Belize with BZM Tours

An organized tour that my wife, Annaloy, and I would take in Belize did not include the Caracol ruins, so, in February 2016, before joining the group tour, we took an independent tour in San Ignacio that turned out to be excellent.

To make arrangements, we contacted Albert Williams (albert@bzmtours.com) at Belize Magnificent Mayan (BZM) Tours (#16B, San José Succotz, Cayo District, Belize; phone, in US/Canada, 315/351-0720, bzmtours.com). 

We found his fees very reasonable compared to the costs of other tours, and he was very prompt with his replies.

For $630, Albert picked us up promptly at the Belize International Airport near Belize City and delivered us to our remote hotel, duPlooy’s Jungle Lodge (P.O. Box 180, San Ignacio, Cayo, Belize; phone, in the US, 512/243-5285, www.duplooys.com), which we had booked, ourselves, after finding it mentioned on TripAdvisor.com.

I suggest asking Albert about the location of the hotel you’re considering. Our choice of duPlooy’s, located “on the edge of town,” was actually down a rough road that added 30 minutes each way.

The next day, Albert and an excellent guide, Rudy, took us on an all-day tour of Caracol, Rio Frio Cave and Rio On Pools. Lunch was included. Both Albert and Rudy were knowledgeable about many aspects of Belize and Central America.

On another day, Albert took us to the Belize Zoo. We wished we could have taken his evening tour of the zoo, since so many of the animals are nocturnal (and he brings dinner).

Albert ultimately delivered us to the Radisson Fort George Hotel & Marina (2 Marine Parade Blvd., Belize City, Belize; phone +501 223 3333, www.radisson.com/belize-city-hotel-bz/belize), which is where we would stay with our group on the first night of our group tour. We recommend this hotel. Lovely sea view!

We visited the archaeological site of Lamanai while on the tour, and it’s worth seeing. The Radisson can arrange tours there from Belize City. 

Another place that we stayed at during the tour and recommend is the San Ignacio Resort Hotel (P.O. Box 33, San Ignacio, Cayo District, Belize; in US/Canada, phone 855/ 488-2624, www.sanignaciobelize.com).

From San Ignacio, there are day-long tours to Tikal in Guatemala that travelers can sign up for. 

We encourage others to visit Cahal Pech and Xunantunich. We visited Cahal Pech on the group tour. Xunantunich had been on the schedule but was dropped, and we ended up visiting it by hiring a driver arranged by our hotel. (For other travelers, it would work better to do it with Albert.)

We highly recommend BZM Tours.

RON HIBBERT
Golden, CO