hi all---

i just made my plane reservation for june 15---august 20 and i am already obsessing about what i want to do. i have a firm plan to go back to hopkins around the 1st thru the 21st. it's a good chunk of time in one place and i have an idea i will want to get out of town for a few inland excursions.

these are my questions:

1) is a daytrip to to cockscomb basin wildlife sanctuary worthwhile or is it a place best enjoyed by staying overnight and waking up early in the park for for some reason? if so, what reason? any lodging recommendations?

2) anyone ever engaged a free-lance guide from hopkins area (not a tour booked thru a resort) to do day trips to blue hole national park, mayflower camp or anywhere else nearby? who was your guide & how can s/he be found??

3) is it feasible + worth trying to do a daytrip/tour at caves branch, returning to hopkins the same day?

4) how much of this could be done using the bus? (i know buses leave placencia early morning and pass thru hopkins or the junction at the hiway fairly early in the day.) to take a bus to cockscomb and meet/hire the guide there is ok by me. i don't need to be driven there in a private car at greatly increased expense.

hmmmm... i think that's all for NOW.

any feedback is appreciated!
gogo

A day visit to Cockscomb is worthwhile, but, yes, it's better to stay at least overnight. You'll have a better chance of seeing wildlife. You'd probably want to stay (camp or cabin) at the Cockscomb visitor centre.

Yes, you can do it by bus, although you'll have to walk or hitch or pay for a ride the 6 or 7 miles into the preserve from Maya Centre.

You'd be better off going at least overnight to Ian Anderson's. Busing up and back you wouldn't have much time to do anything. You can camp there for not a lot of money, or get a cheap dorm bed.

--Lan Sluder

Horace Andrews is a "freelance" guide from Sittee River. He could probably take you on some tours. Check www.belizebyhorace.com

I did the Jaguar Preserve day trip, and also the night hike. Trish from Tipple Tree organised the night hike for us thru a local mayan guide that she knows... I cant remember his name but he worked with Rabinowitz and there is a picture of him in R's book... He is a great guide for Cockscomb..