Belize Inland - Caves Branch Tubing

When Dave was in Belize last time, they did a tubing trip through a cave called "Jaguar Paw". From San Ignacio they didn't have that on the list, but had a similar trip called "Caves Branch Tubing". This time we booked with Eva's because Mayawalk didn't have a trip going. (Eva's turned out to have a better guide and better lunch than Mayawalk, in comparison to our ATM trip the day before). Both places charged $65 US per person which included lunch, transportation, a guide, entry to the site,
and an inner tube rental. Mayawalk offered a $15 pp add-on to stop off at the Belize Zoo after the tubing.

Well it turned out that "Jaguar Paw" and "Caves Branch Tubing" were one and the same. There were 4 of us, a guide, and a driver, in a minibus. The other couple were 2 kids fairly fresh out of college who had quit their jobs to go walkabout for the summer. They had spent 3 weeks in Guatemala--2 in intensive language study and one hiking around the volcano district. Our guide, Joanne, was a Belizian lady who was part of a family of independent tour guides. Each person in her family had a different
specialty (site). They contracted out to the various hotels/resorts in the area to put together tours. And on Thursday, to the cruise ships. Joanne said that all certified guides had to take a year of instruction and then take a set of 8 tests on Belizian culture and history to become certified.

Joanne picked a good specialty--it was an easy day for all of us. An hour drive, a 30 minute hike through the forest carrying an inner tube, and then a nice 3 hour easy float down through the caves. There was only one other group of 4 within sight. But Joanne says that on Cruise Ship days (Thursdays) they take groups of 45 people down through the caves! See the Caves Branch Tubing section of our photo gallery.

We got back to San Ignacio about 3 pm, spent about an hour in Eva's on their internet terminals reading email, and had a nice nap. For dinner we went to Elva's (on a back street 2 blocks from the main street). This turned out to be the best food we'd had in Belize and a more reasonable price than the places on the main drag. We went back for breakfast the next morning, and got a carryout lunch from them for the trip back to Belize City.

Photo album link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Qizf46KlXE9acRCw2