Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary

Location: Mile 31 ˝ Western Highway, Near La Democracia and St. Matthew’s Villages.

Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary is an environmental education center that offers experiential learning programs and training opportunities while serving as a model of conservation land stewardship. The Sanctuary consists of 1,070 acres of tropical forest, riverine and savannah habitats. Monkey Bay is located in central Belize and is bordered by the Sibun River that flows from the Maya Mountains through the coastal savannah on its path to the Caribbean Sea.

In ancient times, resources here utilized by Ancient Maya, as evidenced by house mounds along riverbank and artifacts remaining in area ceremonial caves. Much evidence of this history recently has been documented by archaeologists from Boston University working in collaboration with the Institute of Archaeology, Belmopan. Modern history to colonial times finds the area utilized for logging and hunting, and most recently farming of citrus, cacao and aquaculture production. Today, an emerging interest in natural history tourism is replacing the old style, extractive resource practices.

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By Bus
Located on the Western Highway, the public buses pass from Belize City and Belmopan. Hourly bus service leaves from both hubs.

By Vehicle
Travel on the Western Highway to mile 31.5 where a sign marks Monkey Bay, which is between Cheer’s and Amigo’s Restaurants.

Depart the bus (or drive onto the gravel road) at the Monkey Bay sign at mile 31.5, it is a 3 minute walk up the gravel road to the entrance drive to the welcome center. The facility is visible from the bus shelter at the Western Highway junction.

Accommodations & Meals

Accommodations at Monkey Bay include overnight camping, bunkhouse beds, private rooms with shared bath and cabanas.

Meals: Monkey Bay has a cantina catering to guests only that serves three meals per day. All local food prepared fresh daily. Vegetarian meals are available and served regularly. Prices are US $4-6.

Three additional public restaurants (Cheer’s, Amigo’s and JB’s) are located within walking distance. Varied menus are available including desserts and bar service.

Other Servies: Laundry service, Internet, Post office - service for stamp purchase and transfer mail outs to Belmopan post offices only and a first aid kit are also available at the field station.

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Caving: Located in the karst limestone hills near the sanctuary is Tiger Sandy Bay Cave. The adventure begins with a trek through the jungle to the cave, an immense opening in the mountain where you enter the Mayan Underworld of Xibalba. Along the trail is a diversity of over 200 tree and palm species that serve as the home range for 5 species of cats and a wide variety of large and small mammals, reptiles, birds and insects.

The cave system is huge in scale, extensive in length and demonstrates the wide variety of living cave formations found in Belize. Pottery and ceramic artifacts, an antique fire hearth and utility rooms used by the Ancient Maya are all left in situ as it has remained from ancient times to today. The caving experience is an all day affair, with softer routes for the more comfortable naturalists, and more challenging routes that include canoeing and rock climbing for the more adventurous students and ecotourists.

Hiking: Indian Creek Trail serves to provide a unique 'backcountry' jungle experience along a connecting segment of the biological corridor while creating opportunity of community involvement through ecotourism service offering. This trail project is co-managed by Belizean villagers from La Democracia and St. Margaret's rural communities positioned at either end of the trail.

The 16-mile trail follows Indian Creek, a year-round flowing stream, and connects the Sibun River near Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary with Five Blues Lake National Park near St. Margaret's Village. Although the hardier ones have completed the trail in one very long day, it has been proven to be most comfortably and safely hiked in three days, particularly with groups of trekkers. The riparian forest around the Indian Creek is lush and dense and holds many opportunities for viewing exotic and rare plant and animal species.

There are impressive cave systems that form an integral part of the trail, and provide visitors with the chance to see Ancient Maya pottery that is hundreds of years old. Because of the wild and untamed nature of the landscape, the act of hiking the Indian Creek Trail entails that its users yield to the forces of the surrounding environment. It is the raw experience of walking through tropical rivers and jungle-draped caves that makes this trail so impressive, and educational.

Because of the lack of significant human interference on sections of the trail, the user will sometimes feel as though they are treading in a pristine environment. This is the impression that the trail strives to retain, even though necessary amenities such as tent camping platforms and latrines have been installed. Designated campsites along the trail are used for cooking, bathing and camping. All the campsites have convenient access to the Creek for drinking and cooking water. It is recommended that portable backcountry stoves be used for cooking meals to avoid stripping campsites of vegetation unnecessarily. The Indian Creek Trail is a guided experience.

Read “Surviving the Rainforest” for a detailed description and photos

Canoeing: Paddle the Sibun River 10 miles downstream on this middle reach of the river. Once on the river, you will see a wide variety of birds, iguanas, cave bats, coatimundi and occasionally Central American river otter. The trip time is 3 - 4 hours depending on how often you wish to stop and swim in the cool clear waters. The canoe excursion ends at Monkey Bay where you can enjoy a final swim in the Sibun. Longer multi-day canoe expeditions can also be arranged.

Swimming: A beautiful river bathing spot on Sibun River is within walking distance from Monkey Bay facilities.

Crocodile Spotting: Cox Lagoon Crocodile Sanctuary is located within thirty thousand acres of wildland where you can find all kinds of Belizean wildlife. Best experienced from a canoe, the terrain surrounding the lagoon is swamp forest, marsh and mud flats, punctuated by pine savanna occurring on the elevated sites in between. Birds, mammals and wildlife abounds in this sanctuary. This is a private sanctuary and arrangements for visits must be made through Monkey Bay.

Bird watching: Over 240 species have been identified on site. Trained local guides are available.

Cultural Activities: Creole Drumming performances around the Sambai Campfire in partnership with Gales Point Village-based Tala Wala Vibrations Band.

Guided night tours of Belize Zoo: These can be arranged from Monkey Bay.

Reading & Research: An excellent library is housed in the field station.

Local Flavor
Creole culture dominates in our region of the Sibun Watershed. Local residents center many of their activities on the Sibun River resources. The local village was relocated from the riverside to the current location on the Western Highway shortly following Hurricane Hattie. Creole culture is known for their unique language, knowledge of the forest, river and wildlife, special foods and folktales. They are extremely warm and friendly, knowledgeable, and welcoming to their community. Our community is known for all of these plus knowledgeable bush guides, bush doctors and skilled laborers.

Easy Access to the Sibun River make the riverside a popular hang out spot for locals. There are also active village youth and sports groups.

Monkey Bay Contact Information:
Phone: 820-3032

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