Cockscomb Basin Jaguar Reserve and Coco Plum Caye, Belize
As the sun broke the horizon, we found our ship off the shoreline of the country of Belize. We had traveled all night to get here from Livingston, Guatemala and as soon as the officials gave us the all clear to go ashore, we set off. Belize is a tiny country of both people and landmass with a population of approximately 250,000 and area just a little larger than the state of Massachusetts. Belize is on the map as one of the worlds leading “eco tourism” destinations. Within its borders are vast swathes of untouched rainforest, endless savannah and mangrove coasts with the greatest variety of animal habitats north of the Amazon basin.
Today we were visiting the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. This area got its name from the Cockscomb Range in the Maya Mountains, which is a spectacular series of peaks that resemble the comb of a rooster. Victoria Peak is the highest of these mountains and is the second highest point in Belize. It is made up of an area roughly 400km square and is an excellent representation of the flora and fauna which typify this portion of Central America.
Several options were available to choose from for today’s activities and included a rather strenuous hike up to Bens Bluff with a delightful and refreshing stop at the waterfall. We peered though the dense green vegetation hoping to catch a glimpse of the largest cat species of Belize, the jaguar. Even though we never spotted any, we instead caught glimpses of saber-wing hummingbirds, white-capped manakins and keel-billed toucans! The brilliant yellow flowers of the numerous yemeri trees dotted the landscape and made quite a contrast with the lush green jungle. The light rain kept us cool as we stared in amazement at the numerous epiphytes and climbing vines. The large tree fern is a common plant of the understory and is not a tree. It has a thick single stem with many divided leaves that emerge from a scaly trunk. The trunk is actually made up of masses of roots and various other tissues.
After lunch, we continued cruising to Coco Plum Caye that is located just off shore from the town of Dangriga. This narrow sandy island surrounded by turquoise water was just what we needed after a hot and dirty hike in the jungle. This became our paradise for the next few hours. Some of our guests relaxed in hammocks or waded out from the beach to swim in the clear water. A friendly game of soccer ensued and other guests motored out to Man O’ War Caye to see one of the 10th largest colonies of nesting frigate birds in the Caribbean. Discovering odd looking burrowing sea cucumbers and toothed nerites glued to their precarious rocks in the surf…Life is grand!
