Baboon Sanctuary - Private tour or criuse?

[ChrisM444]

I want to go to the baboon sanctuary. Should I use a private tour or go thru the cruise line? Any help, please. I will be traveling solo.

 

Chris

[judyzoo]

I'm wondering the same thing, although I will be with a couple of other women. Hope we get a reply.

[Travel Lover]

My family and I went on a private tour.... We hired a lady to take us all over from the port. She was WONDERFUL. It was like $50 a person a/c van and a full day.. one of the places we asked her to take us to was the baboon Sac. It was great, especially for kids. Up close. Simple You wont be there too long.

[judyzoo]

Travel Lover,

 

Did you book the tour ahead of time, or just hire her when you arrived? If you know who it was, I'd love to have her contact information. Where else did you go besides the baboon sanctuary? There are so many places in the area that we'd like to see in addition to the baboons (zoo, ruins, jaguar reserve, and so on) that I'm wondering how much we can fit in and still be certain of returning before the ship leaves without us.

[Travel Lover]

We actually booked her via the internet ahead of time and I told her what I wanted to see. But she stood at the doc and tried to get more people to go with us. She took us (3) and 3 other people. So you can look for her there. I do not remember any of her info really. I think I got it a few years ago on this site. I am thinking her name was Margaret last name maybe monteroso??????? I just cannot remember. Maybe google it or tours of belize.

She was great. We went there and Altun Ha ruins. It was the entire day we were there. She drove us through town and told us about everything. We had maybe an hr or less to shop in the pier area afterwards.....

I have heard good things about the zoo. I may do that next time.

[judyzoo]

Thanks, Travel Lover.

[starketcher]

We went with Margaret, I think the name of her company is Belize exclusives .com. I found a very old thread with info on it with some of the recommendations from cruisers vs the obvious spamming newbies, so I went with her company.

 

I had been waffling on what to do and with whom to book. About a week prior, we settled on Altun Ha/City tour. I wanted to book privately and wanted to book prior to leaving for the cruise. There were plenty of tours available from the port. I have no qualms in recommending Margaret for any tour. In fact, if we go back we will proably go to the zoo or the baboon sanctuary & I would book with her.

 

At any rate, I would book privately....much cheaper and no real time constraints to necessitate a cruise tour in Belize for the Baboon Sanctuary.

[judyzoo]

Thanks, starketcher. I'll take a look at that site.

[lynninsc]

We went to the baboon sanctuary with a guide that we hired after we got to Belize. I cannot remember his name, but he was very nice and trustworthy. We kept his card and I will try to find it and let you know how to get in touch with him. His name was Gilbert MacDonald, I will try to find his number for you. He drove a green Isuzu Rodeo. The baboon sanctuary was great, did not take that long. The zoo was also wonderful. Would highly recomend going there. You will need an hour at the baboon sanctuary and at least 2 at the zoo. You should also be able to fit in the Altun Ha ruins. Just tell the driver up front what all you want to do so they can be sure and fit it all in. Try to remember to take a couple of bananas with you to the baboon sanctuary, they will come right down and take them out of your hands. Good luck and have a great time.