Exploring a Belize jungle resort: our stay at Ian Anderson’s Caves Branch Jungle Lodge

For two people who feel as uncomfortable as we do around anything with more than four legs, a Belize jungle resort doesn’t sound like a natural choice for a relaxing, fun vacation. But there’s something very special happening at Ian Anderson’s Caves Branch Jungle Lodge, located about an hour and a half from the Belize City airport by car, near Belmopan on the Hummingbird Highway. As long as you’ve got some environmentally-friendly bug repellent — and maybe some malaria meds if you’re especially prone to getting bitten — there’s nothing about Caves Branch that won’t make you absolutely fall in love with the jungle.

Arriving in Belize and getting to your Belize jungle resort

One of Caves Branch’s many vans, ready to take guests on excursions

Welcome to Caves Branch!!

If you book a package with Caves Branch, you’ll have the added bonus of not needing to worry about transportation at any time during your stay. Just get to the airport, get through customs, and you’ll have a Caves Branch driver waiting just outside to pick you up. Our driver, Christian, pointed out sights and cultural points of interest as we rocketed down the bumpy two lane roads that took us to the Hummingbird Highway, and then straight on to Caves Branch. He told us about the lodge, about what to expect (his tip: don’t eat too much too fast at dinner, because it’s a marathon and not a sprint! …we should’ve listened better!!), and about his favorite parts of the country.

Once we finally pulled up — after a very long ride down a VERY bumpy gravel road — we realized that calling this place a resort almost cheapens it. While every member of staff you see is pleasant, polite, and willing to help, you never feel the need to dress up, be pompous, or do anything other than completely and totally enjoy your time.

The Caves Branch welcome center!

Luke standing on the path to our suite — bring a flashlight for nighttime walks!

After we checked in, we left our bags at the welcome center and went on a tour of the grounds. Our guide made sure we stopped at the lodge bar so we could get our complimentary welcome drink (either a local rum punch or fresh fruit punch — we went for the rum, DUH). The tour concluded at our room, which was about as pleasant a surprise as you can get, and then we were left to decompress and get ready for dinner.

Boyfriend Perspective: For those that easily get motion sick, the roads in Belize are your arch nemesis. Prepare for battle accordingly.

Amazing Belize jungle resort accommodations at Caves Branch

We booked a jungle suite as part of our package with Caves Branch. Guys, photos don’t do justice to the fact that you’re essentially staying in a giant, nicely decorated screened porch, surrounded by a metric ton of tropical woodland and flowering plants.

Boyfriend Perspective: Even though I don’t spend that much time outdoors, there was nothing more we could’ve wanted here. We would have absolutely wanted more time here if we hadn’t had the rest of our trip to move onto.

We both had bug concerns, but we were lucky that we only ended up sharing our accommodations with very small 6-legged friends — plus a large beetle who stationed himself near the toilet and one tiny spider that impressively took out a biting fly 10x its size. A few folks we met had some larger guests, including geckos, anoles, and frogs, but that seems to depend greatly on which cabana you have and how well the door jamb works!

Included in your bathroom, you’ll find a jug and spigot for filtered water that you can use for drinking, since water in this part of Belize doesn’t do well for non-Belizean stomachs. Plus, you’ll also get to try locally-made, lightly-scented exfoliating soap, which we both enjoyed very much. Housekeeping staff also gives you the luxury treatment each day by leaving a new species of towel animal, complete with fresh flowers, on the bed for your delight.

Towel elephants!

Our jungle suite bedroom with towel swans!

And the delight goes even further when you wake up early, completely naturally, and get to watch hummingbirds darting around outside your cabana. You’ll seriously never want to leave. (The delight diminishes a tiny bit when you’re awakened at 2:30am by roaring howler monkeys, but it’s all part of the experience!)

Not that you really spend THAT much time in your room, since you’ll be spending most of your stay here enjoying delicious food and amazing adventures!

Boyfriend Perspective: The room was comfortable for two people, not much bigger than a hotel room, but OH so much nicer. You also have the luxury of showering in the jungle just outside the bathroom in an enclosed patio area, if you’re so inclined.

Caves Branch’s fun meals and fantastic Belizean food

A DELICIOUS second course at dinner

Amazing breakfast of eggs, beans, french toast and more

View from the lodge dining room

There are no words for how much we both miss the food at Caves Branch. Each morning, enjoy a delicious, locally-sourced breakfast (complete with squeeze-your-own orange juice!), and each evening enjoy a 3.5-course dinner chock-full of every kind of deliciousness you can think of. On our first night at Caves Branch, we enjoyed a dinner that started with fresh tortilla chips and goat queso made onsite, followed by a first course buffet of pasta, local fruit, and various other local dishes. The second course comprised curry chicken, fresh-picked veggies, plantains, coconut rice and beans, and so much more. Finally, the dessert course included tres leches cake, a coffee chocolate cake, and lemon cake. After a full day of high-intensity adventure, you’ll be happier than you know to stuff your face and roll off to your room for an early snoozefest!

Luke enjoying local goat cheese queso with dinner

Desserts everywhere!

Press your own fresh, local oranges every morning!

But even more than the food, what we miss most is the community. Both of these meals are included in all packages, and are also communal. This means you have no excuse but to get to know your fellow travelers. Seat assignments are provided for each meal, and are mixed up a bit every couple of meals. We were lucky enough to be seated with groups of people we had enjoyed excursions with, and ended up making some amazing friends by the end of our 3 nights. Hanging out at the lodge also meant got to enjoy getting slobbery snuggles from Buster the Mastiff, a very outdoorsy, very tummy rub-loving good boy.

The Caves Branch cheese house!

This is Buster. Buster likes tummy rubs. And head rubs. And cool floors.

Check out that gorgeous bar!

In addition to their amazing food and meal practices, you’ll find the Caves Branch bar stocked with a row of local liquors. Drinks made with these are included gratis in all packages (YES!). Even better, you’ll always find an incredibly helpful, chatty bartender behind the bar, as well. Both the bartenders we got to know made great conversation and had completely on-point drink recommendations.

Pro tip: ask Johnny for a PR. You won’t regret it.

Boyfriend Perspective: Additional Pro tip: The bartenders rotate each day, so if you do get a package, you should just ask the bartender of the night to make their signature cocktail or anything unique to Belize, because they are ALL going to be delicious and as plentiful as you want.

Caves Branch also makes several varieties of their own cheese onsite, and you can tour their facilities and “cheese house” every day at 3pm. That is, if you’re not off spelunking in a cave or climbing ruins or something…

Belize jungle resort adventures and excursions

Getting a look in the scope while bird watching

Learning about a Mayan residential complex

Floating on our cave tubing tour

Speaking of high-intensity adventure, no Belize jungle resort would be complete without the thrill of Indiana Jonesing it through the jungle. Each evening at dinner, staff members circulate through the dining room to help you decide what your excursions for the next day will be. Carlos — this guy is a serious excursion-fixer! — helped us figure out that we’d be cave tubing through Footprint Cave on our first full day at Caves Branch, and was instrumental in making sure we’d be able to visit Tikal the following day.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about Caves Branch is the fact that the lodge sits on almost 60,000 acres of land, some of it undisturbed jungle, some of it citrus groves, and yet more of it set aside for other purposes. A large selection of the excursions they offer actually happen on their land, meaning that you never have to drive far and you don’t have to worry about jockeying with 10 other tour groups to enjoy your chosen activity. Whether you want a wildlife tour, a cave tubing tour, or another cave adventure, their extensive land and offerings have you covered.

We LOVED cave tubing with our tiny group (only 6 of us!), and had a very exhausting blast trekking to Guatemala to explore Tikal (another small group — we topped out at 7 people).

Luke looking at the botanical garden

Entrance to the botanical garden

Meagan walking in dried Caves Branch riverbed

If you prefer a gentle day, spend time walking around the Caves Branch riverbed nearby, or strolling through the botanical gardens. Or, schedule a morning bird watching tour on the grounds! We saw more gorgeous feathered friends than we non-ornithologists could’ve imagined. Caves Branch has spent an obvious amount of time and effort cultivating grounds where you can learn from your environment, while you’re also being awed by its absolute beauty. So be sure to take advantage!

Boyfriend Perspective: Meagan was awesome and surprised me with a couples massage during our stay in a pretty curtained gazebo. Which was awesome!!! Our masseuses were apologetic for not having music available during our session, but we had no reason to complain with the sound of the surrounding jungle birds being as enjoyable if not more so than any music could be.

Essential things to pack for your Belize jungle resort stay

Bright athletic shoes!

• hiking boots
• lightweight long pants
• (ideally, quick-drying)
• athletic shorts
• flip flops
• athletic shoes and socks
• Boyfriend Perspective: I would recommend a shoe that you can get wet and doesn’t stay wet, it took the following two days in front of a floor fan for our shoes to dry after tubing. Something like the Teva Omnium
• would be your best option if you can.
• versatile athletic sunglasses, just in case
• at least one athletic bathing suit (i.e. one you can be sure will never accidentally have a wardrobe malfunction)
• cute/fun bathing suits
• t-shirts that cover your shoulders, in case you get sunburned or don’t want to bug spray yourself to death
• packable backpack or tote
• dry bag, especially if you intend to go caving
• environmentally-friendly bug repellent
• environmentally-friendly sunscreen
• It’s also worth noting that the resort offers laundry as an amenity for $10US per load. This is especially helpful when you’ve gotten very damp on an excursion and the tropical humidity simply won’t let your belongings air-dry.Also, if you’re as anti-bug as we are, make sure you pick up a bottle of Jungle Oil. It’s available just about anywhere you can shop in Belize, but it’s most affordable at the Caves Branch gift shop. This local blend of essential oils does an amazing job of stopping the itch in existing bites and helping to ward off additional 6-legged nibblers.
• Should you book a stay at a Belize jungle resort?

• Beautiful black orchids in bloom!

• Looking out from the lodge

• Lay out, go to the bar for drinks, repeat.
• YES YES YES YES YES YES YES.
• Boyfriend Perspective: ^ What she said.
• It sounds like a buggy, rainy mess, but it honestly is anything but that.
• And while friends of ours have enthusiastically enjoyed stays at other resorts, you will never have another experience like Caves Branch.
• Love it as much as we did? Then save it for later?

Originally published at Two Restless Homebodies.