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.

 

Mountain Pine Ridge

Hidden Valley Inn

Nestled in the foothills of the Maya Mountains in western Belize is the Hidden Valley Inn.  The key word here is “hidden” – it’s a long and winding dirt road to reach the Inn, which sits amid 11 square miles of pine and tropical forests.  The other key word is luxury – swimming pool, hot tub, charming cottages with brick fireplaces and mahogany furniture.  Housekeeping staff laid a fire for us each day, and extra firewood was stacked neatly on the porch. 

 

The grounds were beautiful, too.  Lots of tropical plants, lots of flowers.

 

Bird-feeders were plentiful around the grounds – nectar for hummers, as well as seeds, breads, and fruits. 

We didn’t have to go far to see birds here. Here are shots of the yellow-backed oriole and the green jay.

 

Less colorful, but lots bigger, here is the crested guan.  There were actually three of them feeding in the bushes near our cottage, but they mostly stayed well out of sight of the camera.

Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve

The Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve encompasses 200 square miles of forest, protected by the government since 1944.  This area is totally unlike the tropical broadleaf forest and many of the pine trees are dead due to an infestation by the southern pine beetle back about 10 years ago.  It’s a bit scraggly, but the reserve is full of streams, pools, waterfalls, caves, and miles and miles of trails. 

We did some wandering around the area in search of birds.  There were plenty around, but it sure helps to have a guide who knows exactly where to look.  In this case, he knew where to find the day roost of a couple of stygian owls.

 

Another special sighting was the beautiful orange-breasted falcon.  Because of its low reproductive rate and specialized habitat needs (towering cliffs and large forested areas), this endangered bird is quite rare.  There are about 30 pairs known in this area of Belize and nearby Guatemala.  Once again, our guide knew where to look and we had no trouble spotting this guy.

Harder to see, but just as spectacular were a couple of king vultures sunning in the treetops.  We had climbed to the overlook for King Vulture Falls in hopes of seeing them soaring overhead – instead we found them taking a break.  Never thought there was much nice to say about vultures, but these guys are amazing.

And of course, there was time for seeing the sights.  Here we are at Thousand Foot Falls, said to be the highest waterfall in Central America.  The falls are actually around 1600 feet high – we got a good view from the lookout point, where we assembled for a group picture.

 

Caracol Maya Ruins

Once one of the most powerful cities in the entire Maya world, Caracol now lies surrounded by thick jungle near the Guatemala border.  It is the largest Maya site in Belize, having stretched over 70 square miles at its peak, with as many as 150,000 inhabitants.  Archeologists estimate that there are 36,000 structures here, but only 5000 have been mapped and less than 1% has been excavated.  It was a huge complex of temples, palaces, roads and causeways, craft workshops and markets.   

Caracol also must be the most difficult place in Belize to reach:  we drove over 2 hours on a crazy, bumpy, mind-numbing and muddy road.  Plus, our little convoy (two mini-vans) had to stop at the nearby military base to pick up two armed soldiers to accompany us – the government’s response to Guatemalan bandits who had robbed some tourist vehicles.  We’d have been happier if they would pave the road...

One good thing about the rotten road – we went slow enough to see some birds along the way.  Here are some red-lored parrots hiding in a tree.

And here’s a great curassow that could run faster than we could drive.

We had a picnic breakfast at the site and set off into the jungle to do some bird-watching.  The thought was to see the birds before crowds of noisy tourists arrived.  No worry about tourists, but we were accompanied by armed guards – park police kept an eye on us while we were on the trail.

 

We did see lots of birds and a few of them even sat still long enough for a picture.  Here is one of our favorites, the pale-billed woodpecker - female on the left, male on the right.

 

Another woodpecker we saw was the black-cheeked woodpecker.  This fellow was working hard on a palm tree.

Then there was the slaty-tailed trogon, who posed so nicely that we got really good looks - even the guards came over to see what all the excitement was about.  

We also got our final look at the keel-billed toucan, the national bird of Belize.  What a spectacular specimen.

We did take time to look at the ruins, but a great deal of this site is unexcavated.  All around there were mounds covered with trees and bushes.  Here's one that is partly excavated - there's clearly lots of work to be done here.

The biggest structure here is Caana (Sky Palace), which - at 141 feet – is still the tallest building in Belize.  Caana was completely cleared of vegetation only in 2003.  It is noted for its large masks and giant date glyphs on circular stone altars.

 

The other really big structure is the Temple of the Wooden Lintel.  It is thought to be a commemorative astronomical temple with burials and caches underneath.  The name comes from the fact that there are intact wooden lintels in several doorways – dating from the first century A.D.

Carcacol had a Ball Court somewhat different than the one at Lamanai.  It had a smaller center stone marker, but overall the court was many times larger.  This apparently, was the “real thing” – there are plenty of seats for spectators and losers were sacrificed to appease the gods.

These temples on are good examples of many of the buildings around Caracol.  Clustered around a large plazas, with jungle growth partly cleared away. Lots of work to be done. Note the rounded corners.

It’s a fascinating place – clearly a very sophisticated civilization, but so many unknowns.  It would be fun to come back when more excavation has been done … that is, if they ever decide to improve the road!

On the way out of Caracol, we stopped at the river to look for birds – must have been their siesta time - and time for us to head home.