Belize - Jungle and Chocolate Tour in the Toledo District - IgoUgo Toledo Journal

Belize/Toledo Travel Info

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The CDC recommends a number of vaccinations before visiting Belize, in addition to a course of anti-malarial medication. Some people on my trip took their chances without either of the above and they were fine. I preferred the extra comfort and would recommend seeing a travel doctor a few months before leaving. English is the main languages spoken in Belize. You'll also find some Spanish and number of local Mayan dialects. The US dollar is accepted everywhere, so there really isn't any need to convert your money. The conversion rate is 2 Belize dollars to 1 US. Credit cards are widely accepted. ATMs are not plentiful. Expect to pay about $40 US as a departure...Read More

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Cotton Tree Lodge

Hotel | "An Amazing Jungle Oasis"

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Imagine waking up to the sounds of howler monkeys and local birds while you are tucked safely in your cabana on the Moho River. This is the Cotton Tree Lodge experience. The lodge is located on 100 acres of rainforest in San Felipe, part of the Toledo district. It is named for the huge Cotton Tree that graces the front entrance. The owner was so impressed by this gigantic tree on a hike, that he decided to purchase the land and create this wonderful place to relax. The closest large town is Punta Gorda and chances are that will be your first stop, after transferring to a small plane in Belize City.Some of the other guests and I arrived on a 12 seater plane in Punta Gorda o...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on July 3, 2025

Cotton Tree Lodge
Moho River
Belize, Central America
+501 670 0557

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Day 1

My First Day

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The majority of day one was travel. Only two US cities have flights to Belize, Houston and Miami. I left Boston early in the morning and then landed in Miami. After a short layover, we took off for Belize City. The airport in Belize is small and I was surprised to descend out of the plane directly onto the tarmac when we landed. Once inside, you pick up your luggage and walk around the corner to customs. Since I had connecting flight on Mayan Air, I had to walk around another corner and head through security to the waiting area. We boarded a small 12 seat plane with no co-pilot and took off towards Punta Gorda. On route, we stopped at 3-4 places to drop off pe...Read More

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Day 2

Lubaantun Ruins

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Lubaantun means place of fallen stones. These Mayan ruins are located in the Toledo district near the village of San Pedro Columbia. It would be difficult to get here via public transportation. Fortunately, most hotels arrange tours for you. Antonio our guide drove us there. You need to walk up a decent sized hill to get to the ruins and visitor center. Local artisans have the wares for sale as you trek up to the top. Bring cash in case something catches your eye.The visitor's center has restrooms and a small museum. You'll learn that this site was originally excavated by a gentleman from Boston! R. E. W. Merwin of the Harvard Peabody Museum documented the ar...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on July 3, 2025

Lubaantun Ruins
2 km outside (NW) of San Pedro Columbia
San Pedro Columbia, Belize

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Visit to a Local Cacao Farm

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In the afternoon on my second day of the trip we visited a local cacao farm.Eladio Pop and his gracious family served up a delicious lunch which included fresh juice, chicken, potatoes, homemade corn tortillas, rice and beans. It poured rain for an hour while we ate and his thatched roof built by hand kept us dry as could be.After our meal, we went outside where his family showed us how to make Mayan cacao drink. It is more reminiscent of coffee than the hot chocolate we enjoy. First we roasted the cacoa beans and some allspice over the coals. Next we crunched the spice and beans with rocks. One of Eladio's daughters separated the shells from the beans....Read More

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Day 3

Toledo Cacao Grower's Association

Attraction | "Visiting the Toledo Cacao Grower's Association and Downtown Punta Gorda"

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On day three, Alex the owner of Taza Chocolate (Boston, MA) took us to visit the TCGA. Alex would like to buy local beans to use at his factory, but TCGA has an exclusive (and slightly dysfunctional) relationship with Green & Black's. The Cacao Grower's Association represents over 200 local organic cacao farmers in the Toledo area. Their mission statement is as follows: To improve the socio-economic standard of living of our farmers through competitive and diversified systems of production that incorporate sound ecological practices.The chairman of TCGA showed us around their facility. As farmer's drop off their sacks of beans, they are tested for proper drying and fer...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on July 4, 2025

Toledo Cacao Grower's Association
Main Street
Punta Gorda, Belize

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Cotton Tree Chocolate

Attraction | "Cotton Tree Chocolate Tour and Making Our Own Chocolate"

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In the afternoon of day three, we visited Cotton Tree Chocolate where the owner Julie and her wonderful staff walked us through the chocolate making process. Cotton Tree Chocolate is the purest form of single origin chocolate available. They buy a day's harvest from one farm and make a small batch of chocolate from that. The most recent batch was made from Eladio Pop's beans, the farm we visited earlier in the week. Small batch chocolate means being a little creative. Julie uses coffee roasters to prepare small quantities of beans. Our group got to take part in all of the steps after the roasting. First we used their homemade grinder to crush up the beans. T...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on July 4, 2025

Cotton Tree Chocolate

Punta Gorda

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Rio Blanco National Park

Attraction | "A Short Visit to the Rio Blanco Falls"

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Rio Blanco National Park is an hour an half drive on the bumpy dirt roads. The views in some places during the drive are quite spectacular, but this is a more remote part of the country. Once in awhile, you'll pass small villages, but for the most part the rainforest surrounds you. Entrance to the park is $5 US for foreigners. Locals pay just 50 cents US. There is small visitor center and parking area. If you need to use the restroom, there is an open air toilet on a side trail!The main trail is marked and you'll hike for less than a mile. At that point there is small wooden hut you can use to change into swim clothes. Look for two flights of steps down to the ledge over...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on July 4, 2025

Rio Blanco National Park
Toledo
Toledo, Belize

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Day 4

Tortilla Making

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On day 4 we had a number of excursion options. Some travelers went snorkeling. Though I could have been convinced to go, the added cost of chartering a boat for that trip made me consider a more relaxing and economical day.My new friends and I opted to learn how to make tortillas with the locals instead. Once again, we loaded into the van for drive down the bumpy dirt roads into Santa Anna village. Fortunately, the trip was only 2 miles!A wonderful Belizean woman invited us into her home and taught how to make corn tortillas which are a staple there.We started by getting some dried corn from the storage bags and scraping the kernels off into a bowls. This is ha...Read More

On day 4 we had a number of excursion options. Some travelers went snorkeling. Though I could have been convinced to go, the added cost of chartering a boat for that trip made me consider a more relaxing and economical day.

My new friends and I opted to learn how to make tortillas with the locals instead. Once again, we loaded into the van for drive down the bumpy dirt roads into Santa Anna village. Fortunately, the trip was only 2 miles!

A wonderful Belizean woman invited us into her home and taught how to make corn tortillas which are a staple there.

We started by getting some dried corn from the storage bags and scraping the kernels off into a bowls. This is hard work and I was not very good at it.

Next, the kernels need to be boiled for a few hours with lime to remove the clear outer layer. The whole process happens over a wood fire. Just like a cooking show, there was a quick swap out with corn they had already prepared.

Next we washed the lime off of the corn and began grinding it. Again this was tough work, though I was definitely better at cranking the grinder. The corn needs to go through twice, and then it is ready.

The next step is forming the tortillas. After taking a small chunk of dough, you form it into a ball. Then it is flattened into a circle on a thin flexible plastic mat by hand. The last step before cooking the tortilla is peeling it away from the mat.

We placed the raw tortillas on the iron cooking plate that rested directly on the coals. Our teacher would flip the tortillas by hand without any pot holder.

It took us a few minutes to make a tortilla. The local woman made about 10 in the same amount of time that I could prepare one. She makes 75 tortillas for her family three times each day!

After the tortillas were cooked we prepared some fresh tomato sauce and some boiled eggs to make a small meal.

This was a great experience which really made me appreciate how easy we have it at home. Read Less

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Jungle Survival Trek

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After a relaxing morning of tortilla making, it was time to step it up a notch and see some more of the country. I arranged for a jungle survival check with Armando the gardener at the lodge. He was such happy gentleman and so very proud of the survival skills he learned from generations of family and villagers. We followed the boardwalk past all the cabanas and through the garden and then we were following a faint path in the jungle. Armando hacked vines out the way with the machete as we wandered through the forest.As we came to a stop, he pointed up to a huge paper hornet nest hanging from vines above 15 feet above our heads. The hornets won't bother us if we d...Read More

After a relaxing morning of tortilla making, it was time to step it up a notch and see some more of the country. I arranged for a jungle survival check with Armando the gardener at the lodge.

He was such happy gentleman and so very proud of the survival skills he learned from generations of family and villagers.

We followed the boardwalk past all the cabanas and through the garden and then we were following a faint path in the jungle. Armando hacked vines out the way with the machete as we wandered through the forest.

As we came to a stop, he pointed up to a huge paper hornet nest hanging from vines above 15 feet above our heads. The hornets won't bother us if we don't bother them.

Next he showed me a twisty vine about 3 inches wide. To be honest it looked like a young tree. He chopped off a chunk of it and showed me that water pours out which you can drink. It was cool and refreshing and reminded me a bit of aloe. It is important to make the two cuts quickly when removing a piece of vine or the plant will actually absorb the valuable water back into the undamaged limbs.

A little further down the trail, Armando had built a beehive in a small log which was suspended by vines. He is able to collect honey to eat. Their bees actually don't sting. He proved this to me, by putting his hand right inside the log when I dubiously explained that beekeeper's need to use smoke at home to calm the bees while they harvest honey.

We finally reached a camp that he had built. There was a small thatched roof with a hammock tied from strong vine. If you are stuck in the woods overnight, the first thing to do is build a thatch roof to protect from the rains.

Behind the hammock was a termite nest on a stick. When I inquired about this, Armando explained that lighting the termite nest on fire will create smoke which keeps away the mosquitoes at night!

He showed me how to build a trap to catch birds, though I'd be harvesting fresh fruits and veggies if I was stuck in the tropical jungle.

Further down the trail was a camp kitchen with a handmade table. Armando chopped up some hearts of palm, palm nuts, and other jungle veggies for me to try. I asked Armando what he would do in the jungle without a machete. He chuckled and said you won't survive long without one.

In the more remote areas of Belize, a machete is as important as a Swiss Army knife. You'll notice that that the locals often keep them by the door of their house, the way we might have an umbrella rack.

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Day 5

Swimming the Blue Creek Caves

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The pictures and stories about visits to the cave really piqued my interest. You might remember from a previous journal that I'm not a great swimmer, so I was a little worried about whether I could handle this adventure. The guides and my friends were great and in the end this was one of the highlights of my trip.It is about an hour drive to Blue Creek from the Punta Gorda area. We parked at the river, picked out life jackets and started the 20 minute hike towards the cave mouth. Parts of the rock path along the river's edge were quite slippery and we had to be ever vigilant of the fire ants walking in long trains. As we got closer to the cave, we climbed up using some tree...Read More

The pictures and stories about visits to the cave really piqued my interest. You might remember from a previous journal that I'm not a great swimmer, so I was a little worried about whether I could handle this adventure. The guides and my friends were great and in the end this was one of the highlights of my trip.

It is about an hour drive to Blue Creek from the Punta Gorda area. We parked at the river, picked out life jackets and started the 20 minute hike towards the cave mouth.

Parts of the rock path along the river's edge were quite slippery and we had to be ever vigilant of the fire ants walking in long trains. As we got closer to the cave, we climbed up using some tree roots as hand holds.

Once the huge cave mouth was in view, I had to wonder what is really in store. Vines dangled from the top and water rushed out. It felt a bit like being in an Indiana Jones movie.

There were some small waterfalls we had to climb over and then it was into the river. We put on our headlamps and begin swimming against the current into the cave. As we rounded the corner it started to get dark. There were a few cave bats and flying around high above us.

The current was definitely strong and I had trouble imagining trying this later in the rainy season. If one us was tired we'd find a ledge and grab onto the cave wall. Eventually the cave was completely dark except for our headlamps. It was pretty amazing to look around at the cave formations.

The further we swam, the stronger the current became. Our guides Antonio and Markus told us there was ledge up ahead beyond a small waterfall and that we would rest there before swimming out.

One by one we fought the rushing water to find a spot up on the dry edge of the cave. In the dark my friends looked a bit like bats perched on the rocks with just the illumination of the headlamps. I climbed up to join them and then we all turned out the lights. It was pitch black in the cave and the sound of the water rushing was amazing.

Then it was time for the relaxing part of this journey. We slid back into the water and floated with the current. It simply carried us back to where we started.

The most striking memory was when we neared the mouth of the cave and could see the sunlight outlined by stone. It was just spectacular!

As we stepped back onto dry land, I think we all felt an incredible sense of accomplishment. We hiked back down the trail and had lunch at the edge of the river.

While we enjoyed our food, some Mennonites drove up in a horse and buggy. It was surprising to see the typical striped shirts, overalls, pants, hats, and long beards I might see at home. They were there hoping to sell some watermelon to our guides for the lodge kitchen. Read Less

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Day 6

Cotton Tree Chocolate - Making Our Chocolate Bars

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This is a continuation of the Cotton Tree Chocolate Tour entry. The review ended with our chocolate in the conching machine. After three days it was ready to move onto the next steps. One of the best parts of today was the air conditioned room we worked in. AC was pretty rare in Belize!The liquid chocolate from the concher was poured into tempering machines. Tempering is the process of heating and cooling the chocolate. This is what creates the glossy sheen. The machines look a bit like ice cream makers, spinning the liquid chocolate. When the temperature screen read 90 degrees, it was time to start making our bars.We used measuring syringes to move the liqui...Read More

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IgoUgo

Toledo Journals

Belize - Jungle and Chocolate Tour in the Toledo District

Belize/Toledo Travel Info

Cotton Tree Lodge

Day 1

My First Day

Day 2

Lubaantun Ruins

Visit to a Local Cacao Farm

Day 3

Toledo Cacao Grower's Association

Cotton Tree Chocolate

Rio Blanco National Park

Day 4

Tortilla Making

Jungle Survival Trek

Day 5

Swimming the Blue Creek Caves

Day 6

Cotton Tree Chocolate - Making Our Chocolate Bars

Day 7

About the Writer

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