Mennonites, Belize Zoo, and Cheers

Traveling from Lamanai to Mountain Pine Ridge was a full day’s undertaking.  The distance is not great, but neither are the roads.  Good thing there was plenty to look at along the way.

Mennonite Village of Shipyard:  Soon after leaving Lamani, we drove through Shipyard, one of the larger Mennonite communities in Belize.  These Mennonites migrated from Holland, eventually relocating here in search of freedom from religious persecution.  They signed an agreement with the government which exempts them from military service and certain forms of taxation, while guaranteeing them freedom to practice their own religion and farm within their closed communities. They also practice their own form of local government and run their own schools and businesses. They still speak a unique dialect - a mixture of Dutch and German has persisted for 400 years.   

 

There were plenty of birds to see in this area of wide open fields.  Here are pictures of some wood storks in a tree, a laughing falcon, eastern meadowlark and a fork-tailed flycatcher.

 

 

Belize Zoo:  Still heading southwest, we stopped for a walk through the Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center. It was founded in 1983 by Sharon Matola to save several animals that had become almost tame during filming of a documentary. It is now home to more than 125 animals of about 48 species, all native to Belize. The natural environment of the area is left entirely intact within the zoo. The dense, natural vegetation is separated only by gravel trails through the forest. The Zoo focuses on educating visitors about the wildlife of Belize through encountering animals in their natural habitat.

Here we were able to see some of the animals that are getting scarce and hard to find in the wild.  The most amazing was “Buddy Junior,” a jaguar born at the zoo (his mother was a rescue animal).  For only $10, we were offered a close encounter with Junior – a chance to enter his cage and give him a nice rub between the ears – no takers.  He didn’t look quite that tame …

Here are photos of some of the animals who were cooperative with the camera:  tapir, peccaries (or javelina), and white-nosed coati mundi.  This three-toed tapir is about 7 feet long and 3 feet tall; she looks like a pig with a funny nose, but is actually related to the rhinos.  The peccary looks like a pig, smells like a pig, and is closely related.  The coati is close kin to our raccoon.

 

 

And don’t forget – this is a birding trip.  So, get out those binoculars and see what’s up in that tree – no fair counting the birds in the cages!

Cheers Restaurant:  We stopped here for lunch – a restaurant that claims to be halfway to everywhere.  Can’t vouch for that, but it was somewhere between the zoo and our lodge – the food was good and the prices were reasonable (especially since Laurie was paying).  Tradition here is to hang a tee-shirt from the rafters, and so we did!  If you ever get down that way, be sure to look for the Travis Audubon T-shirt with autographs from travelers from both weeks of this two-part tour.