Our Roots

​ GUEST INFO BOOKLET

Sustainable tourism is not just a buzz word, it’s a way of life. At Table Rock, we believe in helping the environment and our local community, and emerging travelers into our world of endless adventures, sustainability, and conservation.

Our story begins in 1998, when newlyweds Alan and Colleen honeymooned in Belize with only a rented 4×4, an axe, and a paper map. With little distraction, they became enamored by jungle life–the land, the flora and fauna, and most all, perhaps, the people. Belize became the spot they returned to again and again.

After several years, they decided to set down roots in the same way that their Belizean adventure began, purchasing a thick swath of jungle and an abandoned farm. For the time being, they’d live in a tent with no running water, no electricity, only a rough idea of a citrus farm, and a dream of sustainable living.

The first walking trail was chopped by machete in 2002 and Table Rock Jungle Lodge was born. Their dream of sustainable living had bloomed like bougainvillea into what would become an award-winning 105-acre jungle reserve with 10 cabanas, farm-to-table dining, and eco-adventures in the heart of the Belize jungle.

Table Rock has worked to preserve its natural surroundings using solar power, keeping the number of guest rooms limited, employing local villagers, and by replenishing one of Belize’s earliest natural resources–the mahogany tree. All electricity is produced onsite and the majority of the water for the lodge is supplied by purified rain and river water. In addition to experiencing the jungle canopy, guests are invited to gather exotic tropical fruits and visit with the donkeys, bunnies, and laying hens on the organic farm.

Table Rock's love of the local people has extended to its eco-lodge guests who visit from all across the world, bringing with them stories and ideas, and experiencing the jungle with a sense of childlike wonder and an ever-changing appreciation of the natural world.

Join us in rediscovering yourself and connecting with nature in the Belizean jungle.

Our Farm

“I HAD RATHER BE ON MY FARM THAN BE EMPEROR OF THE WORLD.”
― GEORGE WASHINGTON

Once a local farm where Belizeans had cultivated corn, beans, and watermelon, Table Rock’s current farm was re-developed by the owners after having been abandoned for over a decade. Now a dedicated fruit farm, our major crop is Valencia Oranges. Also growing on the farm are several varieties of  mangoes, coconuts, avocadoes, limes, grapefruit, tangerines, breadfruit, sapodilla (chico sapote), starfruit (carambola), craboo, soursop (guanábana), bananas, plantains, guava, and chaya (a local green favored by the Maya). During different times of the year we also grow a small selection of fresh herbs, and you can visit our flower and plant nursery where we grow the tropicals that are used to decorate and landscape the lodge. The farm is home to a Kekchi Maya family, Carlos & Margarita Ba and their children, as well as a small herd of donkeys and rabbits that we raise as pets, and a large flock of laying hens that supply us with the eggs we use in our restaurant. All of our farm animals receive food scraps from the lodge kitchen to supplement their diets and to aid in our recycling and waste reduction efforts.

We encourage you to take a walk around the farm, visit with the Ba Family, pet and feed the animals, and help yourself to any of our tropical fruits—our only rule is that you eat what you pick.

Cristo Rey Village

Located on a high bank above the Macal River and with a population of less than 1,000, Cristo Rey is the closest village to Table Rock and the home of most of our staff and their families. The Belizeans living in Cristo Rey are almost exclusively Mestizo (Spanish-Mayan heritage) and grow up speaking Spanish in the home. English is learned a little while later when mandatory attendance at the village’s only school begins at age four or five. Most villagers also speak Kriol, a Caribbean mix of English, Spanish, Mayan, and Garifuna languages.

San Ignacio Town

San Ignacio, originally dubbed El Cayo (“The Caye”) by the Spanish for its island-like position between the Macal and Mopan Rivers, has been the cultural and economic center of the Cayo District in Western Belize since 1904. Only 5 miles from Table Rock, San Ignacio is home to Belize’s only drivable suspension bridge, The Hawksworh, which connects San Ignacio with Santa Elena. Collectively referred to as the Twin Towns