BTB Gold Standard Certified

  I took this tour because I wanted to visit the jungles in Belize. I was a solo passenger so I grabbed a single seat in the back of the boat... read more just to the drivers left. I thought it was the best choice to see everything ahead of me as we came to it. I was informed I would probably get wet. I shrugged it off and was then told, you will defintely get soaked. If I now objected to it, who would have traded seats with me after that statement? I was given a towel and I held it in front of my face almost the whole way. I was totally drenched, had saltwater in my eyes and didnt get to see anthing from my prized vantage point. However, I was forewarned... Since I was sitting by the motor and the guide was in front of me facing forward, I couldnt hear what he was saying. I even reminded him a few times to turn his mic on but even that didn't help much. The next thing was the worst though. As we neared the island, probably a few miles out still, the waves got extremely choppy. It seemed the boat was hitting them head on. This went on for several minutes but felt like an eternity. I honestly thought we were going to capsize! Maybe they knew what they were doing, or due to my earnest praying, we finally made it to shore. Since I was the last one off the boat, I was last in the single file line for our very short excursion to the jungle. I had read the suggestions to wear long pants, long sleeves and bug spray. Even though I was soaked head to toe in saltwater, the mosquitos didnt bother me. Once again, the guide faced forward and spoke as he walked. I heard nothing. No monkeys howled, no birds sang, no snake hissed. Not the guides fault there I admit. We got back on the boat in a matter of minutes. Stopped at a little shanty to pay a buck to use the toliet then headed back. It was a smoother return trip. I enjoyed the scenery and the few animals we actually got glimpses of. Not the trip into the jungle I had dreamed of but more a memory of the time I survived a trip to Monkey Island.

  Two teens, two tours, two days, two happy parents! Ralph did an amazing job putting together the tour for Xunantuntich for our first tour at the start of our vacation... read more and Monkey River for the end of our vacation.

He provided a local Mayan guide to take us through Xunantunich where we were immersed in the history of the Mayans as well as the archeological efforts. Afterwards, we did a bit of tubing down the river (which was a much-needed cool off), followed by a traditional Belizean lunch. Ralph added a stop to our tour with a visit to Marie Sharp’s (our favorite habernero hot sauce).

For our second tour, Ralph picked us up on his skiff and took us up the Monkey River where he patiently pointed out the rainforest inhabitants, from butterflies, to birds, to iguana, to crocodiles! Once we made it pretty far up the River, we hiked through the rainforest where we saw a family of howler monkeys, a variety of trees and fauna, an assortment of bugs, and even enjoyed a fresh swig of coconut water.

We ended the tour in Monkey River Town where Ralph talked about the storied history of his home village and we enjoyed another traditional Belizean lunch and bought some trinkets from local vendors.

Note: both restaurants were able to provide a safe gluten-free meal for my celiac son.

Overall, we had two fantastic tours. Highly recommended!

  Ralph was a wealth of knowledge with decades of experience and a keen eye. The hike through the jungle was very fun and the sounds of the howler monkeys... read more were unlike anything we’ve heard before. Ralph went above and beyond to find multiple howler monkey troops and he even made an extra stop off the river so we could see several of them up close. We saw bats, iguanas, blue crabs, a crocodile, and many beautiful birds. We learned about the medicinal benefits of some of the plants and got to smell several herbs. Due to Ralph’s patience and generosity, we enjoyed an additional hour on our tour which ended with several manatee sightings!

  We were really excited to take this tour because of the Howler Monkeys. We've only seen them in the zoo in Aruba before and thought it would be neat to... read more see them in their natural habitat. Anything else we would see along the way would be a bonus.

First of all, the boat they use has a canopy over only part of it. If you are forced to sit up in the front, you will be sitting in the direct sunlight. I got sick along the way after sitting there for about an hour on the way. It's uncomfortable and especially when they stop the boat to talk about things along the way and you're sitting in the sun.

Along the way we spotted 2 iguana's in the tree so high up we could barely see them, several birds and a turtle. We did stop along the way to see small bats on a tree but they quickly flew off before everyone could spot them. They never talked about the birds except one on the way back as we pulled out.

Getting to the Howler Monkey island. We spent very little time here. It was a quick stop to go on a little hike in the jungle...not far at all...and the monkeys were so high up there they were hard to spot (I understand not the tour companies fault). However, I did think we would have stayed longer to observe or hear them howl. It was like a big rush. We did spot a boa constrictor in the tree above us and a baby tarantula hiding in a leaf. The jungle area is beautiful though with gigantic palms. I just wish we could have spent some time there.

Then they take you to some place that they said you could buy drinks or souvenirs but it was like a run down little house on a spot by the river. They made you PAY to go to the restroom there. We probably spent more time there than at the monkey island. What a shame. We heard more monkeys howling across the water from this place than at the area they took us to. It would have been nice if they would have took the boat over that way.

This trip cost us (family of 3) $139 PER PERSON. I would never recommend this tour for the price versus the time spent trying to see the monkeys.

  Here is my very complicated review: DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. JUST DO IT! YOU’LL HAVE A BLAST!!! IT WILL BE ONE OF THE BEST MEMORIES OF A LIFETIME!!... read more

  Jason was amazing!!! Monkey river tour was a blast. Bring bug spray and enjoy!! Fun for all ages. Get ready to feel like part of the jungle.