Belize
We spent our third day in the wonderful Central American country of Belize, famous both for it’s spectacular barrier reef (second in size only to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef) and the pristine condition of it’s natural areas: over 70% of rainforests here are still intact!
We embarked on a slightly different adventure today: after having spent a couple of days exploring coastal ecosystems such as mangrove forests and pine savannas, as well as several of the offshore cays, atolls and reefs, we left our faithful Zodiacs behind to take buses to the Cockscombe Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. Looming in the distance was the impressive range that gave this important jaguar sanctuary it’s name, part of the Maya Mountain range stretching through Southern Belize and into Guatemala. The sanctuary comprises about 400 km² of beautiful tropical humid forest, where we had the choice of several trails led by both our naturalists and local experts in the area. Our resident birder, Jose, led one of walks that encountered several fascinating bird species, including manakins, tanagers, humming birds and many more.
The longer of the hikes led all the way up to a spectacular viewpoint named Ben’s Bluff, where we looked over the entire basin. As we climbed up the slope of the hill, learning about many fascinating aspects of rainforest ecology from our Expedition Leader, Ged, we were particularly fascinated to find ourselves leaving rainforest behind and suddenly surrounded by Caribbean pines!
We then returned down the hill to where one of the many rivers and streams criss-crossing the basin forms pools and a fairy tale waterfall. We encountered those of our fellow travelers who had embarked on the medium walk, full of exciting tales about a close encounter with a troop of black howler monkeys, the dominant male of which had had a lengthy conversation with Lucio, our Belizean naturalist!
By this time we were all relatively overheated, and the prospect of bathing in the deliciously cool waters of this mountain stream, and receiving a powerful hydro massage from the falling waters, was irresistible: a truly perfect ending to a magical morning that could not have gotten any better.
We spent our third day in the wonderful Central American country of Belize, famous both for it’s spectacular barrier reef (second in size only to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef) and the pristine condition of it’s natural areas: over 70% of rainforests here are still intact!
We embarked on a slightly different adventure today: after having spent a couple of days exploring coastal ecosystems such as mangrove forests and pine savannas, as well as several of the offshore cays, atolls and reefs, we left our faithful Zodiacs behind to take buses to the Cockscombe Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. Looming in the distance was the impressive range that gave this important jaguar sanctuary it’s name, part of the Maya Mountain range stretching through Southern Belize and into Guatemala. The sanctuary comprises about 400 km² of beautiful tropical humid forest, where we had the choice of several trails led by both our naturalists and local experts in the area. Our resident birder, Jose, led one of walks that encountered several fascinating bird species, including manakins, tanagers, humming birds and many more.
The longer of the hikes led all the way up to a spectacular viewpoint named Ben’s Bluff, where we looked over the entire basin. As we climbed up the slope of the hill, learning about many fascinating aspects of rainforest ecology from our Expedition Leader, Ged, we were particularly fascinated to find ourselves leaving rainforest behind and suddenly surrounded by Caribbean pines!
We then returned down the hill to where one of the many rivers and streams criss-crossing the basin forms pools and a fairy tale waterfall. We encountered those of our fellow travelers who had embarked on the medium walk, full of exciting tales about a close encounter with a troop of black howler monkeys, the dominant male of which had had a lengthy conversation with Lucio, our Belizean naturalist!
By this time we were all relatively overheated, and the prospect of bathing in the deliciously cool waters of this mountain stream, and receiving a powerful hydro massage from the falling waters, was irresistible: a truly perfect ending to a magical morning that could not have gotten any better.
