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Private excursion in Belize?

cruzdreamin'

By cruzdreamin',
in Belize

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cruzdreamin'

cruzdreamin'

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Can anyone help me out with any private shore excursion info for Belize? We are not into water sports. Were thinking about the city tour carriage ride or the horsebackriding. Which would you recommend? ALso is it worh the trip to the zoo and would we be able to do that with either of the other to options we are looking at? Any help would be appreciated.

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  • 2 weeks later...
tanyanubin

tanyanubin

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We used Experience Belize Tours, Ltd in January, and had a blast. It was cheaper than our cruiseline would have been, and it was much more personal. We did it because we wanted to do both the Baboon sanctuary and ruins in the same day and that combo wasn't offered by anyone. We were so very happy with the service. The guide, Allen Dawson, was such a nice guy. He told us all sorts of stuff about his country. He sang us songs he learned when he was little. He drove us by the president's house (no guards--in the middle of a regular neighborhood!), he took us to meet Shane at the Baboon Sanctuary, who knew the wild howlers well enough to call them down from the trees to take banana from our hands, and he took us to lunch at a wonderful restaurant for a Belizian meal. This was so much more personal and enriching than a regular cruise ship excursion. That company will make up whatever tour you would like, and take you around all day in a minivan. What a great deal. We're doing the same exact day again with our daughters next June. We want to recreate the day--it was perfect!

One crazy thing happened on our tour. On the highway on our way back to the ship we spotted a man out in front of his house holding an animal. I asked if we could stop for a closer look and it turned out to be a collared anteater! Tourists rarely spot them in the wild. Allen advised me not to hold it, but I asked the man if I could anyway, and he ran to get a large glove for me. That would have been great if the anteater stayed put, but it decided to crawl all over me, over my head and face and down my leg! LOL---It really hurt, because their paws are so strong and their claws are like steel and designed to dig through termite mounds, but it was hilarious and thrilling. At one point it's naked tail was draped over my eyes and mouth, to the amusement of the rest of my party! Our guide, Allen, told me I was nuts--he lived there and HE wouldn't have done it! The man offered to let us hold some snakes, which my husband did, but when he offered to let us hold a tiny fer-de-lance, one of the most poisonous snakes in the world, we backed away and said we were late for our ship! I got some impressive anteater bruises to show off at home! That was an unexpected and exciting little adventure!

Yesterday Allen emailed me to tell me that that crazy man was recently bitten by his little fer-de-lance and was in a coma for 3 days! Good thing my husband refused! For a totally unique and customized experience, I can't recommend this company highly enough. They made our trip!

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cruisejunkie2

cruisejunkie2

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cruzdreamin

Ok i went back through this thread to the end to find Nacho and Cynthia they were great!

 

here is a link about the reviews that I found

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=275852&page= it's like on page 85 ish of this thread

 

here is their website www.ncqadventuretours.com or you can e-mail them at nacho_cynthia@yahoo.com

 

Happy Cruising you will Love Belize the tubing and zip line was the bomb and well worth the money!

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  • 3 weeks later...
jessrn76

jessrn76

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We used a private tour guide whose name I got from a cruise review. Thanks to him, Belize was, by far, our favorite port. He will do anything you want. We chose snorkeling, on the 2nd longest barrier reef in the world. It was amazing. We had four in our group. He and his partner chartered a small private boat and we were on our way. He taught us so much about belize and the reef. We snorkeled in the most beautiful water. Ivar was wonderful. After snorkeling we stopped by Bannister Island and had lunch and relaxed for a bit then we went back to Belize city, on the way back we looked for manatees.

 

If you have any interest, I highly recommend him. If we ever go back to Belize I'm 100% positive we will use him again. His email is pbuay (at) yahoo dot com. Tell him Jessica referred you. He was terrific

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gracie65

gracie65

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I too used Nacho & Cynthia. We did the cavetubbing/zipline. we liked them so much that next time we go back we plan to use them & do the Mayan Ruins. Nacho is very interesting. Here is the web site so you can see what they offer:

http://www.ncqadventuretours.com/tours.html

 

I mainly choose them for out tour because after reading & reading on this thread I discovered that they get you a bit closer to where the cave tubbing starts, it cuts about 25 minutes off the walk. They also have an agreement with Jaguar Paw Resort for a very nice lunch inside with the A/C. Very nice after the heat. All the other info. I read about or saw that day concerning the other companies was they had their lunch under more like a picnic shelter.

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gracie65

gracie65

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And the lunch was EXCELLENT TOO! the peppers in the sauce are hot!!!!

 

I was worried about my 8 year old because what can I say he is a picky eater (wouldn't know it to look at him at 5"1 & weighs 135), he wasn't crazy about the beans but loved the chicken & rice. It was very tender & had a great flavor. Only the sauce you add if you want is hot, not the entire dish.

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gracie65

gracie65

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EXACTLY The sauce on the side! don't do it if you are a whimp for heat:D

 

so I see they are still offering the same thing that is great that was in 2004 when we were there...Hats of to Nacho and Cynthia they will show you a great time. Hey do they have a new van?

 

The Van looked nearly new to me. The A/C worked great. I think they have had a slow year this year. We were the only three that day. He's had some issues with some other tour operators but is hanging in there. It sounds like Belize can be pretty cut throat. I hope they stick with it because he is truly a joy. Did he tell you riddles on your way to your destination while Cynthia drove?

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gracie65

gracie65

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Then I have to ask if you remember the one that has stuck with me, here it goes:

 

The man who makes it sales it.

The man who buys it does not use it.

The man who uses it does not know he is using it.

What it is?

 

Sorry to ruin the anticapation for all those booked with Nacho.

this was just the best riddle I have ever heard & could not resist LOL

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