WELCOME TO BELIZE
WELCOME TO BELIZEWell, turns out I do have one more update. Last night on our spotlight safari, in addition to seeing the usual suspect of various birds and crocodiles, we spotted several iguanas and the very rare Agami Heron. On our first night here, when we joined a group of avid birders on our first night safari, they went on and on about wanting to find the Eagami after 3 nights in a row. We didn't on that first night, but did last night - and I have to say, it is quite a pretty bird. Unfortunately, it was difficult to photograph, but I did get a good picture of a kingfisher sitting on a branch holding a fish in its mouth.
Finally, this morning during breakfast we spotted our first toucan at a distance. Didn't have our camera with us, but it was a fitting way to end our adventure trip to Belize. In the coming weeks I'll be posting some videos clips from our trip, so stay tuned...
03/05/08 by visitEarth
Before I forget, Sunday night was a very interesting night of sleeping. The male black howler monkey was active in the area throughout the night and not only kept us up until nearly midnight, but also decided to verbally defend his territory around 4:00am. Needless to say, his unique cry that can be heard from miles away woke us up just down the path. Despite the difficulty sleeping, it was quite novel; but if he starts again tonight, the novelty will have disappeared.
Okay, onto today. We decided since it was our last day here to relax and unwind; we started with a 6am jungle walk where we saw a few birds, walked out to the Lamanai ruins and saw a red vulture drying his wings atop the Jungle Temple. On the way there, we stopped by the Sugar Mill which I discussed yesterday. But since this morning had better light, I'll include a few morning photos here too.
The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent reading, having lunch and chatting with a nice young couple from Switzerland who ironically have visited many of the same areas we have (Galapagos, Bahamas, Africa). Tonight we're going to do the night safari again since we enjoyed it so much the first time. Then we'll be done in Lamanai and Belize, as we leave tomorrow morning at 7:30.
I'm hoping we have some interesting stories and new photos either from our spotlight safari tonight or our ride up the New River back to the airport tomorrow. But if not, this will be the last of our daily (or near-daily) posts from our Belize adventure blog. However, I hope to be add additional thoughts and highlights, including video postings of our trip in the coming weeks.
So for now, I'll sign off with photos of the interior of our cabana and view from our deck...
Cheers!
Bryan & Elizabeth
03/04/08 by visitEarth
We started the day bright and early - very early. 5:30am wakeup for a 6:00am canoe ride. We paddled across the New River lagoon just as sun broke, and had a nice, relaxing paddle down Dawson's Creek, one of the small side creeks. We saw many herons and cranes, as well as the quite rare Bald-throated Tiger Heron, which we were able to photograph:
After we returned, we had our early breakfast, then decided to revisit the Lamanai ruins since we enjoyed them so much the day before. This time we walked there, and once again we were the only ones there - we had each ruin all to ourselves, so had the luxury to explore a bit further, including a really cool fig tree:
With the warm sun beating down, we decided to spend a bit more time on our favourite High Temple, and also went back to the Mask Temple for some better shots of the famous crocodile mask, and the Jaguar Temple with its fabulous wide open court area. Here are some of the better shots:
We came back for lunch, and both caught a short nap - then while Elizabeth relaxed with a book, I went for a run, and felt the pull of the ruins beckoning. So like the previous day, I donned my running shoes and ran the mile or so to the temple, catching the late afternoon on the front of High Temple providing a clear, blue panoramic view of New River and the lagoon. Then on the way back, I took a small detour by the old sugar mill which was built and abandoned by the British in the mid to late 1800's. I walked all the way around before realizing that a huge tree was growing right down the middle of the old mill! Here are the best photos from my afternoon run:
After a quick dinner, we ended our penultimate day here with an evening walk - believe it or not, back towards the ruins! We didn't go all the way to the temples, but did see a few cool birds, a hummingbird sitting in her nest, many spiders including two tarantulas and finally a scorpion. These are the last pictures of the day, and my final words for the night!
03/04/08 by visitEarth
Today started with on and off showers, but we were determined regardless to visit the Lamanai ruins just down the river. Lamanai means "submerged crocodile", and the Maya culture in Lamanai was one of the longest lasting and most successful, from approximately 1500 B.C. to about 1500 AD. It continued to be cloudy with short sprinkles, but it didn't matter - our proximity to the ruins relative to other visitors from Belize City meant we had the entire area and temples all to ourselves until the very end!
The highlights were the Mask Temple (obviously named by the photo below), the Jaguar Temple and the High Temple. The High Temple was my favourite, at 33 metres tall with very steep stairs which are assisted with a rope. Just as we arrived at the High Temple the sun came out, giving us some interesting photos and a 360-degree panoramic view of the New River on one side and the jungle on the other. Here are a few shots:
When we returned, we had a quick lunch, then relaxed to our rooms in preparation for our evening excursion. However, while trying to read a book in our hammock, another guest noticed some howler monkeys on the tree branches right next to our cabana. A female black howler monkey and 3 of her youngsters were feeding on the leaves, so we watched for some time and marveled at their dexterity with their hands, feet and tails, and their apparent fearlessness of people. Here are some of the more candid moments:
Once they left, we continued our easy afternoon, had a lovely spanish-style vegan dinner, then went out at 8:00pm for our crocodile encounter. This is a research program that is done in association with the University of Florida, and involves taking an airboat and assisting in the capture of a crocodile along the lagoon and swamps. We were lucky enough to find one fairly early on in the trip so were able to spend nearly an hour watching and assisting as the researchers captured, subdued and hoisted a 4 1/2 foot male croc onto the boat. We were able to generously touch the crocodile and also hold him steady while the researchers took various measurements and since it was a new catch, insert an electronic chip to monitor future growth and movement; we also had the chance to give him his official name, which is now "Guy". His skin was incredibly soft almost all over, and also very smooth - very unexpected. Finally, as an added bonus we were able to hold him on our laps just before releasing him back into the water. Here's the photo, which is also the end of today's post. I'm now going to try to sleep with the male howler crying throughout the night...
03/03/08 by visitEarth
Today we took the boat from Turneffe Flats back to Belize City, then transited by jeep and small boat up the New River to Lamanai Outpost Lodge. The 90-minute boat ride was great fun, and we spotted a baby crocodile and many birds both big and small. Within about 10 minutes of checking into our lagoon-view room, we heard a strange sound that sounded almost like some type of big steel machine. It turned out to be our welcoming call from an adult male black howler monkey! He was quite large, and his call was incredibly loud and penetrating; I will try to upload a video and sound recording of him later.
After a relaxing afternoon we had our nice vegetarian vegan dinners (kudos to Lamanai Lodge for remembering and knowing the difference), then set out for a night boat safari. We were joined with a group of avid birders, and the experience was interesting. It was amazing what our guide could do, both navigating the boat, operating his strong lamp from side to side *and* spotting the smallest of birds in the best of camouflage. Unfortunately it was so dark it was almost impossible to get any good pictures. However, we did see many different types of birds, with an emphasis on the smaller and more colourful ones. Coming back to the lodge we also briefly spotted an opposum and a crocodile, which ended our first day in Lamanai!
03/03/08 by visitEarth
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