Macal River Canoeing and Rainforest Medicinal Trail
San Ignacio, Belize
Trip Type: Kayaking & Canoeing
Duration: 7 hours
The Macal River is a beautiful jungle river that flows directly through the heart of San Ignacio Town. Canoe up the river and see exotic wildlife and small villages along the banks of this lush river. Enjoy a half day or full day on the river, paddling, exploring medicinal trails and swimming. Iguanas, birds and stunning trees and flowers will be seen along the way too. Full-day tours include lunch, but half-day tours do not.
More About This Activity All Kayaking & Canoeing →
The Macal River is a beautiful jungle river that flows directly through the heart of San Ignacio Town. Canoe up the river and see exotic wildlife and small villages along the banks of this lush river. Enjoy a half day or full day on the river, paddling, exploring medicinal trails and swimming. Iguanas, birds and stunning trees and flowers will be seen along the way too. Full-day tours include lunch, but half-day tours do not.
The Macal River is a magnificent jungle river and the perfect waterway to enjoy a Belize canoeing trip adventure. The river originates in the Maya Mountains and flows through limestone hills and jungle toward San Ignacio town and then onto Belize City after its confluence with the Mopan River. This river is the main watershed for San Ignacio town and the center of life for the community.
Leave San Ignacio at 9am in our canoes up the river, passing under the historic Hawksworth Bridge and then away from civilization into the green jungle. Lined with cliffs and cave openings, with iguanas perching on mammoth trees above, the scene is almost prehistoric. Non-excavated Maya sites dot the riverbanks, and as villagers bathe and wash their clothing, horses and cattle come to the water to drink.
You will see wildlife along with way including a variety of bird species and possibly see the tracks of larger mammals such as tapirs, white lipped peccary, armadillo, and even jaguars in the mud of the riverbank. Colonies of bats roost under limestone ledges and the water shimmers in the sun against the white rocks.
We continue up the river toward Chaa Creek Resort, a premier luxury eco-resort which is home to a medicinal plants trail, Blue Morpho butterfly farm, and natural history museum. Chaa Creek is host to many environmental conservation and sustainable tourism projects such as Archaeology Research, Bay Palm Reforestation, Agroforesty Research, Vascular Plan Cataloguing, Birds Without Borders and Howler Monkey Reintroduction.
After touring the natural environment of the property with your guide, we have a picnic lunch (included in the full-day option) and continue back down river toward San Ignacio, where we end at the wooden bridge.
A half-day tour upriver won’t go quite as far but we will stop at the picturesque village of Cristo Rey, a quiet and lush village and a humble community of mainly Maya descent. Here we park our canoes and then take a short hike to a beautiful, hidden spring-fed waterfall at Monkey Falls for a fresh dip.
Time frame: 9am to 4:30pm for the full-day tour option, and from 9am to 1pm for the half-day tour option.
Leave San Ignacio at 9am in our canoes up the river, passing under the historic Hawksworth Bridge and then away from civilization into the green jungle. Lined with cliffs and cave openings, with iguanas perching on mammoth trees above, the scene is almost prehistoric. Non-excavated Maya sites dot the riverbanks, and as villagers bathe and wash their clothing, horses and cattle come to the water to drink.
You will see wildlife along with way including a variety of bird species and possibly see the tracks of larger mammals such as tapirs, white lipped peccary, armadillo, and even jaguars in the mud of the riverbank. Colonies of bats roost under limestone ledges and the water shimmers in the sun against the white rocks.
We continue up the river toward Chaa Creek Resort, a premier luxury eco-resort which is home to a medicinal plants trail, Blue Morpho butterfly farm, and natural history museum. Chaa Creek is host to many environmental conservation and sustainable tourism projects such as Archaeology Research, Bay Palm Reforestation, Agroforesty Research, Vascular Plan Cataloguing, Birds Without Borders and Howler Monkey Reintroduction.
After touring the natural environment of the property with your guide, we have a picnic lunch (included in the full-day option) and continue back down river toward San Ignacio, where we end at the wooden bridge.
A half-day tour upriver won’t go quite as far but we will stop at the picturesque village of Cristo Rey, a quiet and lush village and a humble community of mainly Maya descent. Here we park our canoes and then take a short hike to a beautiful, hidden spring-fed waterfall at Monkey Falls for a fresh dip.
Time frame: 9am to 4:30pm for the full-day tour option, and from 9am to 1pm for the half-day tour option.
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