Toledo, the southern most district of Belize, is the least populated and most unspoilt. Toledo welcomes visitors who want to explore its natural riches or simply find physical and spiritual refreshment in the peace of the rainforest. The district is extraordinarily well endowed with cultural and environmental attractions.
 The People of Toledo
Toledo is home to diverse ethnic communities. Almost all of the Mayan villages of Belize are here in Toledo. A visit to one of these villages, such as San Pedro Colombia, San Antonio, San Jose or Santa Elena offers an opportunity to learn a little of Mayan culture at first hand. There are Mopan and Kekchi Maya, Garifuna, East Indian, Creoles, Hispanics and Mennonites. The village of Big Falls is one of the most mixed communities in the district with households from almost every ethnic group living side by side.
Visitors can experience the annual deer dance in the Kekchi Mayan village of San Antonio, and the Garifuna Settlement Day on November 19 in the village of Barranco celebrates the arrival of the Garifuna people on the coasts of Belize in 1832. There is music and dancing followed at dawn by a reenactment of the arrival of the first settlers in their dories. In 2002 the United Nations designated the Garifuna as a World Heritage culture, a designation that recognizes and urges the protection and preservation of threatened cultures.
 Toledo District is also rich in marine reserves. The Port Honduras Marine Reserve contains many idyllic islands (cayes) which are exceptional locations for snorkeling, manatee watching or just relaxing on one of the white sand beaches. Further out, the Sapodilla Marine Reserve lies along the southern end of Belize's barrier reef, the second longest in the world. This area, dotted with palm fringed coral islands, is an unrivaled location for scuba diving and whale shark watching. Fishing is permitted outside the Reserve and this area has some of the best fishing grounds in the Caribbean. Fresh fish such as snapper, king fish, grouper and barracuda are common local dishes.
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Birding in Southern Belize
There is excellent birding at The Lodge at Big Falls which offers a variety of habitats - river bank, orchard, open meadow and forest. The cayes, rivers, mangrove swamps and forest in the district provide excellent diversity for the birder. The annual bird count on December 19, 2001 totaled 276 different species in a single day. Belize is home to over 530 bird species including more than 200 winter visitors from North America. Jabiru, Woodstork, Roseate Spoonbills and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks are some of the wetland species. Kingfishers, herons, raptors and Sungrebes can be found along the deep green tropical rivers as well as an abundance of six feet long green iguanas basking in the overhead branches. Red-lored parrots, Olive-throated Parakeets, Chachalacas, flycatchers, Trogons, Woodpeckers, Orioles, Tanagers, cuckoos and Tityras make the lodge grounds a paradise for birdwatchers in the morning. Keel-billed Motmots and Blue-crowned Motmots, puffbirds, trogons and forest falcons can be found under the forest canopy.
View our Birding Packages
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Adventure in Southern Belize
Visitors with a taste for adventure will find thrills in Toledo. River kayaking gives guests the opportunity to get up close and personal with the birds and animals along the river banks. At Blue Creek guides escort visitors upstream from the cave mouth several hundred yards to a point where the river emerges as a waterfall from the side of the cavern. Blue Creek also offers cave hikes and jungle treks up the steep hillside overlooking the rainforest around Blue Creek Cave. A recently opened trail at Aguacate village leads (during the dry season only) to a system of seven caves, some linked by underground rivers and streams which are yet to be fully explored. Off the mangrove-forested coast, snorkeling, fishing, and manatee watching around the cayes which once sheltered buccaneers and pirates is another unforgettable southern Belize adventure.
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Natural History and Conservation
 A large proportion of Toledo's land area has protected status. The Nature Conservancy and Flora and Fauna International both work with local NGOs to assist sustainable development in the area.
Major inland forest reserves include the Sarstoon-Temash National Park, the Columbia Forest Reserve, Bladen River Nature Reserve and The Rio Blanco Waterfall Park. A cool dip in one of Toledo's numerous natural swimming holes is always on the itinerary. The Temash is probably Belize's finest example of an unspoilt tropical river. The mangroves lining the banks for the first few miles give way to high forest where visitors can see troops of howler monkeys in the trees, turtles basking on logs and Montezuma's Oropendolas weaving their hanging nests in colonies. The Moho, Rio Grande and Monkey rivers all offer similarly exhilarating exposure to the tropical rain forest with the trees, flowers, birds, animals, butterflies and other insects making each trip a uniquely memorable experience.
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Mayan Archaeology
 The two major Mayan sites in Toledo are Lubaantun and Nim Li Punit. Lubaantun, near the Mayan village of San Pedro Colombia, is a Late Classic ceremonial center where the famous (or infamous!) crystal skull was found by the daughter of archaeologist F.A. Mitchell-Hedges in 1926. Nim Li Punit, a few miles north of Big Falls, is most famous for its concentration of sculpted stelae. Both sites have been partially excavated but much remains to be discovered and both locations are within easy reach of The Lodge at Big Falls. Other minor sites in the area include Uxbenka and Pusilha, where research and excavation continues each year during the dry season. There are also Mayan sites along the coast and on several offshore cayes, where the ground is strewn with pottery chards and obsidian blades. The importance of this region to the ancient Mayans is very much in evidence. All these sites can be visited by boat from Punta Gorda.
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Mayan Culture
Mayan culture in Belize is strongest in the south where are there are around sixty Mayan villages. Guests can visit a Mayan home where they learn to hand grind corn, make tortillas over an open fire and share a drink of cacao (cocoa) prepared in the traditional way. An increasing number of farmers are planting organic cacao for export to the UK where it is made into Mayan Gold chocolate by Green and Black an organic and Fairtrade producer. Visit an organic cacao plantation and see how the cacao is cared for, harvested and dried and fermented before shipment. Hear how this revival of cacao growing is affecting the lives of local farmers and their families and how inter-planting with trees such as allspice and coffee can provide a second cash crop. Visit a plantation tended by traditional Mayan healers and learn about the combination of herbs used in the treatment of snake bites and other ailments. A spiritual healing ceremony can be arranged for groups. Visitors can experience the annual deer dance in the Kekchi Mayan village of San Antonio, and the Garifuna Settlement Day on November 19 in the village of Barranco celebrates the arrival of the Garifuna people on the coasts of Belize in 1832. There is music and dancing followed at dawn by a reenactment of the arrival of the first settlers in their dories. In 2002 the United Nations designated the Garifuna as a World Heritage culture, a designation that recognizes and urges the protection and preservation of threatened cultures.
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