Fun things to do in Belize

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After leaving Bermudian Landing, it was only a short drive to the Belize Zoo, located in the tropical savanna countryside. It is different from most zoos in that it does not import animals from different parts of the world but simply takes in creatures that are native to Central America. The various animals and birds that call the Zoo 'home' have not been captured for the sake of display - they have either been previously injured, are pets given up by owners when things got out of hand or have been seized by the government for illegal ownership. We had found out by chance that it is possible to stay within a mile or so of the Zoo, at the Tropical Education Center (see 'Accommodations'), so we had a great opportunity to really enjoy this collection of creatures as well as link up again with two Canadians we had met on Caye Caulker.

In talking to the staff, we found out that we could take a personally-guided Night Tour of the Zoo, with a side-benefit of allowing a free Day tour the next morning. Our night tour was given by one of the curators at the Zoo and starts with their caged snake and insect collection at the entrance building. Then, various flashlights (torches) were distributed and we headed off into the maze of wooded trails leading throughout the zoo (2nd photo). This photo shows one of their American crocs by day (when we came upon the creature at night, we could see its eyes glowing in our lights as it was submerged at the far end of its pond. It was amazing to watch as the curator called out to it with grunting noises and the eyes slowly slid forward. Eventually it reached land and continued out of the water, stopping only when it reached the fence at our feet!).

They have a great collection of big cats (Jaguars, Pumas, Ocelots, Margay and others) and many other mammals, birds and insects. The Harpy Eagle (3rd photo) is one of the world's largest and can pluck unsuspecting monkeys, like the Spider Monkeys (4th photo) off the tree tops. We really enjoyed this Zoo experience by both night and day!

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Finishing up with Guanacaste National Park, we swung off the Western Highway leading to Guatemala, and headed southeast on the scenic Hummingbird Highway for the 55 mile drive to Hopkins. Now this is a scenic route, the lush green tropical growth immediately being much more appealing than the dryer savannah-type forest along the Western Highway. Obviously, the peaks of the Maya Mountains, through which this road passes, catch more rainfall and the vegetation shows it.

We were thinking of stopping for a look at or dip in the cenote at the Blue Hole National Park along the way, but it clouded over and spit with rain just then, so we decided to keep on rolling. I really enjoyed the rugged peaks along here covered in green forests and with plantations of orange and grapefruit trees on the lower slopes. However, it was frustrating because the vista was so wide-spread that it could not easily be properly captured in a photo (2nd and 3rd photos). It turned out to be a great highway with a few quaint single-lane bridges 4th photo) and it was also interesting to see how an actual orange harvest is carried out as we passed many plantations along the way. We had much better weather on our way back to Belmopan, so I was able to better appreciate the views.

Take this highway if you get the chance - it is paved all the way and smooth (except for speed bumps which are located everywhere in Belize).

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After our drive down the Hummingbird Highway, we lucked out in Hopkins by managing to find accommodations! Although the beach at our Whistling Seas Vacation Inn had not been swept clear of debris washed from the Caribbean Sea and the seating arrangements were a trifle rudimentary, we all immediately liked the overall ambiance of the seaside in Hopkins. With beautiful coconut palms lining the shore, Frigate birds majestically patrolling overhead and strong winds and waves coming ashore in the tropical temperatures - it seemed that we had found another little piece of paradise!

We spent a lot of our time here, chatting away as we sipped our cold Belikin beers under the palm trees. In fact, we were doing just that when someone spotted creatures swimming just off-shore, parallel to the beach. At first I thought they must be Dolphins, but one of the regular visitors mentioned that Manatees swim along here! Sure enough, a closer look at the large brown backs surfacing every now and again confirmed it. As it turns out, the Sittee River empties into the Caribbean Sea just south of Hopkins, and it is common for these endangered animals to swim out and along the beach here. It was not long before Sue and I were in the water, wading out quite some distance for a closer look with our bird-watching binoculars. Manatees are warm-blooded vegetation-eating mammals, weighing between 300-500 kg (600-1200 lb.) and can reach lengths of 4-m (13-ft.). These particular ones are part of the West Indian species (with the only two others being Amazonian and West African). Just seeing Manatees was a 'first' for us, even if it was impossible to get photos due to the sporadic nature of the brief surfacings of their backs!!

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We were really starting to get into this Belize thing by the time we arrived at the Bird's Eye View Lodge in Crooked Tree village! This was Day 10 of our trip and we had said goodbye to our friends as they continued backpacking toward Panama, while we returned our rental to the International Airport before catching a shuttle to Crooked Tree.

Located on a small island connected to the mainland by a rough 3.5-mile long causeway, the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary is noted for its fastastic bird-watching. The reports are well-founded, as we can attest from an amazing tour of Crooked Tree Lagoon and up Spanish Creek on one of the boats anchored in this photo. More than just that experience made this 2-day stopover a special part of our trip - it was also very relaxing sitting in our little thatched roof shelter on the lakeshore in the 30 C weather, yet feeling totally refreshed by the cool breeze blowing in off the water, as the myriad of birds and animals put on a show for us!

This area of Belize is made up of a mixture of long lagoons, connected by creeks, marshes and logwood tree thickets. As a result, it is a natural for birds and, in fact, we saw many of the same species that we get in eastern Canada - I was wondering where they spent the winter! Crooked Tree island is a different place, in that it is the result of being surrounded by various creeks, which expand into large lagoons during during the wet season and sometimes dry up completely in the summer months. Because of the record breaking hurricane and tropical storm season in 2005/06, the waters were still unusually high when we were there in February, 2006. Even though this area is quite some distance inland from the Caribbean Sea, it is only 10-16 feet (3-5 metres) above sea level, so large amounts of rain water tend to spread out over the flat landscape.

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Our main reason for coming to the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary was to take a guided boat-tour of the various waterways for a good look at some of the many species of wildlife to be found here. The tour left at about 6:30 AM and costs US$80 (shared between 1-4 passengers) or $20 per person ( for 5-8 passengers), so we ended up paying $40 for this 3 hour session - and it was well worth it!

Our driver Leny (second photo) did a great job as he took us along the shore toward the causeway, pointing out all sorts of birds and creatures sitting or hiding in the trees or along the edge of the lagoon. One of the most interesting things along here were the Green Iguanas, trying to warm up in the morning sunshine. Known locally as "bamboo chicken", at nearly 7 feet it is the largest lizard in Belize and one of the largest in the world. After a lagoon-side look at some of the houses and Logwood trees in Crooked Tree village, we swung around and headed back along the shore toward the far end of the lagoon.

We had seen quite a few birds on the first part of our voyage, but we really enjoyed the trip down to the far end of the lagoon and then onward into Spanish Creek. Leny continued to impress us with his knowledge and keen eyes in picking out things that we would never have seen as we puttered along. However, we passengers helped him out by spotting a few ourselves as he steered the boat (it was tricky trying to watch for flying birds, ones sitting in tree tops, others hiding among the branches, some swimming and others on nests). So many things were popping up that I had to keep a list of our sightings of various kinds of Hawks, Herons and many other types of birds. The best bird watching trip I ever took!! We also surprised the odd crocodile too as we made our way slowly up the winding creek.

Finally, we turned back for the lodge and it was fantastic sitting up front as we roared around the bends in the warm sunshine! Sue and I just looked at each other and laughed - life was good!

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Our first stop in Belize was just north of Belize City, on the very small island of Caye Caulker. I say it is worth paying a bit more for accommodations (and US$40 is not bad) if you can get a good beach access like the Trends Beachfront Hotel provided. We spent some time here every day in the hotel lawnchairs, drawn up near the rustling palm trees. It was a perfect spot to catch the breezes, watch the activities on the beach, read our books and take a short stroll up to our refrigerator every now and then to replenish the drinks!

While there, we watched the antics of some of the local school boys in the back of the village's dump truck (one of the few 'official' vehicles on the island) as it was parked beside one of the palm trees not far from us. They each plucked one of the leaf strands off a branch of the tree and then, by pulling some other part of the leaf, were shooting the fronds at each other like arrows! It was just like in Africa, the kids know how to make a toy out of anything!

However, since you have come all the way to little Caye Caulker, you should also make the time to walk it's amazing beach - along the the eastern 'reef-side' of the island. With the numerous small boats bobbing on the water, the waves breaking off-shore on the reef and the many interesting buildings, there is no shortage of things to observe. It also really helps to settle you into the slow pace of life on Caulker, as both locals and tourists go about their business with no great hurry - it will only take a few days before you too can no longer remember what day of the week it is!

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After finishing our morning Zoo excursion, we and our Canadian friends drove off in our rental for the Hopkins area. However, a half-hour later, we made a stop at the small Guanacaste National Park, located beside the highway where we had to swing off toward Belmopan and the southeast.

This 50-acre remnant of the tropical forests of Belize is managed by the Belize Audubon Society and has a small visitor's centre with information on the Park's trails, flora and fauna (US$2.50 pp entry fee) as well as toilet facilities. We headed off on one of their shorter jungle trails that leads to the park's namesake - a huge Guanacaste tree. Also known as a Tubroos, these trees have a trunk diameter of of more than 6 feet and are usually festooned with vines and epiphytes hanging from the branches high above. These trees were prime targets for loggers but, because this particular 100-year old specimen had a partially broken trunk, it is guessed that it was bypassed for choicer victims. It was quite a sight to behold (check out the 2nd & 3rd photos), as were the many tropical birds that inhabit this little bit of forest where Roaring Creek flows into the larger Belize River.

Continuing our jungle trail walk from the Guanacaste tree, we came to the small Roaring Creek tributary of the Belize River. The forest trail followed high above the very deep ravine through which the creek flowed and along which were located various bird watching platforms. Where the Creek meets the river, a large series of wooden platforms and steps built there provide a great viewing area of where these two bodies of water meet. Just a few weeks before we arrived, torrential rains from the record 2005/06 season had caused flooding - in the 4th photo take a look at the brown high water mark on that tree trunk across the creek!! Even the platform we were standing on had various bits of mud deposited on it! Now I could understand why the other tree trunk had been torn loose!

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In addition to exploring a Mayan cave, the other objective of our stay on the western border of Belize was to work in a trip to Tikal National Park, in Guatemala. We talked over the options of how this could be done with the Trek Stop owners and decided to just take off on our own without any prior arrangements. The Trek Stop was very helpful even with that, saying we could leave our backpacks in our cabin at no charge for the night we were away!

The next morning we headed out early to get across the border and it all worked out fantastically well (my 'Tikal National Park' page has the full story)! We had a great time taking in as many of the sights as we could during our two half-days there. Temple I (the Great Jaguar) and the surrounding complexes are the most impressive structures, but there was so much to see it was hard to believe. We certainly got our exercise in as we trudged up and down hills and temples in the boiling heat. The Park is set in the middle of the jungle all by itself - power goes off at night, with lights out from 10 PM to 6 AM!

We also succeeded in having a 'sunset' experience while at Tikal. After first scouting out where in the park the best viewing spot would be, we made the half-hour trek there from our hotel to one of the smaller temples - Mundo Perdido. It is located at the western edge of the complex of structures, a perfect spot for looking eastward toward the other large temples as the west-setting sun bathed them with soft light.

We joined a small crowd atop Mundo Perdido and it was great to be perched above the jungle canopy, with only the huge main temples and very large Ceiba trees managing to poke themselves through the canopy. We sat there in the fresh breeze and listened to the sounds of the jungle while different kinds of tropical birds flitted from tree to tree in the soft light. Once the sun finally does go down in the tropics, the light does not last long, so everyone quickly descended and hit the trails leading back to the hotel area before it was totally dark!