Chan Chich

We stayed at Chan Chich from Oct 8 to Oct 12, 2010. Chan Chich is located in northwestern Belize, in the Orange Walk district, only a couple miles from the Guatemalan border. We decided on Chan Chich because of its potential as a great birding location with ample hiking trails, as well as offering good possibilities at seeing at least one feline species, ideally, the elusive jaguar. Plus it is a very small eco-lodge located in the heart of a huge and well-protected rainforest.


We flew in to Belize City and were immediately whisked away to our charter flight on a 4-seat Cessna. Our pilot was a very nice Canadian woman who moved with her husband to Belize and owns 3 planes. We flew across inland Belize for ~30 minutes and landed at Gallon Jug, the farm owned by the recently deceased millionaire, Barry Bowen. The entire Gallon Jug estate is an important source of employment for people in the area. And it includes a shade-grown coffee plantation with native canopy!

This photo is of shade-grown coffee - couldn't even tell, could you!

When we arrived at Chan Chich, hidden deep in the jungle, we were greeted with a delicious drink and warm wet towel to wipe our faces and necks. And we were informed they had upgraded us from the deluxe cabana to the 2 bedroom villa!!! So in additional to the champagne and appetizer we received as part of the honeymoon package, we got a huge and awesome villa (so beautiful), appetizers served to us at 5:30 each night, full use of the golf cart. The villa included a wrap-around deck, an outdoor shower, and a screened-in hot tub area. I cannot describe our amazement and excitement at getting to stay in the villa! Unfortunately, although I took many photos of the villa, they are now missing so I cannot post them.

This is a picture of the outside of the villa.

The first night we were the only guests but the lodge was holding a goodbye party of sorts. The previous manager was there for the final move with his wife and baby. We also met Jason, the new manager, and Xander, the stepson of Barry's.

The next day we enjoyed a full day of birding along the numerous trails. After we finally left the awesome deck, that is. We had toucans, guans, aracaris, monkeys, hummingbirds, and the list goes on and on, right there on the deck. We enjoyed delicious food at our meal breaks and spent some time in the hot tub. We ended the evning with a night drive to Gallon Jug with another couple who had arrived earlier that day. Spotlighting was not overly productive though. We did find 2 potoos (LIFERS!), the 2nd much closer than the 1st, but I will not be satisfied til I see one in daylight. We also had sos-so views of a kinkajou in a tree and an ocelot that crossed the road in front of us and scampered off into the forest. All good animals, but I must admit I expected much more. Perhaps the downside of having so much wildland and so few roads - the animals can easily avoid roads.

On our 3rd day, we spent the morning birding and then decided to be adventurous for the afternoon. We hopped on the mt bikes for a bike ride into the tiny village of Sylvester, 6 miles along a overgrown path or 9 miles by way of Gallon Jug and the dirt road. After testing out the path, we decided to not risk popping a tire on the thorny, overhanging plants and headed back to the lodge. Then we set out for Gallon Jug. It was a long, hilly, exhilerating ride to the farm. Out in the open we added several new bird species, before deciding to embark on the final leg of the journey, where we passed through the coffe plantation and eventually reached Sylvester Village. We were exhausted and it was getting late (it starts getting dark in the jungle at 5:30), so we opted to get moving on the return leg instead of touring through the village. Good decision becuase by the time we made it back to Gallom Jug and to the entrance to Chan Chich, it was getting dusky and we still had 6 miles to go. I eventually got sick and hitched a ride with a guy dropping off water jugs at Chan Chich. Randy rode on in one his own. It was pretty dark when I arrived just before 6:00 and I decided to take the golf cart and meet Randy on the road. Unbeknownest to me, he had cruised in just after me and likely arrived at the villa less than a minute after I left to find him. I ended up being gone til 6:30 waiting in the pitch black of night in the jungle! And for all that effort, the only animal I encountered was a HUGE cane toad (an exotic animal). What an wild bike ride that turned out to be. We ended that evening with a long soak in the hot tub staring at the starry sky (pretty awesome stargazing being that far removed from civilization).

Our last full day we finished hiking the trails and even birded with another birder that had arrived the evening before. We really didn't do much that day. We were worn out from all the hiking and biking. I did wander the grounds and take pictures of birds that afternoon, including many of the ocellated turkeys foraging around the lodge.

The last day was a short one. After birding from the deck, we packed our stuff and prepared for departure. We made another round of the grounds to take pictures of the flowers and property, and managed to squeeze out one last lifer, tody motmot, with huge helper from Gilberto, one of the guides.

One of the many flower shots with my new macro!

Then we ate lunch and departed for Gallon Jug. We asked to go early so we could bird around the farm. Our last treat, the driver took us all around the farm, where we added gray hawk and fork-tailed flycatcher. The we met the pilot for our charter flight to Dangriga to begin the 2nd part of our journey.

We had a wonderful time at Chan Chich. The food, although overly plentiful, was very good, the staff was so warm and friendly, and the accommodations were luxurious. We LOVED Chan Chich!