Shoretrips.com. The tour met us at the dock on time. It ended up being just the two of us and we had a great time. To get to the Bannana Bank resort you drive about 45 minutes, then to get over the river, you get into a boat which is hand pulled across the Belize river. After spending hour and a half in the jungle we had a wonderful hot meal, a tour of the resorts grounds and then a 30 minute boat ride up the Belize river. You can read all about the tour at Shoretrips.com or the resorts sight ( i cannot remember their site, but it is the Bannana Bank resort). The cost was also reasonable. We did pay a few xtra $ to ensure a tour if there were only two of us. It was well worth the extra $$ as we were in the jungle with just our guide for a private tour.

 

The horses are very calm and sure footed. Highly reccommended.

 

We were back with an hour to spare, it was everything they advertised.

 

Darryl (Owego, NY)

[OttoCal]

Yes, I can also reccomend Banana Bank Lodge- and it is worth it to get a private tour- they say it can get crowded on 'cruise ship day'. The guides will point out amazing things, peel you fruit from the orchard if anything is ripe, and the aviary they have there is fabulous. They also just built a very nice pool- just got their e-mail update today- looks fabulous.

 

The resort is owned by American ex-pats, a cowboy & artist, so it really has a great personality.

[phopte]

We went to Smugglers Run when we were there the first week of April. Cathy and Trevor were wonderful and we had a great time. Cathy picked us up at the dock and drove us out to the plantation. Got settled in and then went for about two hours on horseback in the jungle around the plantation. I had not ridden before (ok, once when I was a kid 40+ years ago) and Trevor was very careful to match the horse to the skill level of the rider. My 13 year old daughter had a blast.

 

There were just 6 of us but they can handle more. When there are more, they break things up so no more than 10 ro 15 go at a time. It means you get lots of personal attention.

 

Got back and Cathy had a wonderful lunch ready for us. There are 200 acres of lime trees there and she had fresh squeezed limeaid and topped of the great lunch with a fresh lime pie that was to die for! :D Email Trevor at trevor@smugglersrunbelize.com for more information and prices. It was *very* reasonably priced and Trevor can explain why you don't have to worry about getting left if you are worried about that. There have been 3 foals born since we were there and he sent me pictures!

 

They have some really cool wildlife they will show you. One is a cross between a rat and a rabbit! It is amazing. I'll try to attach a couple of pictures.

 

They can also handle tours to the ruins if you so desire. We liked it so much we hope to go back soon.

[dizneefreak28]

Another vote for Smugglers Run from me! We were there last June and did the same tour as phopte. I can't say enough nice things about Cathy and Trevor. We had a great time! And our lunch was among the best things we ate our entire vacation. We have booked with them again for our cruise in August....this time doing the ruins.