OK, just one more!

Arron at the bar in the Cantina.

Saturday May 10, 2014

Jackie and I got up early to take our gear down to the cantina.  We need to leave about 7am.  Normally we have breakfast at 8am, so I figured we would get a little snack to send us on our way.  Wrong!  Arron got up early and cooked us a wonderful breakfast at 6:30!  Final goodbyes, then we loaded up and left.  Our final drive out the 8 miles of gravel road. 

Giovanni, our personal guide.  He is amazing (and cute!!)

Stacy, Arron and Jackie

Stacy, Gio and Jackie

Jackie with all the ladies

As we were bouncing along… something way up in a tree caught my eye… toucans!!!  (the fruit loop kind!!).  I got a couple of decent photos, even though they were really far away.  (Thanks camera!)

The toucan that I saw from a great distance.  (Thanks for great telephoto).  This is the Keel Billed Toucan (or the Fruit Loop bird!).  It is the national bird of Belize.

We drove through San Ignacio and onto the highway.  There was a special annual Mother’s Day bike ride taking place.  We were behind the group for a while, then got a police escort to go around.  Next stop:  the Belize City Zoo!

Welcome to the best little zoo in the world! 

White tailed deer.  Note the different looking antlers.  This is because the antlers we are used to seeing would get caught in trees and bushes.  So they have adapted these antlers that they can still use for sparring.

Spider monkey

The Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center was started in 1983, as a last ditch effort to provide a home for a collection of wild animals which had been used in making documentary films about tropical forests.  Shortly after the backyard "zoo" began, it was quickly realized that its Belizean visitors were unfamiliar with the different species of wildlife which shared their country. This very aspect fomented the commitment to develop the little zoo into a dynamic wildlife education center.

The Keel Billed Toucan, up close.  Beautiful colors!

The other toucan

Today, The Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center is settled upon 29 acres of tropical savanna and exhibits over 150 animals, representing over 45 species, all native to Belize. The zoo keeps animals which were orphaned, rescued, born at the zoo, rehabilitated animals, or sent to The Belize Zoo as donations from other zoological institutions.

 

Blue Crown Mot Mot.  Another beautiful bird, we did not see him in the wild.

Howler monkey

A visit to the zoo is the best way to get an introduction to the animals of Belize, and to understand why it is important to protect the habitats that sustain them.   The Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center believes that by bringing the people of Belize closer to the animals which are their natural heritage, they will feel proud of these special resources, and want to protect them for future generations.

This is a very nice little facility, in a natural setting, allowing us to see native animals.  It was definitely worth the visit.

Then, off to the airport, got caught behind the bicyclists again!  We were planning to be to the airport about 2 hours before our flight, but didn’t get there until 90 minutes prior, oops!  And the line was looooooong!  I was afraid we were going to miss our flight, but we were assured that we would be fine.  And we were…. Just barely!  They were calling our names!

Anyway, pretty uneventful flight home.  Got into SeaTac, gorgeous weather for the drive home.  Got home about 1:30am.  Unloaded the car… and took the dogs to the beach!  LOL!!!  I knew they would want to go in a couple of hours anyway, so I headed them off at the pass!  Afterwards, took a much appreciated shower and went to bed. 

Another wonderful trip is over.  Until next time…  

 

 

Our last day.

 

Striped Basilisk

Friday, May 09, 2014

Boy, it was hot last night.  Whew!  I finally got up just to sit outside for a while in hopes of a breeze!  A little after 6am I walked up to where we saw the toucan yesterday to see if I could spot him again.  I took pictures of many plants that at home are in pots, and grow like crazy here, i.e. philodendron, Bromeliads and pathos.  And then: I heard a fluttering in the tree and saw a toucan in the tree!  I managed to get a nice photo before he flew away.  Success!  (Collared Aracari)

 

 

 

Common houseplants here are growing wild here!  The vines just climb the tree trunk.

Collared Aracari

After a nice breakfast, Rico and I mounted up for my last ride.  June has been a wonderful horse for me to ride.  We rode through the jungle for a while, then through the pine forest that has no pines.  The pine beetle has decimated most of the pine trees in Belize, then fires have reduced the numbers even more.  But we finally rode through areas where young trees are growing again.  We cantered a few times and trotted a little.  June’s trot is pretty rough.  Definitely prefer the canter!  She is a fast walker, so that is also preferred to her trot!

A view of the valley, MET is waaaay off in the distance.

We took a rest at a nice overview point to look into the valley of the jungle.  We could see MET way off in the distance.  Continued riding until we got to the hitching area at the Big Rock Waterfall.  We had to climb down a very steep set of rocks and stairs.  Whew, worried about coming back up! 

This is just a small portion of the steep stairs and trail to the waterfall.

The waterfalls are spectacular!  This is what I have wanted to see!

Met up with a couple of back packers, Lauren and Ryan, from Colorado.  I took some pictures of them jumping off of the rocks into the pools below the waterfall.  They shared lunch with us, chicken and rice soup, marinated cukes and green bell peppers, and brownies.  It was fun chatting with them and giving them some ideas on what they may want to do as they head toward the coast.

Jackie and I had a wonderful refreshing swim in the pool below the falls.  We did not jump off of any rocks…

We slowly and carefully climbed out and continued on our way.  We stopped to see a stick bird… you just have to see it to believe it.  I got some really good photos of it and its baby!  Then we stopped at a little shop to get some spices, then to the butterfly farm. 

Lauren and Ryan jumping into pool.

Sliding through the chute!

Jackie enjoying a dip in the pool.

The Stick Bird and baby.  (This is NOT photo shopped!)

 

We had a very nice tour through the little farm (and sweated buckets) and got some nice pictures of different butterflies.  Back to the ranch for some yummy fruit juice and a nice rest before packing up L L L.  Hard to imagine that we are leaving tomorrow morning.

This has been a fabulous trip: good work done with World Vets, lots of critters taken care of, got to see some buddies and make new friends with members of the WV team, saw some really neat sites in Punta Gorda, made new friends in Placencia and did some incredible diving, and made more new friends and saw amazing things in The Jungle with MET.  Jackie has been wonderful to travel with.  Hope we can do it again soon!

Until next time!

 

 

 

 

 

Jungle ride! Iguanas! Ruins! OH MY!

Dozens of hummingbirds spend a large part of the day at the feeders.  They are a delight to watch!

Thursday May 8, 2014

Wow, what a busy and incredible day!

After watching the hummingbirds for an hour, Arron met us and took us for a little walk to look for toucans.  He showed us the tree with the hole of the nest, then a toucan stuck his head out to pose for a photo (or two!) before flying off!  Arron said he had never seen them just look out like that.

We looked at plants and ants and got great information about poisons, antidotes and food available in the jungle.  If you know what you are doing, you can live in the jungle, if you don’t know what you are doing, you can certainly die in the jungle!

A little toucan peeking out of its nest.

Stacy on June in the Jungle.

We had a lovely breakfast of pancakes, bacon and fresh fruit (fresh fruit and juice every morning) and Arron’s special magic tea.  It contains many things from the jungle.  Very yummy!

Then mounted up and headed off to the jungle for a morning ride.  Now this is what I signed up for!!  The ride through the jungle was in the shade the entire time.  It was warmer today than yesterday, but being in the shade made it easy to keep riding.  I loved it!  The trees and plants in the jungle are so amazing.  Many of these plants we have as little potted plants back home… here they grow to ENORMOUS sizes and very rapidly!  Around homes and cleared property, the jungle has to be cut back yearly or it will take over.

Photos can't even begin to bring across the immensity of the plants in the jungle. 

Creek resident

We rode upstream for a while, it was gorgeous.  Took a little break and hung out at the creek.  Rico saw some sand piled by a rock, lifted the rock, and there was a little crab.  Later we saw some iguanas crossing the creek.  They can actually run across the water!

This lizard can run on the water!

June and Tequila waiting patiently.

The horse pasture.

We rode through the horses’ summer pasture.  They stay out there for 2-3 months.  (The family has about 30 horses), coming in every 2 weeks for check overs and tick treatment.  Someone rides out twice weekly just to count heads and check for any problems.  What a fantastic place to stay if you are a horse!  The way they are supposed to live. 

We returned to the ranch and lunch was ready.  Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and fresh salad!  One of my favorite meals!

Iguanas at a rescue/breeding facility.  They are raised to return to the environment.

After cleaning up, Giovanni drove me and Jackie into town.  It is about 30 minutes on the rough gravel road (seems much longer) then a few minutes on paved road to get into San Ignacio.  We got in on an iguana tour at one of the local hotels!  It is a conservation group working to get the green iguanas back into the wild.  We had so much fun there, learning about the iguanas, getting to pet and feed them and having them climb all over us!

Jackie enjoyed petting the iguanas.  She said nobody would believe it!

Jackie feeding her new friend.

Yikes!  Baby iguanas!

Stacy with many friends!

Lots of babies!

Woofie is not sure that he likes this.

Ruins at Cahal Pech in San Ignacio.

Our next stop was Cahal Pech Ruins in San Ignacio.  Very impressive to see and try to imagine it as a city thousands of years ago.  And having Gio guide us through is the best part.  I cannot say enough about how knowledgeable this young man is.  Amazing.

After our fascinating tour, Gio dropped us off into town to do a little shopping.  We went to a gift shop that Ally recommended.  After spending some money, we chatted with the owner and her young daughter, Monica, who rescues dogs!  Last year she rescued, cared for and found homes for 13 dogs.  She has five of her own.  She wants to be a marine biologist and possible work at TIDE (the conservation group that we spent time with in PG).  She is an incredible young lady.  The best to her in all of her future endeavors!

 

 

Finally headed back to the ranch (once again pounding over the gravel road, Gio calls it a “massage”) just in time for dinner.  Fillet mignon, potatoes, plantains, corn and fresh salad.  OMG!!  Dessert was a papaya smoothie that just flowed down easily and filled in the little cracks and crevices.  Ummmmm.  It will be sad going home and not getting all this wonderful fresh food (and not having prepared for us!  Darn!). 

Off to bed, we are bushed!  Last ride tomorrow to waterfalls then a visit to a butterfly farm!

Good night!

 

The yellow bits are leave pieces being carried by the little "leaf cutter ants".  Fascinating to watch.