Medicinal Jungle Trail and Iguana Exhibit

This interpretive herb trail and iguana breeding project (the full name is the Green Iguana Conservation Project) is accessed through the San Ignacio Resort Hotel (tel. 501/824-2034), on 14 lush riverside acres. Tours of the herb trail or the iguana project are available for less than US$6 a person; plan on forty-five minutes for either talk. With the money earned from curious tourists, the hotel owners are able to keep the trail maintained and the iguana project going—and to prevent the heavily vegetated riverbank from being developed (crucial to the cleanliness of the local water supply). To date, 175 species of birds have been observed here (including a rare family pair of black hawk eagles), plus a number of mammals.

When the iguana population was on a noticeable downward cycle, the folks at the San Ignacio Resort Hotel created this successful breeding and release project. Groups go on hunts, capture the females, and highjack the eggs, which they raise in a predator-free, food-rich environment before releasing them back into the wild. The program has also trained former iguana hunters to become iguana guides, a far more profitable and sustainable endeavor, and hosts many school groups, featuring the Iguana Kids Club and Adopt an Iguana Program.