Over the past few years, we at the San Ignacio Resort Hotel have been at the forefront of conservation for the threatened Green Iguana. A highly interpretive and educational exhibit has been designed within the Resort’s property in order to create a closer look at this amazing reptile, and to learn how vital they could be to the ecological balance of the river habitat.

We offer the Adopt an Iguana Program and the Iguana Kids Club, both of which have received much attention locally and internationally. The process of egg incubation, hatching, rearing and releasing juvenile iguanas is an ongoing process on site. Visitors and school children alike are given the opportunity to have contact with one of the many young resident iguanas. The program aims to create awareness, educate, and to release these reptiles into the wild in an effort to repopulate the riverbanks of Belize with these colorful creatures.

This unique encounter with the descendants of the dinosaurs takes an hour to complete and may be combined with a complete guided Medicinal Jungle Trail tour, hiking along the Macal River, bird watching, swimming, and even lunch at the resort. Adjacent to the Iguana exhibit is an extensive Medicinal Jungle Trail. Today, we are recognizing the value of the Belizean tradition of using plants as medicine to treat and cure everyday illnesses. We are fortunate to have two very old cultures, the Maya and the African, sharing their knowledge of medicinal plants and creating an alternative to synthetic medicines. It has become an obligation to preserve, educate and research the secret properties of these plants. In an effort to do so, the San Ignacio Resort Hotel has designated its lush, tropical forest backyard as a central site of sharing and passing on this rich ancestral knowledge.

Natural Trail: The Medicinal Jungle Trail winds under green giants creating a dense canopy overhead. Educational and interpretive text accompanies the plants of major interest. This, coupled with the knowledge and insights of your guide provides a more detailed history. While on your walk, be sure to look out for the great number of resident birds and mammals who share this wonderful habitat.

San Ignacio Resort Hotel unveiled a new trail within its 14-acre jungle preserve that offers guests easy access to a huge variety of Belizean plants and wildlife. The trail is rated mild in difficulty and takes approximately 45 minutes to complete. Interpretive signage and graveled walkways assist guest as they explore a protected section of the Macal River Valley eco-system.

The trail, which joins an extensive path system that traverses the resort's jungle preserve, gently loops through 70 species of plants and trees that play host to 150-plus species of birds. The area is also home to such wildlife as gibnut, agouti, armadillo, and green iguanas.

This trail is for everyone, senior guests, business travelers, eco-tourists and whoever wants a truly educational jungle experience that could be enjoyed in a short time without excessive physical demands. It has an abundance of nature which is minutes away from every room at the resort. You can certainly enjoy it from your private balcony but to get into the thick of it you must take to the trail. It will be the highlight of your vacation.