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.