Belize Review - Banana Bank

[crystalgirl]

Hi! Just off the Glory, and I wanted to write my reviews while everything was still fresh in my mind!

 

We booked ahead with Banana Bank Lodge for a horseback riding thru the rainforest excursion. On this excursion, it was me, DH, my 8 yo DS, and my 3 yo DS. They picked us up from the dock. And it was only us and two others from a RCL ship. A/C van took us about an hour out of town to the lodge. Very lush grounds, and the horses looked as if they were very well taken care of. They did push a little to have my 3 yo ride by himself (with his horse tied to the guide's horse). I had (thought I had) made myself very clear when booking that I didn't want to do that. The little one was nervous enough, and I sure as heck didn't want him to get spooked or get hurt on the horse! They dropped it, and let him ride with me (like originally agreed to). It was a great ride of about 1 and 1/2 hours. The other two in the van went with another guide. I think so they could go faster. The guide didn't talk much with us, which was a little disappointing. But after the ride, he apologized for his lack of voice and said that he had lost it that morning! So, hollering back to us was hurting his throat! Won't hold him resposible there!

 

After the ride, we had a delicious home cooked lunch. Empanadas, black beans and rice, and watermelon. I, of course, was concerned about making it back to the ship in time. They left it up to us when we were ready to head back. There was a little river boat tour, and a little tour of the grounds. We opted to skip the river boat tour, as we were running short of time. The tour of the grounds included seeing a monkey, a jaguar, and some birds. I am not one for seeing animals caged up, so this part really didn't appeal to me. It was kind of like a miniature zoo.

 

It seemed like a very laid back place, that isn't used to the cruisers yet. We kept asking for our bill, and they brought it out to us at the very end of the tour. That wouldn't have been bad, but they had to walk it all the way back to somewhere and process the payment and then walk all of the way back out to us. Nothing moves very quickly!

 

The driver drove back like a bat out of he!!. I thought for sure we were going to crash! Then, he actually stopped for gas about 5 minutes from the port. That bugged us. Unless he was literally on fumes (which he shouldn't have been), he could have waited until after we were dropped off.

 

The last tender to our ship was at 4:15. We got in the tender line at 4:10. A little close for my liking, but we made it!

 

All in all, it was a good tour, and I would do it again. I do recommend it, but make sure you are wearing a watch, and keep on them about the time!